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Full Text of Letter from Christian Leaders to President Bush for Practical Peacemaking Leadership in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
21-Jan-05
Contact: Jessica Snyder, Executive Assistant to the President
301.951.9400, ext.217
jsnyder@hcef.org
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January 21, 2005
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC
Dear Mr. President:
As leaders of Orthodox, Catholic and Protestant Churches and Christian organizations with millions of members across the country, we encourage you to lead a political process that will end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. As you begin your second term, the vision of a two-state solution is coming back into focus after having faded into obscurity. Will Palestinians finally be free? Will Israelis be secure at last? As people of faith and hope, we say yes!
This is the time for you and for the 109th Congress, and for friends of Israel and Palestine, to have the courage to be peacemakers, and to press both Israelis and Palestinians to seize the future; where each recognizes the other's right to exist and is willing to work together for security and economic well-being.
For the sake of our own country as well, Mr. President, we appeal to you. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has become a threat to the people of the United States. Every day the conflict continues, hatred of the United States government is fueled. With each news report of Palestinian suffering -- whether the death of an innocent child, the demolition of a family's home, or the confiscation of farmland for the
separation barrier -- popular support in Arab and Muslim countries for terrorism grows and the threat of attacks directed at the United States increases. The continuing conflict has also resulted in suffering and loss of life among Israeli citizens. We want Israelis, too, to live without fear or threat in their own country.
A hallmark of your campaign was the commitment to defeat terror and make our country more secure. We believe that the promise of peace in Jerusalem is the best defense against terrorism. We encourage you to maintain the faith, the courage and the resolve to work with other world leaders toward
negotiations that guarantee two viable states, Israel and Palestine, living side-by-side and sharing Jerusalem as their capital.
Finally, Mr. President, we urge you to follow the examples of the great prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, who declared that God calls all nations and all people to do justice to one another. We join you in praying for peace in the Holy Land and at home.
Sincerely,
Rev. Dr. Leonard B. Bjorkman
Co-Moderator
Presbyterian Peace Fellowship
Marilyn Borst
Director, Global Ministry
Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Atlanta
Simone Campbell, SSS
National Coordinator
NETWORK, A Catholic Social Justice Lobby
continued on page 2
Anthony Campolo
President
Evangelical Association for the Promotion of
Education
Br. Kevin Cawley
Deputy Province Leader
Eastern American Province
Christian Brothers
Sister Ardis Cloutier, OSF
Franciscan Sisters of Little Falls, MN
page 2, Christian leaders to President Bush
Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Christopher J. Doyle
President/CEO
American Leprosy Missions
Rev. Robert Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of Churches USA
Beatrice Eichten, OSF
Vice President
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General Secretary
Reformed Church in America
Anne Griffis
Chair, Action/Global Concerns
Church Women United
The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church in America
The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
The Rev. Dr. Stan Hastey
Alliance of Baptists
Rev. Wm. Chris Hobgood
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Rev. Kathryn J. Johnson
Executive Director
Methodist Federation for Social Action
The Rev. Phil Jones
Director
Brethren Witness/Washington Office
continued on page 3
Mor Cyril Aphrem Karim
Archbishop
Archdiocese of the Syrian Orthodox Church
Ted Keating, SM
Executive Director
Conference of Major Superiors of Men
Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk
Presbyterian Church (USA)
Abbot Jerome Kodell, OSB
Subiaco Abbey
Thomas Krosnicki, SVD
Provincial
Society of the Divine Word (Chicago)
Donald A. Kruse
Vice-president, Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF)
Rev. Michael E. Livingston
Executive Director
International Council of Community Churches
Dr. Ronald J.R. Mathies
Executive Director
Mennonite Central Committee
Joellen McCarthy, BVM
Peggy Nolan, BVM
Mary Ann Zollmann, BVM
Leadership Team
Sisters of Charity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Rev. John L. McCullough
Executive Director & CEO
Church World Service
Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee
A. Roy Medley
General Secretary
American Baptist Churches, U.S.A.
page 3, Christian leaders to President Bush
Joseph Nangle, OFM
Franciscan Mission Service
Ron Nikkel
President
Prison Fellowship International
Rateb Y. Rabie, KHS
President, Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation (HCEF)
Leonard Rodgers
President/Founder
Venture International
Andrew Ryskamp
Executive Director, Christian Reformed
World Relief Committee-US
Metropolitan Philip Saliba
Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese
Rev. Cheryl J. Sanders, Th.D.
Senior Pastor
Third Street Church of God, Washington, D.C.
Dr. Robert E. Sawyer
Moravian Church Southern Province
Amb. Robert A. Seiple
Founder/Chair
Institute for Global Engagement.
Carole Shinnick, SSND
Executive Director
Leadership Conference of Women Religious
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