In order to avoid the failure of Annapolis it’s necessary that “all parties at stake act in good faith”, these are the hopes of Samuel Kobia, Methodist pastor of Kenya and secretary general of the Ecumenical Council of Churches in a letter sent to Condoleeza Rice, US Secretary of State, to Ehud Olmert, Israeli Prime Minister, and to Mahmoud Abbas, President of the Palestinian National Authority. On the eve of the summit on the Middle East of Annapolis in Maryland (USA), attended by over 50 states and bodies to relaunch the peace process, Pastor Kobia asked Rice, Olmert and Abbas to involve and recognize in the process those parties which have a legitimate interest in the resolution of the conflict. “This will have to take place in the full respect of international law”, Pastor Kobia affirmed. Kobia said that “putting and end to the isolation of Gaza and the collective punishment of its 1.5 million inhabitants; putting an end to attacks on civilians on both sides; releasing prisoners who have not been granted a fair trial; freezing the expansion of all forms of settlement; ceasing land expropriation; interrupting the erection of the security barrier; opening negotiations on the Golan Heights and other well-known provisions, if undertaken, will strengthen the Annapolis process. If they are not respected they will weaken and hinder the peace process”. The EEC is a communion of over 340 Anglican, Protestant and Orthodox Churches present in over 100 countries, representing 550 million Christians. It was founded in 1948 and has its seat in Geneva (Switzerland).
