Churches For Middle East Peace hosts "For the Peace of Jerusalem"

Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Bishops Duane Danielson (Western North Dakota Synod) and Dean Nelson (Southwest California Synod) lead the worship service inaugurating the CMEP conference. Photo: Annie Lysen/ELCA

Advocates for a negotiated peace between Israelis and Palestinians called on Congress to support more vigorous U.S. effort to mediate a resolution to the conflict, at the end of a May 6-8 conference in Washington, D.C.

More than 150 advocates attended “For the Peace of Jerusalem,” organized by Churches For Middle East Peace. CMEP is a coalition of 21 public policy offices of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant churches and agencies in the U.S. Church World Service is a CMEP member and is represented on its board of directors by Church World Service Associate Director for Public Policy Martin Shupack .

Meeting with 75 Congressional offices, the advocates urged U.S. support for a viable Palestinian state with secure and recognizable borders alongside Israel, sharing Jerusalem as a capital accessible to the Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities for whom the city is sacred. Both CWS and CMEP support a negotiated settlement providing for two viable states, Israel and Palestine.

Lead drafters of the Geneva Initiative Daniel Levy and Ghaith al-Omari emphasized that the shape of the solution is well-known and is supported by majorities in both Israel and the Palestinian territories. The Geneva Initiative is a joint Israeli-Palestinian effort detailing a model for an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement.

What is lacking, Al-Omari and Levy said, is governmental political will and moral courage. The two added that the U.S. government should play a robust role in facilitating negotiations and mediating an agreement.

Robert Danin, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, spoke about the recent diplomatic efforts in the region by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

But former Senator Lincoln Chaffee emphasized that the Bush Administration has repeatedly missed vital opportunities to help bring peace. He said that the U.S. has lost credibility in the Arab world and that winning this back will require the U.S. uses its influence to bring about a negotiated and just agreement between the two parties.

The gathering opened Sunday evening with a concert and worship service at National City Christian Church. Speakers included Archbishop Vicken Aykazian, Armenian Orthodox Church; the Most Reverend Denis Madden, Auxiliary Bishop of Baltimore; and the Right Reverend Frank Griswold, former Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church.

Workshops were offered throughout Monday, including, among others, “The Vatican, US Catholics and sharing Jerusalem” by Fr. Drew Christiansen; “US policy on Jerusalem” by Ambassador (ret.) Philip Wilcox; “Jewish perspectives on sharing Jerusalem” by Lara Friedman of Americans for Peace Now; “What Jerusalem means to Palestinians” by Rafi Dajani of the American Task Force on Palestine; and the “Humanitarian situation of Palestinians” by Tom Garafalo.