Cec: three proposals for the Middle East

“Don’t be content just with praying! Act!” That’s the appeal of Christians living in Lebanon, Palestine and Israel, endorsed and relayed by the Conference of European Churches (CEC), an umbrella organization representing 125 Churches of Orthodox, Protestant, Anglican and Old Catholic tradition. An ecumenical delegation to the region has drawn up a wide-ranging report, after making a pastoral visit to Beirut and Jerusalem from 10 to 15 August. The aim of the journey, explains pastor Jean-Arnold de Clermont, President of CEC (among the delegates present), was to “express ecumenical solidarity with the population and Churches that are the victims of the conflict; provide an occasion for the local Churches to express themselves and be heard; meet the leaders of the religious communities (Muslim and Jewish) with which the Churches are in relation; and affirm the strong hope of the ecumenical community in an immediate ceasefire and negotiations under UN aegis to overcome the crisis”. “We listened to the views of Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders in Palestine and Israel – explains de Clermont – who recalled the importance of the interfaith dialogue they had begun and the support they hope to receive from abroad to enable it to develop”. He also pointed out “some reservations expressed about UN Resolution 1701” because in their view “it does not address the crux of the problem”. “Our interlocutors – he adds – forcefully requested a return to the negotiating table, to build a solid peace for the whole region that would permit Israelis and Palestinians to live in States with secure and internationally recognized borders”. According to the CEC President, three roads need to be pursued: “First, we need to reject superficial or deliberately misleading analyses that would divert us from the heart of the problem, which is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; second, we need to exert pressure on our governments and in particular on the US government and on the EU to ensure that this crisis may open peace negotiations and support the American and European Churches in this endeavour; and third, we need to ask our Churches to assume more concrete commitments to justice in the Middle East”.