From Gaza with Love and Words Sharper Than a Two-Edged Sword
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_eileen_f_070614_from_gaza_with_l...
by eileen fleming
One of the most modest yet accomplished women I have ever met is Dr. Mona El Farra. Among the many accomplishments of this selfless dermatologist who lives in Gaza is her position as the Director of Gaza Projects with Middle East Children's Alliance [www.mecaforpeace.org], Board Director of Red Crescent [Cross] Society of Gaza, and Health Development Consultant of Union Health Workers Committee of Gaza and the blogger of "From Gaza With Love" http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/.
This reporter spoke with her over dinner the night before she addressed over 5,000 activists at the historic D.C. March to End the Occupation of Palestine March on June 10, 2007.
Dr. El Farra informed me, "The children's psychology is damaged by the aggression of Israeli forces and the U.S. MECA[Middle East Children's Alliance] is dedicated to rebuild and repair it. Despite the fact that children and women and the whole population of my country has been damaged, we know that the world is not any government...The issue is the problem of the refugees and their right to return to their homeland. Israel has made the facts on the ground impossible for a two-state solution. This land should be about equal human rights for all people. Israel must take the moral responsibility for what they did in 1948!
"If we have a two state solution as things are, we are left with one strong state and one very weak one. Americans should know that their tax dollars go to support human rights abuses and occupation. This deprives both sides of dignity and humanity. Israel talks about security and safety, but their exaggerated actions damage children and civilians.
"I was 15 years old during the first year of occupation. Young kids in Khan Younis got together to say NO to occupation. We threw stones at the Israeli tanks and the IDF hit me and many others with sticks [billy clubs]. I was on the ground and the soldier beat me, but I returned to demonstrate again and again. My father wanted me to stop, but I did not. I also wrote pamphlets-a very dangerous activity!
"I went to medical school for dermatology and returned home and found myself naturally in the refugee camps. I have always been a community worker for preventive medicine and nonviolent...I strongly believe it is impossible for Palestine to have a viable state when humanitarian and inalienable rights are denied and what happened in 1948 is ignored."
On June 7, 2007, Dr. El Farrar addressed the United Nations, "First, let me say that 2007 is the 40th anniversary of 59 years of the brutal occupation of the Palestinian people.
"As we called for an end to apartheid in South Africa and the right of all people to live together and have equal rights, we must now, before it is too late, call for true justice for the Palestinians.
"Today, we heard about the economic plight of the Palestinian people. We heard about Palestinians in Israeli prisons which number close to 8,000 men and women, including approximately 350 children under the age of 14, most of whom have been tortured.
"How many UN resolutions must be passed by the UN? How many years of calling for 2 States before there is an understanding that Israel continues its aggression on the ground against women, children and men, the demolition of thousands of homes and the continued building of the apartheid wall?
"Let us not just speak of the Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza. We must never forget those who live as second-class citizens inside Israel and most of all, those who were forced from their homes and lands in 1948.
"Now is the time to call for a real peace, with justice for all the children in the region. This can only be accomplished by supporting the right of return of all Palestinians.
"Now is the time to acknowledge that the two-State solution is not the answer.
"From Gaza I came, where the children of my country have no safe homes, no safe streets, no proper and adequate health facilities, no proper food, clean water, or regular electrical power, no recreational activities and no good education. The list of deprivation of their basic needs is too long to count.
"I lived this occupation as a child, and am still living it as an adult. I can see it in the eyes of my daughter when she is afraid, tired, restless and exhausted because of the unsafe and unpredictable quality of life in Gaza under occupation. I saw it as soon as we crossed the borders on our way to Egypt, where she sensed something new and different: freedom, safety and space. Gaza is like a big, unsafe prison. And it is a very small place for 1.4 million people, half of whom are children.
"I face the occupation every day during my work when hundreds of Palestinian patients are denied permits and accessibility to proper medical treatment, outside Gaza. There are a few lucky patients who get a referral and permit for treatment outside Gaza. The majority, however, have to wait and wait. Many die while waiting.
"What is more heart-breaking than children who do not have adequate food and a healthy atmosphere to grow up to be well rounded adults? According to the Health Work Committees Organization, 42 per cent of children in Gaza under the age of 5 suffer from iron deficiency anemia and 45 per cent suffer from some form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, due to the experiences that they are subjected to as a result of the non-stop military actions of the Israeli Occupation Forces, which almost always affect civilians in one way or another....
