A Call for Middle East Peace

Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological Seminary (my alma mater), has published the text of a letter sent to Secretary of State Condi Rice, calling for a meeting between a group of religious leaders and the secretary to discuss the issue of the Arab-Israeli/Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Among the signers of this letter from the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East is the General Minister and President of my own denomination, the Rev. Dr. Sharon Watkins.

This is a well crafted and important message to the Bush administration that carries signatures of important Christian, Jewish, and Muslim leaders. I hope that Secretary Rice will heed their call for a meeting.

These two paragraphs are important statements that push the US government on taking a lead role in bringing peace to this region:

What is most needed now is a renewed commitment by the United States to provide active, creative and determined leadership, in coordination with the Quartet, as a top priority of U.S. foreign policy. Whatever develops in terms of a possible change of course for U.S. policy in Iraq, we believe a commitment by the Administration, with the support of Congress, to actively reengage in pursuing Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace is essential and will have positive reverberations in the region and around the world.

As members of the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative we are committed to working with the Administration and with Congress to support active, fair and firm U.S. leadership to help Israelis, Palestinians and the Arab states achieve a just peace. We commit ourselves to building public support for peace with justice for all in the region.

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