The overwhelming majority of Palestinians earnestly desire a just peace with Israel, according to Steve Hucklesby, International Affairs Secretary for the Methodist Church in Britain.
The overwhelming majority of Palestinians earnestly desire a just peace with Israel, according to Steve Hucklesby, International Affairs Secretary for the Methodist Church in Britain.
He was speaking as Mahmoud Abbas was sworn in as newly elected President of the Palestinian authority. Abbas has the backing of a number of local Christian leaders and has vowed to root out corruption as well as giving new impetus to the peace process.
However the Israeli government has already declared its refusal to talk to Abbas (also known as Abu Mazen) following a suicide bomb attack by a Palestinian militant. Israeli Defence Forces today went on the offensive in response, killing six Palestinians.
The Israeli government accuses the Palestinian Authority of failing to stop terrorists, but the Palestinians reply that IDF actions and the illegal occupation of their territory is feeding their extremism. They say that Israeli attacks on Palestinian security services are also weakening their capacity.
The Methodists claim that a peaceful resolution is most likely to emerge from a series of incremental confidence building measures. The proposed withdrawal of Israel from Gaza represents an important first step.
“We are encouraged again this week to hold in our minds a vision of two states living side by side in peace”, says Hucklesby. “This would be a far surer guarantor of security than the separation wall.”
He went on: “It is saddening therefore to hear that Hamas militants continue to fire mortars into Israeli settlements in the north of the Gaza strip. It is vital at this time that all parties exercise restraint in order that Israeli and Palestinian leadership can concentrate on making progress on the political front.”
Methodist minister the Rev Brian Shackleton is currently in Israel-Palestine as an Ecumenical Accompanier (EA). The Ecumenical Accompaniment programme is supported by the heads of the churches in Jerusalem and the World Council of Churches.
British and Irish EA volunteers are managed by the Quakers and supported by member bodies of the ecumenical Churches’ Commission on Mission and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland.
During his three-month trip to the region Brian Shackleton is visiting communities in and around Bethlehem and trying to discover both what ordinary people want and also how the churches can aid the situation.
Shackleton recently spoke at a meeting of Ecumenical Accompaniers with peace envoy, former US President and active Baptist Jimmy Carter, in order to discuss the elections.
“In villages I visited I asked the question: ‘Why vote?'” Shackleton said. “I got various answers and it was the younger generation which expected the most. Because they want peace, not violence. Because they want to build a community. Because they want security and to end corruption. Because they want their children to go to school, not in fear. Because they want to visit their cousins when they choose. Because they want to farm their fields which are now on the other side of the Wall.”
“Abu Mazen, you have quite a challenge. Let’s hope you get some help”, he concluded.
