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Presbyterian Peace Fellowship responds to the
violence in the Middle East
[7-29-06]
During the recent seminar at Ghost Ranch on "Economy, Ecology, and
Empire," held from July 17 through 22, members of the Presbyterian Peace
Fellowship put into words their concerns and their sense of the best way
to respond to the crisis at this time. We’re happy to share it here, with
thanks to PPF for sharing it with us.
For more information, or to contribute your
own thoughts, you’re invite to contact two leaders of the Peace
Fellowship, Rick Ufford-Chase
(soon to begin service as the Executive Director of PPF) or
Len Bjorkman (member of the
PPF board).
And if you want to offer comments through
this Witherspoon website, just send a note to
WebWeaver Doug
King.
A call to recognize "the things that make
for peace" – and to do them
A place to stand in another time of violence in the Middle East
Once again we hear Jesus’ cry: If you, even you,
had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!
Through tears we grieve and pray for those in Lebanon,
Israel and Palestine
who live in fear for their lives who are shelled by bombs or rockets
who are captured for bargaining
who are imprisoned without trial and for all those
who have lost loved ones.
We pray for those who take the ways of violence to address
the violence they have experienced, that they may find the ways that make
for peace.
We reject all those actions that violate human rights or
international law.
We do not enter into the debate about who has violated
more human rights or international laws, or who started the present cycle of
violence.
We call upon all parties to find ways to preserve the
lives of all people, all who are created in the image of God.
We commit ourselves to prayer for justice and peace for
all these children of Abraham.
We further commit ourselves to work in all ways possible
in seeking cessation of violence and toward bringing about reconciliation of
all sides.
Background for understanding
By way of background analysis, we agree
with these comments by National Committee member, Dr. Henry H. Bucher,
Jr., Adjunct Associate Professor Emeritus in Humanities, Austin College,
written as a letter-to-the-editor of the Dallas Morning News.
Since the end of WWII, the US policy in the region, beyond
support for Israel, was to fund generously selected Islamic movements,
especially the conservative ones because they were the most anti-communist.
We also backed monarchies for similar reasons though they needed our money
less. The last example was our funding and arming the Taliban to oust the
USSR in Afghanistan—now they use our arms against us in alliance with
militant Islamicists elsewhere.
If the US media could move beyond the battle babble and
political science analysis, the most obvious aspect of the long dance of
death going on in the area is that the militant Islamicists now have the
upper hand thanks in part to US policy. Whether we end up with a democratic
Iraq or civil war, the majority Shia will have the upper hand and their
religious leaders are trained in Shia Iran (who thank us for defeating their
enemy Saddam Hussein).
In the West Bank, we snubbed the duly elected secular
Arafat thus strengthening the Islamist Hamas. Then Israel and the US
disregarded the election results pushing more and more moderate Muslims in
the region to choose between a US/Israeli hegemony in the area, or the
growing power of militant Muslims who do not think in terms of post WWI
political boundaries.
Hezbollah was created in the early eighties as a response
to Israel’s invasion; and now has the real power in Lebanon that their
brother Islamic movement Hamas (first encouraged by Israel to be an internal
enemy of the PLO) has in Palestine. Not all are Shia, but Iran (95% Shia)
and now Shia-dominated Iraq are on a roll and have mostly Washington and Tel
Aviv to thank. The recent move of Hezbollah on behalf of prisoners in the
region can best be understood in terms of pan-Islamic solidarity.
Israel’s present military actions are less to save a few
soldiers and more to stop the successes of militant Islam in the entire
area, including the most recent success in Somalia. Not to have invaded Gaza
would have meant to ultimately deal with Hamas.
Events will get worse before they get even "more worse,"
unless the US decides to reconsider our failed policies based on raw power,
and on whom we want to win democratic elections in the Middle East.
A way forward through action
To take action, everyone is encouraged to contact Churches
for Middle East Peace (www.cmep.org);
their suggestions as of July 20 are to contact the White House and Congress
with this message:
I am grieved over the tragic loss of life and
suffering among the peoples of Israel, Lebanon and Gaza and am concerned
about the dire humanitarian crisis that is unfolding as a result of the
violence.
I support intensive US diplomatic efforts, in
cooperation with parties in the region and the United Nations, to bring
about an immediate cease-fire that will:
• end the escalating violence
• protect civilian lives and prevent their further displacement
• prevent the further destruction of infrastructure in Lebanon and Gaza
• secure a safe return of the kidnapped Israeli soldiers and
• begin a political process that ends the current crisis and paves the way
toward a comprehensive Middle East peace.
In addition, we think that Congress should conduct hearings about
Israel’s use of weapons in Lebanon that may violate international law or US
laws that govern the sale and use of US weapons. Hearings that would deal
with violent actions by either Hezbollah or Hamas should not be allowed to
exclude hearings related to how Israel makes use of US tax dollars that are
provided as part of economic or military aid.
Congress and the White House should be urged not to extend
the military actions in the Middle East by attacking Iran. The crisis in
Lebanon and the issue of Iran’s nuclear program should not become the
occasions for increasing lethal attacks by the US or Israel; diplomatic
activity that emphasizes broad principles, such as the whole region becoming
a nuclear-free zone, should be diligently followed.
We reiterate our conviction that violence does not lead to
a just peace; and we pray and work so that Christians, Jews and Muslims in
the Middle East, and we in the US, may follow the paths of justice that lead
to peace.
Also ...
The Presbyterian Peace Fellowship commends to our attention a statement
from the Fellowship of Reconciliation,
which is entitled "How Many More Innocents Shall We Sacrifice on the Altar
of ‘Justified’ War?"
It opens:
These are profoundly divisive times, when hope for
negotiations has given way to despair and bombs, and the slow and painful
work of building civil society is crumbling before those who choose the
language of brutality and hate. How many more innocents shall we sacrifice
on the altar of "justified" war?
The full statement can be found at
http://www.forusa.org/media/MiddleEastCrisisJuly2006.html |