"Whenever I think of Palestinian children and their lives under occupation, I always think of the Israeli children. As adults, we have a commitment to both sets of children to provide a safe environment for them to live peacefully. It is not the occupation or the wall or the ongoing aggression against my people that will bring safety or security for Israeli children, only peace that is based on justice will do so. Justice means that the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people must be considered. Israel must recognize its moral responsibility towards the Palestinian refugees.
"While Israel is physically outside Gaza, it still completely controls our lives, all aspects of our lives: health, education, economy and freedom of movement.
"Life under occupation is degrading to human dignity. It has deprived us of our freedom, and only free people can make peace. It is most peculiar that we are forced to deal with the patterns of life under occupation as normal, well-established facts and when people lost hope and faith in the world or any future chances for change, and when the world turns its head away.
"On the 40th anniversary of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, it is fitting to call once again on the international community to put pressure on Israel to fulfil its obligations by abiding by the UN resolutions related to Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Israeli occupation should be ended now and the right of return must not be forgotten." http://fromgaza.blogspot.com/
Congress is now on the verge of debating Senate Resolution 224 and "The Board of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), a coalition of Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox churches and church-related organizations, welcomes S. Res. 224, the Feinstein/Lugar resolution that supports efforts to achieve Israeli-Palestinian peace...We take to heart the Psalmist's injunction to "seek peace, and pursue it" (Ps. 34:14b) and are encouraged by the prudent and judicious Congressional leadership shown by S. Res. 224.
"The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is recognized as one of the most intractable conflicts in our troubled world today, but as S. Res. 224 notes, support for a two-state solution is broad and there is a critical need for robust diplomacy to pursue peace negotiations. Every day that the conflict goes on is another day that extremists in the region are strengthened, moderate Arab allies are weakened and Israelis and Palestinians live amidst fear and violence. Progress toward a permanent resolution to the conflict will bolster U.S. national security, vital interests and moral authority.
"The churches in the CMEP coalition have long sought peace in the Holy Land and reconciliation of the three Abrahamic faiths. We support active and high level U.S. engagement to achieve a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict where Israel lives in peace and security alongside a viable Palestinian state.
"The current impasse is not sustainable. Now is indeed the time for all parties to redouble their efforts to achieve peace. We hope you will join with your colleagues in co-sponsoring S. Res. 224 today." www.cmep.org/Alerts/2007June14.htm
Is it too late for a viable two states?
Ali Abunimah, cofounder of the online publication The Electronic Intifada wrote:
"The one-state solution for Palestine-Israel is "gaining ground," a senior UN diplomat has admitted in a leaked confidential report. Recently retired UN special envoy Alvaro de Soto wrote "that the combination of [Palestinian Authority] institutional decline and Israeli settlement expansion is creating a growing conviction among Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, as well as some Jews on the far left in Israel that the two State solutiuon's best days are behind it."
"...Contradicting peace process industry conventional wisdom and spin, which long held that Israel's 2005 settler pullout from Gaza was part of an effort to implement the "Road Map" peace plan, de Soto acknowledged that Israel was motivated entirely by concerns about the fact that Palestinians are once again on the verge of becoming the majority in Israeli-ruled territory (as they were prior to 1948).
"Israel is in a conundrum because further unilateral withdrawals are "off the table" while "the demographic clock continues to tick." De Soto predicts that "Should the PA pass into irrelevance or non-existence, and the settlements keep expanding, the one State solution will come out of the shadows and begin to enter the mainstream."
http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article7025.shtml
As of this writing, it appears that after five fierce days of fighting in Gaza, Hamas has vanquished Fatah and at least 90 people have been murdered.
Throughout history time and time again, things that seemed impossible and hopeless all of a sudden just changed.
All things are possible and the fresh breathe of change is always blowing in the wind; may it blow out the violence that the voices of wisdom and nonviolence will be heard, for the sake of all the children of the Holy Land.
Eileen is an activist, author, poet, reporter and editor of wearewideawake.org She has been reporting from the Occupied Palestinian Territories since June 2005. Her first novel "Keep Hope Alive" was released in August 2006. 100% of all proceeds go to provide olive trees for peace in Israel Palestine, through the 501 3-c Olive Trees Foundation for Peace. Her second book, "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory" will be released February 14, 2007.
