Father Emil Salayta of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and HCEF President Rateb Rabie attended the annual National Prayer Breakfast on February 3 with President and Mrs. Clinton.
Father Emil Salayta of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem attended the annual National Prayer Breakfast on February 3 with President and Mrs. Clinton and other senior American officials at the Washington Hilton in Washington D.C. Accompanying Father Emil were HCEF president Rateb Rabie and HCEF board member Donald A. Kruse.
In addition to the Prayer Breakfast, the three were invited to the Middle East Fellowship dinner on February 2 held at The Cedars in Arlington, VA. The program for the evening featured Mrs. Susan Baker, wife of former Secretary of State James Baker, who reported on the recent Gathering of Friends events which took place in Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian areas. The emphasis of these events was on the need to learn and practice forgiveness especially in the light of the century-long conflict between Jews and Arabs in Israel/Palestine.
Also on February 2 , Father Emil, Rateb and Don attended the International Luncheon which was hosted by Congressman Tony Hall and was highlighted by testimonies of foreign dignitaries including the wife of Korean President Kim Joh Don.
Throughout the prayer breakfast and associated activities, there were opportunities to explain to many guests the aims and work of HCEF. One of the interesting results of one such encounter was the plan to have young Palestinian boys form a soccer team to compete internationally. Father Emil was asked to help select the players from the Latin Patriarchate schools which he supervises in the West Bank and Gaza.
