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2007-07-03 issue:

Peace delegation visits Palestine/Israel

Group will present letter at San José 2007 that calls for church involvement.

by Mennonite Church USA

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After visiting Palestine/Israel May 11-24, a Mennonite Church USA delegation is encouraging the church and its institutions to get involved in the region in ways that provide hope and promote peace.

From left: Rich Meyer, J. Daryl Byler, Mark Regier and Atallah Salem stand by a graffiti wall visited by the Mennonite Church USA delegation to Israel/Palestine.

Noting deteriorating human rights for Palestinians, the delegation’s open letter to congregations says the power imbalance of Israelis over Palestinians distorts the lives of everyone living in the region and fails to provide longed-for security. The delegation believes the system of forced segregation and systemic oppression imposed by the Israeli government and the resulting spiral of violence calls for all Mennonites to work collaboratively in the region.

The delegation asks congregations and pastors to learn more about the issues in Palestine and Israel and calls on institutions and individuals to make investment decisions in Israel/Palestine that promote peace and do not support the illegal occupation and the ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people. The letter encourages agencies to work together to become bridge-builders among alienated factions in the region.

The delegation letter asks congregations to study resources that counter the distortions of land and promise in Christian Zionism and encourages tour groups visiting Palestine/Israel to consider spending part of their time in Palestinian communities such as Bethlehem and Nazareth.

A 30-foot-high separation wall 400 miles long separates many Palestinians from their land. Because the Israeli government is not constructing the wall on the internationally recognized border (the Green Line) but further into occupied West Bank, about 60 Palestinian communities will be trapped between the wall and the border.

Since occupying East Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967, Israel—in clear violation of international law—has built more than 200 settlements on Palestinian land. A system of roads and checkpoints further isolate Palestinian villages from each other.

“We are seeing a process of squeezing the Palestinians that remain into as small an area as possible,” Israeli peace activist Amos Gvirtz told the delegation. He said the Israeli government, in a deliberate fashion, continues to claim more Palestinian land and demolish Palestinian homes, even during the peace process.

Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights told the delegation that the steps Israel takes to hold on to its land are making the country morally unfit to own the land. In March 2005, Ascherman was convicted of blocking bulldozers with his body to prevent demolition of the Dari family home in Issawiya, East Jerusalem. The Dari home has been demolished twice by Israeli authorities.

Standing on the site of the demolition of the Dari home May 14, Rabbi Ascherman asked, “How can I watch the image of God being demolished with this house?” Ascherman said Jews should be God’s partners in making a better world. He noted that a recent survey showed that a majority of Jews and Palestinians want peace, but each group believes that the other does not.

“Without blind support from the United States for over 40 years, this occupation could not have worked,” said Samia Khoury of Sabeel, a Palestinian Christian theological study center in Jerusalem. The United States provides $3 billion in military aid to Israel each year.
“But we still believe that peace is possible and that Jews, Christians and Muslims can live together,” said Cedar Duaybis, also of Sabeel.

Delegation members included representatives from Mennonite Mission Network, Mennonite Church USA Executive Board and Executive Leadership, MMA [Mennonite Mutual Aid], Christian Peacemaker Teams, Mennonite Economic Development Associates and Mennonite Central Committee U.S. The delegation was formed in response to concerns within the Peace and Justice Partnership Council of Mennonite Church USA that agencies should have a common experience around issues relating to investment policies. 

The delegation’s letter to congregations urges Christians to rediscover God, as revealed in the Old Testament and in Jesus, as the One whose compassion and care extend to all people—Israelis and Palestinians alike.

The delegation plans to present its letter to delegates at the San José 2007 Delegate Assembly of Mennonite Church USA.

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