June 20, 2007

The World Council of Churches international peace conference in Jordan opened on a "hopeful" note, even in the face of the current crisis in the Gaza Strip, according to David Weaver, Church World Service Director of Mission Relationships and Witness.

The meeting, focused on long-term strategies for a church involvement in attempts to bring a just and lasting peace to the troubled region, is taking place against a backdrop of intense political fighting in occupied Palestine. The conflict, which has caused chaos, death, and dislocation for thousands of Palestinians, also has effectively split the country in two, with the West Bank still under the control of democratically elected President Mahmoud Abbas of the Fatah political party, while Hamas--which the U.S. and Israel describe as a terrorist group--has seized control of the Gaza Strip.

Weaver says the participants fully recognize the severity of the crisis in Gaza, but are determined not to be distracted by it.

"At the behest of Palestinian Christians here, who have offered their analysis of the current crisis in Gaza, we are determined to continue with the long-term work of helping to bring a just peace to occupied Palestine. The Palestinian Christians here, who are closest to the situation in the West Bank and Gaza, know how very severe the current crisis is, but they have appealed to us to stay focused on long-term strategies for dealing with the ongoing crisis brought about by the Israeli occupation of Palestine."

Here in the United States, Church World Service issued a June 15 statement in which Executive Director John L. McCullough urged the United States to provide "full and unfettered diplomatic support for an accelerated solution to both the current crisis and the long-term cause of the Palestinian people."

With the latest violence being the result of conflict between Palestinian political parties, McCullough also pointed out that "Hamas and Fatah have a moral obligation to resolve this current crisis through constructive engagement and representative government. They share the responsibility for the sufferings of a people who have suffered far too long, and for the Palestinian blood that now soils the earth."

Participants in the June 17-21 WCC conference, who Weaver says view the current fighting between the two Palestinian groups "as a consequence of the occupation," are from Middle East and international churches and organizations involved in efforts to bring peace with justice to Palestine and Israel.

"The tone of the conference is free of despair. As troubling as the situation of injustice is, we are looking at it with unblinking clarity, guided by the faith and the hope that will help us through this dire situation," Weaver said in a telephone interview from Jordan's capital, Amman, site of the gathering.

Also participating in the conference are key non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the region, Christian-related organizations in Palestine and Israel, and other international groups.

The conference seeks to broaden ecumenical collaboration with member churches, partners, and new organizations to most effectively address the ongoing crisis. The immediate goal is to launch an international Palestine/Israel ecumenical forum through which planning, advocacy and action around a just peace can be coordinated.

Two new organizations that would work with the planned forum--a Palestinian Christian advocacy forum and a group called the National Coalition of Christian Organizations in Palestine, both the result of grassroots efforts led by lay people from Palestinian churches--already have been announced at the gathering, Weaver reports.

In welcoming participants to the conference, the Reverend Dr. Samuel Kobia, who is general secretary of the WCC, talked about the ethical and ecumenical imperatives for engagement around the peace and justice issue and the gospel imperative for people of God to identify with those who are suffering--no matter what the cost.

In other remarks, His Beatitude Michel Sabbah, Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem, spoke of liberation for the people of Palestine in this, the 40th anniversary of the occupation, emphasizing that the negative effect of the conflict is not limited to one side.

"Both the occupier and the occupied are harming and being harmed and both need to be saved," said Sabbah.

As the four-day gathering continues, churches from other regions will share lessons learned from conflicts in their own countries, including South Africa, Sudan, Colombia and Sri Lanka, with an emphasis on the role of the church in peace making and peace keeping.

In regard to the current crisis in Gaza, Weaver says that church leaders have offered themselves to any and all parties as mediators because the concern of the church is "that Palestinians be united and the church is prepared to help in any way to restore and maintain national unity" in the beleaguered land.

Media Contacts: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin (24/7), 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net