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Do you pray for the peace of the Holy Land and did you know...
THE CHRISTIAN PRAYER FOR PEACE:
Blessed are the PEACEMAKERS, for they shall be known as the Children of God. But I say to you that hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. To those who strike you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from those who take away your cloak, do not withhold your coat as well. Give to everyone who begs from you, and of those who take away your goods, do not ask them again. And as you wish that others would do to you, do so to them.
THE MUSLIM PRAYER FOR PEACE:
In the name of Allah, the beneficent, the merciful. Praise be to the Lord of the Universe who has created us and made us into tribes and nations, that we may know each other, not that we may despise each other. If the enemy incline towards peace, do thou also incline towards peace, and trust in God, for the Lord is the one that heareth and knoweth all things. And the servants of God, Most Gracious are those who walk on the Earth in humility, and when we address them, we say "PEACE."
THE JEWISH PRAYER FOR PEACE:
Come let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, that we may walk the paths of the Most High. And we shall beat our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into pruning hooks. Nation shall not lift up sword against nation - neither shall they learn war any more. And none shall be afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of Hosts has spoken.
"And what does God require? He has told you o' man, what is required:
Be just, be merciful, and walk humbly with your Lord." -Micah 6:8
God never said to occupy and oppress your neighbor and the commandment stands THOU SHALL NOT KILL!
In Jerusalem there are fourteen plaques along The Via Delarosa hanging on the walls of buildings depicting where Christ may have fallen three times, meets his mother, is stripped, nailed and dies.
The Contemporary Way suggests fourteen reflections beginning with 1948, The Nabka: The Catastrophe which followed the failure of the UN partition plan of ‘47 when the Irgun and Stern Gang [Zionist terrorist groups] depopulated 400 villages and forced 726,000 Palestinians to flee to Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Egypt.
Station Two reflects on those refugees and the 460,000 more that fled during the War of 1967. Currently there are 675,670 registered refugees in the West Bank, 938,531 in Gaza and over two million in Arab countries who have never received compensation and have been denied the right to return as guaranteed in Articles 13 and 15 of The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in UN Resolution 194.
I was astounded to learn that in Natna, the nearly sixty year old Jerusalem refugee camp has The Wall butted up to the boy’s high school. The ‘playground’ where 780 adolescents gather is in reality a slab of cement ground about the square footage of a basket ball court. There is no view as it is walled in on all four sides by the high school, The Concrete Wall and two smaller cement walls.
A refugee informed me that on a daily basis, “The Israeli Occupation Forces show up when the children gather in the morning or after classes. They throw percussion bombs or gas bombs into the school nearly every day! The world is sleeping; the world is hibernating and is allowing this misery to continue.”
I wandered around taking photos and was warmly greeted by a teenage boy who asked my name and where I was from. I cringed when I said America, for I am ashamed that over one hundred billion USA dollars since 1948 has supported the occupation, promoted violence and helped build The Wall which denies Palestinians access to their land, water resources, families and holy sites!
A few miles from the refugee camp, one enters into an Orwellian Disney Land of lush green grounds in the illegal colony of the Pizgatzeev settlement. I was sick at heart and in my gut when we drove less than a mile into the illegal colony for I counted three playgrounds and a swimming pool. I still wonder how many USA tax dollars helped to build them, and why the same was not done for the refugees.
As our group was praying a gunshot issued from the Natna refugee camp, then another and another in rapid succession. I was told that the IDF was showering the refugees with gun fire and terror, and that it was just a normal daily occurrence. I lost it completely then, and sobbed uncontrollably. I felt like the Magdalena when she could not find her Lord, but then I thought of Jesus, and how he cried buckets of tears over Jerusalem.
2,000 years ago roving bands of politically radical and religious Jews rose up and openly resisted Roman rule in Palestine. They were called Zealots, and I imagine if I had lived back then, I would have joined them. But, instead, I ardently, fervently, zealously curse the empire that condones the violent terrorizing of innocent people just because they are Palestinian. I also wonder when will the Israelis wake up and see they too are victims of the occupation, for the oppressed have now become the oppressors and many have lost their humanity.
