Fw: Condolences to the Palestinian people

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Cmepdc@aol.com

To: undisclosed-recipients:

Sent: Thursday, November 11, 2004 5:07 PM

Subject: Condolences to the Palestinian people

November 11, 2004

 

TO: Churches for Middle East Peace Email Network

FROM: Corinne Whitlatch

RE: Condolences to the Palestinian people

This email alert is also posted on our website at: http://www.cmep.org/Alerts/2004Nov11.htm

 

This note was faxed to the PLO Mission to the United States this morning. Following the CMEP note is an excerpt from a statement of the Lutheran World Federation.   

 

 On behalf of Churches for Middle East Peace, Corinne Whitlatch sends condolences to the Palestinian people.  We join them as they mourn the loss of their historic leader and president, Yasser Arafat.

 

We remember his life of service to the Palestinian people. Yasser Arafat’s long commitment to good relations between Palestinian Christians and Muslims sets an important example for his people and the region, and we hope it will be part of his legacy. 

 

The refusal of Prime Minister Sharon and President Bush to negotiate with President Arafat has blocked a political process for far too long. We urge resumption of a political process that can restore hope to both Israelis and Palestinians that their future has promise. We pray that Yasser Arafat’s dedication to a Palestinian state living in peace with its neighbor Israel will come to fruition.

  

(Excerpt) Statement from the Lutheran World Federation on Yasser Arafat's Death
 

"Yasser Arafat's death is a seismic event in both Palestinian and Israeli history, the consequences of which are unpredictable. However, opportunity as well as risk invariably accompanies such a change. In this new era in the entangled history of Israelis and Palestinians in the Holy Land, a renewed and active commitment by leaders of both communities to dialogue instead of violence can yet bring peace to a land wracked by conflict. Israelis and Palestinians must together find a way to peace - a genuine peace that is secured by justice, mutual acceptance and reconciliation. They must find a way to break the mutually self-destructive cycle of violence. Both peoples share a land, a heritage and a promise. For the children of Abraham, both Israelis and Palestinians, there is no alternative to peaceful co-existence.

We pray that God will loosen hatred's grip on human hearts, and that God's peace will descend on the land of Christ's birth. We pray that Israelis and Palestinians will work together for peace. We call on the Palestinian leadership and the Government of Israel to grasp the opportunity for change and for a return to dialogue. And we call on the Government of the United States of America, the other members of the 'Quartet', and all members of the international community to re-engage in the search for peace in Israel-Palestine and to accompany its peoples and their leaders on the path to peace."

 

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Formed in 1984, Churches for Middle East Peace is a Washington-based program of the Alliance of Baptists, American Friends Service Committee, Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of America, Catholic Conference of Major Superiors of Men's Institutes, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), Church of the Brethren, Church World Service, Episcopal Church, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Franciscan Mission Service, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, Maryknoll Missioners, Mennonite Central Committee, National Council of Churches, Presbyterian Church (USA), Reformed Church in America, Unitarian Universalist Association, United Church of Christ, and the United Methodist Church (GBCS & GBGM) .  For further information, see www.cmep.org  

 

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