Christian Church(Disciples of Christ)
Christian Church
(Disciples of Christ)
96b-55
July 17, 1996
WASHINGTON, D.C. (RNS) -- American religious groups marked Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's meeting with President Clinton in
Washington July 9 by urging Clinton to put pressure on Israel and the
Palestinians to abide by the land-for-peace provisions of the Middle East
peace process.
The U.S. Interreligious Committee for Peace in the Middle East, Churches
for Middle East Peace and the Jewish Peace Lobby all sent letters to
Clinton or issued statements underscoring the importance of U.S. support
for the peace process.
The Interreligious Committee -- which claims a membership of 2,300
American Christians, Jews and Muslims -- called for "consistent, creative"
U.S. leadership to assure that both the Israelis and Palestinians
"recognize and respect the historic accomplishments already achieved
through negotiations."
The committee, which sent its letter to likely Republican presidential
candidate Bob Dole as well, also said American presidential politics
should not be allowed to impact the peace process. "All too often in the
past, positions taken by candidates have been extremely provocative,"
the letter said.
The committee's letter was signed by Dawud A. Assad, president of the
Muslim Council of Mosques; the Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, general
secretary of the National Council of Churches; and Albert Vorspan,
former vice president of the Reform Jewish Union of American Hebrew
Congregations.
Churches for Middle East Peace, a coalition of 15 Christian and
Unitarian churches and organizations, many of which have ties to Arab
Christian groups, asked Clinton to "make it clear" to Netanyahu that
further Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank will be opposed.
Churches for Middle East Peace also said the president should urge
Netanyahu to lift the closure of the West Bank and Gaza that has
prevented Palestinians from getting to jobs in Israel. The closure was
put into effect following a series of terrorist attacks in Israel.
Signing the Churches for Middle East Peace statement were the
Washington offices of the American Baptist Churches, USA; the
Quaker-affiliated American Friends Service Committee and Friends
Committee on National Legislation; the Church of the Brethren; the
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ); the Episcopal Church; the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Maryknoll Fathers and
Brothers; the Mennonite Central Committee; the National Council of
Churches; the Presbyterian Church (USA); the Roman Catholic
Conference of Major Superiors of Men; the Unitarian Universalist
Association; the United Church of Christ; and the United
Methodist Church.
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