I pray the Jewish state would indeed be a democracy, but if they want to be a theocracy, fine with me if they would only just listen to their prophets:
Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require? Do justice, be merciful and walk humbly with your God.”
When Israel became a state in 1948, it was contingent upon upholding the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 13 states: Everyone has the right to freedom of movement and residence within the borders of each state. Everyone has the right to leave any country, including his own, and to return to his country. Any Orthodox Brooklyn Jew can move to Israel and live there without paying taxes, but the state of Israel denies refugees whose families were born in that land, the right to return there.
On November 3, 2006, the Anglican Reverend Naim Ateek, a modest soft-spoken man, 21st century prophet and the Founder and Director of Sabeel/The Way Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, addressed over 330 international ecumenical Christians who had gathered in Jerusalem in the Notre Dame Conference Center for Sabeel’s 6th International Conference: The Forgotten Faithful.
He sent chills through me when he stated, “Israel will not survive unless it does justice! The situation is deteriorating and we must frustrate Israel’s plans and actions because they are not built on justice. All we are asking for is that they honor International Law! Israel is afraid of International law and this proves something is very wrong with Israel. We want Israel to live in peace and with security. The only way is honoring International law. That is the bottom line and what we work and pray for.”
Reverend Ateek’s classic "Justice and Only Justice" laid the foundation of a theology that addresses the conflict over Palestine and explores the political as well as the religious, biblical and theological dimensions. From a position of faith, Reverend Ateek seeks solutions based on justice, peace, nonviolence and reconciliation.
On November 8, 2006 Reverend Ateek spoke again, “In Israel officially speaking of Palestinians is taboo: we are referred to as Arab Christians. When I say the Holy Land I include both Israel and Palestine. Ultimately only God knows about the future of Christianity in this place. We live in the scientific world and God has given us wisdom, knowledge, technology to be used for good and our future and destiny are in Gods hands.
“There are many red lights; external and internal dangers. What can we do at the grass roots level? The Palestinian Christian community must rise above petty denominational differences. The impending dangers force us to ask what can we do, what must we do?
“There is no future in isolation or passivity. Our futures are all linked together. There is an urgent need to articulate and work with other faiths, especially Islam. Our future depends on good relations with all our brothers and sisters. We need a Committee of Christian and Muslim leaders to dialogue and work together to confront militant extremist fundamentalism.
“Our relation with Israel is the most important issue for there can be no peace without justice. There can be no effective policy without ending the occupation in accordance with all UN Resolutions. The city of Jerusalem must be shared and there must be a just solution for refugees.
“Pressure on Israel must be done with nonviolent needs and the way is the way Christ taught: nonviolent and forgiving. The achievement of peace is not the end; but the beginning of reconciliation. The survival of Christianity in the Holy land is through true democracy. We must avoid the minority complex. We cannot depend on the good will of people in power. We want to be protected by a constitution with full citizenship and nationality must be combined. Only in Israel is there a distinction between nationality and citizenship. Only good democracy can guarantee all citizens are treated equally under the same law.”
“What can the West do? There is an urgent need for education about the roots of Christians in Palestine and to challenge the myths. Seek out Palestinian Christians in your midst and relate to them. Be aware of Palestinian concerns for justice and human rights. Work for a just solution of the conflict which is equal human rights for all. Support projects to increase the Christian witness: visit the Holy land and meet with Palestinian Christians. Forge closer links with churches in the West and in the Holy Land. Challenge Christian Zionism. Think Creatively!
“In the beginning the Jesus movement was very small. It began with 12 committed citizens. It began with love and Christ addressed his followers: FEAR NOT little flock! You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. To capture the essence of what Christians should be is to be salt and light. You don’t need a lot of salt to add flavor and even a small light can illuminate the way for many.
“To be salt and light is to be truthful, honest, have integrity and to be of service and do it with humility. Salt affects change: it is active, never passive. To be a light is a global challenge and when the light is seen clearly so is the glory of God. Sabeel means the way, and the way is to love all your neighbors and labor on with God.”
Every birth begins with labor and pain but joy and love follow. Only when there is justice for Palestinians will there be security for Israelis and that will be the beginning of the way to win the “war on terrorism.”
