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| Consultation on Israeli-Palestinian
conflict decides on coordinated ecumenical action
Be 'peace-makers,' not just 'peace-talkers,'
conferees told
by Sara Speicher, World Council of Churches
[posted here 8-11-01]
GENEVA - 9-August-2001 - Painfully aware of the urgent
need for the churches to move from affirmation to action in solidarity
with the Palestinian people at this critical time, 50 participants at an
international ecumenical consultation on the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict have identified seven potential areas for coordinated action as
a beginning of a joint process of ecumenical planning and strategizing
for a concerted international response.
The Aug. 6-7 consultation was convened here by World
Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Konrad Raiser and was
co-chaired by His Holiness Aram I, Orthodox Patriarch of Syria and
Lebanon and moderator of the WCC Central Committee. The Presbyterian
Church (U.S.A.) was represented by the Rev. Victor Makari, coordinator
for the Middle East in the Worldwide Ministries Division.
Building on long-standing WCC attention to the
Palestinian question, the consultation's aim was to strengthen broad
international ecumenical support for a comprehensive peace, based on
justice and security for the Palestinian and Israeli people.
Raiser noted at the conclusion of the meeting that the
exchange of ideas was important in "beginning to identify where the
particular dynamics, urge and competence for action lie among us."
Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal of the Episcopal Church in
Jerusalem and the Middle East, the preacher at the consultation's
opening worship, declared: "Thank God Jesus said 'Blessed are the
peacemakers.' He did not say 'Blessed are the peace-talkers.'... Peace,
as all of you know, is neither the absence of war nor the cessation of
hostilities. Peace is that relationship between the so-called enemies,
from which all the causes that made for war are no more. Making peace
requires greater courage than going to war."
Following this injunction, consultation participants
declined to draft a concluding communiqué in the form of a public
statement. "Action is not another statement, no matter how
dramatic," Raiser affirmed. "We need to map out a way for us
to actually work together."
The main outcome of the consultation was the decision
to form a small consultative group to develop realistic proposals for
action with local and international partners in seven areas:
 | coordinating advocacy with governments |
| boycotting goods produced in Israeli settlements in
the occupied territories |
| strengthening the "chain of solidarity"
through prayer vigils |
| resisting the destruction of property and uprooting
of people from their homes and land |
| encouraging and enabling the presence of ecumenical
monitoring teams |
| improving communication, interpretation and media
reporting on the conflict and its causes |
| increasing church, ecumenical, and interreligious
delegations to and from Israel and the occupied territories. |
It was also agreed that, together with the Middle East
Council of Churches (MECC) and local churches, the WCC would develop a
coordination point for ecumenical action in Jerusalem, and explore the
possibility of linking it with an international coordination center.
The consultants also agreed to propose to the WCC
Executive Committee meeting Sept. 11-14 that it consider a special focus
on "ending the violence of occupation in Palestine" in the
framework of the WCC's current Decade to Overcome Violence program, and
possibly to call for an international conference on the subject. As Jean
Zaru of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Ceter in Jerusalem
noted, "Occupation is violence, and in the Decade to Overcome
Violence, we have to expose the structural violence of occupation."
Summing up the value of the meeting, WCC Central
Committee member Bishop Aldo Etchegoyen of the Evangelical Methodist
Church of Argentina said: "Many people have lost hope in this
moment. Many people think peace is impossible. Hope is necessary because
this is more than a program, this is our commitment in favor of life,
justice, peace and people."
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GA actions
ratified (or not) by the presbyteries
A number of the most important actions of the 219th
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confirming most of them as amendments to the PC(USA) Book of Order.
We provided resources to help inform the
reflection and debate, along with updates on the voting.
Our three areas of primary interest have been:
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Amendment 10-A,
which removes the current ban on
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possible candidates for ordination as elder or ministers.
Approved! |
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Amendment 10-2,
which would add the Belhar Confession to our Book of
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Amendment
10-1, which adopts the new Form of Government
that was approved by the Assembly. Approved. |
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PVJ's
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Voices of Sophia blog
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After fifteen years of scholarship
and activism, Voices of Sophia presents a blog. Here, we present the
voices of feminist theologians of all stripes: scholars, clergy,
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and devotees, from many parts of the world, all children of the God
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articles and ensuing discussion we hope to become an active and
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John Harris’ Summit to
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John Shuck’s Shuck and Jive
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Tenn., blogs about spirituality, culture, religion (both organized
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