Eileen Fleming,
Reporter and Editor of
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "KEEP HOPE ALIVE" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Right now we're praying for peace among Palestinians...
who seem to be headed towards Civil War. You frequently condemn Israel as an occupier. I wonder if you condemnation equally extends to the radical Hamas movement who continue to operate like thugs and terrorists rather than folks who are serious about making peace. Hopefully Abbas can get things back under control, but its clear that the Palestinians must make a choice between peaceful negotiation and continued violence.
I condemn ALL Violence esp. from "thugs and terrorists"
And if ONLY the USA had been an honest broker in the peace process and supported Abbas BEFORE the people democratically and transparently elected Hamas because of the corruption of Fatah, we would not be faced with the mess we have helped create.
This piece from a journalist who has also been to OPT, may help you understand:
"Let us be clear though, that despite shared responsibility, most of the blame must lie squarely with Israel, the US and EU, for creating in Gaza conditions in which Hamas felt like they had little choice but to act, and where their program can seem so attractive. Starving and imprisoning a population, destabilizing a democratically-elected government; these are the actions of gangsters and thugs, not peacemakers or statesmen."-Ben White
THE GAZA DOSSIER. 06.16.2007
By Ben White
Special to PalestineChronicle.com
The events in Gaza this week, which represented the dramatic climax of months of tense bouts of fighting between Hamas and Fatah, were painful to watch. Those who stand in solidarity with the Palestinians, like the thousands who marched in London last weekend, need not be shy about speaking out, despite the pressures of the cynical, smug analysis that laughs at Palestinian 'self-rule' and says 'I told you so'. Responsibility for the current crisis is shared amongst most of the protagonists.
Fatah's leaders should reflect that they are now reaping what some party members have sown. Elements within the party are indeed guilty of the charge of 'collaboration' with the Israeli occupation, as well as with US designs. This has not just been in recent times, since the Palestine Legislative Council (PLC) elections, but has a history dating back to the pre-Oslo negotiations, through to the plutocratic Palestinian Authority and the days when Arafat's men would detain and torture Hamas activists. Many of the Hamas members who now pose for the cameras in the captured Fatah operation centers may have been tortured in the very same buildings.
But it is Israel, as the occupying power, that has primary responsibility for creating the conditions in which Palestinians have turned on each other. The Gaza Strip is a prison, where the prisoners are hungry, unemployed, and brutalized from 40 years of occupation. Israel's military onslaughts of the Second Intifada – which killed thousands and demolished tens of thousands of homes – have left its inhabitants mentally scarred, bereaved, angry, and reduced to the level of penned in animals .
Israel, however, has been assisted by the US and EU, who, in imposing sanctions on the occupied have pushed the region towards its current predicament – to the shame of American and European leaders and their political class. Incredible that in the last few weeks, newspaper leaders have denounced in the strongest terms the decision to merely debate boycotting Israel, yet uttered mealy-mouthed concern (or nothing at all) about this collective punishment.
Since the PLC elections, carried out democratically and transparently, the legitimate Palestinian government has been subjected to boycott, sanction and threats, and the US and EU have done everything in their power to undermine and destabilize the representatives of the Palestinian people. Sanctioning the occupied has made an economy already stunted by years of Israeli colonization and siege, a disaster-zone. This is not rocket science; it was highlighted from the beginning by charities, NGOs and the few politicians willing to stand out from the consensus.
Moreover, together with Israel, the US has been openly working to arm Fatah for a coup against Hamas, moves that the latter – who had been elected on the basis of their resistance to Israeli occupation and their track record of humanitarian commitment to the people – were not going to sit by and idly watch. This came only after the attempt to starve the Palestinians into submission appeared not to be working. This context is strangely (or perhaps not so strangely) missing from most mainstream media coverage, despite the basic facts being widely in the public domain.
However, while Hamas themselves feel understandably justified in taking the action they have done in the Gaza Strip – under siege, and threatened with the prospect of a US-Israel sponsored Fatah coup – it is perfectly appropriate to question their strategy of the last week. Hamas has extended their logic of force that emerged in the context of fighting Israel into the internal arena, but it is a short-term perspective that will be difficult to sustain. Even as they look at a defeated Fatah movement, the Hamas leadership faces difficult questions about how Gaza will now be ruled, how it will relate to the rest of Occupied Palestine, and how they can best serve the desperate population in the Gaza Strip.
Let us be clear though, that despite shared responsibility, most of the blame must lie squarely with Israel, the US and EU, for creating in Gaza conditions in which Hamas felt like they had little choice but to act, and where their program can seem so attractive. Starving and imprisoning a population, destabilizing a democratically-elected government; these are the actions of gangsters and thugs, not peacemakers or statesmen.
And now? It is obviously a defeat for US/Israeli designs in the sense that the attempts to destroy Hamas through a Fatah have failed. Israel is already trying to take advantage by introducing the idea of a 'two state' Palestine, a division of the West Bank and Gaza Strip that Israeli policy has already created (not to mention the fragmentation within the West Bank and Occupied Jerusalem).
Hamas is already calling for dialogue with Abbas, while the latter talks of emergency rule and elections. Dialogue is the only way forward for the Palestinians, but dialogue based on some fundamentals; respecting the will of the people, resistance to occupation and colonization, and a break from the collaborating political class of Oslo. The US, Britain and the EU, meanwhile, must be forced to stop their blood-stained interference in the Middle East, policies that have led to a 'crescent of death and destruction', from Iraq, to Lebanon and Palestine. That is the real threat.
- A regular contributor to PalestineChronicle.com, Ben White is a freelance journalist specializing in Palestine/Israel. His website is at www.benwhite.org.uk and he can be contacted directly at ben@benwhite.org.uk
Eileen Fleming,
Reporter and Editor of
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "KEEP HOPE ALIVE" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"
Churches for Middle East Peace
This email is also available online at: www.cmep.org/Alerts/2007June15.htm
Corinne Whitlatch, Executive Director
June 15, 2007
The violence and chaos in Gaza is cause for alarm and dismay for all those who yearn for peace in the Holy Land. The current crisis is bringing untold hardship to ordinary Gazans, threatens to spill over into the West Bank and Israel and jeopardizes progress toward a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The present situation underscores the urgent need for a political process that can restore hope for peace to Palestinians and Israelis.
Below is a statement from the heads of churches in Jerusalem calling for an end to the fighting between Fatah and Hamas and urging all sides to work for peace and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Lutheran Bishop Dr. Munib Younan, in a separate statement, emphasized the need for urgent work on the peace process, "If you want to bring an end to the horrific violence in the Middle East and if you are concerned as I am by the rampant growth of religious extremism: please, I urge you from Jerusalem, get serious about implementing the two- state solution..."
An urgent call from The Heads of Churches to the members of Fateh and Hamas
June 14th , 2007
On the recent 40th Anniversary of the Occupation we urged all sides to work for peace and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. How painful and awful then that now we have to say stop all domestic fighting.
The fighting has struck at the most vulnerable timing thus diverting International attention away from the National issue with its priorities and so disappointing the Palestinian people's hope of attaining independence together with freedom from Occupation with its related aspects.
This domestic fighting where the brother draws his weapon in the face of his brother is detrimental to all the aspirations of achieving security and stability for the Palestinian People.
In the name of the One and only God as well as in the name of each devastated Palestinian many of whom are still dying, we urge our brothers in Fateh and Hamas movements to listen to the voice of reason, truth and wisdom. So we implore that you immediately announce the cessation of all bloody fighting and to return back to the path of dialogue and attempt through understanding to solve all differences. In this urgent appeal we would draw attention to that which both parties have in common assuring them that it is greater that their differences. The national and land cause must be greater than any other consideration.
In this belief we urgently ask both movements to listen and put aside all weapons so concentrating on ending the Occupation in a peaceful manner based on National fundamentals and International legitimacy in order to achieve freedom for all the people together with an independent Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its Capital.
Formed in 1984, Churches for Middle East Peace is a Washington-based program of the Alliance of Baptists, American Friends Service Committee, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Armenian Orthodox Church, Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of the Brethren, Church World Service, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Franciscan Friars OFM (English Speaking Conference, JPIC Council), Friends Committee on National Legislation, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Maryknoll Missioners, Mennonite Central Committee, Moravian Church in America, National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church (GBCS & GBGM).
Churches for Middle East Peace
Email: info@cmep.org
Phone: 202-543-1222
Web: http://www.cmep.org
Eileen Fleming,
Reporter and Editor of
http://www.wearewideawake.org/
Author "KEEP HOPE ALIVE" and "Memoirs of a Nice Irish American 'Girl's' Life in Occupied Territory"