Episcopal Press and News
Browning to Consult with Palestinian Leaders, Calls for Humanitarian Aid for Iraqis
Episcopal News Service. August 19, 1992 [92172]
As an extension of his deep commitment to the peace process in the Middle East, Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning will consult with members of the Palestinian National Council in Tunis on his way to a World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee meeting at the end of August.
"I accepted the invitation as an opportunity to express my deep conviction that only through peace talks can the integrity of both sides in this conflict be maintained," Browning said before leaving for Tunis. He emphasized the Episcopal Church's position, expressed at recent General Conventions, in support of a "two-state solution," including Israel's right to secure borders and self-determination for the Palestinians.
"We can continue to serve as a bridge between the two parties and convince them that it is important that they continue to talk with each other," Browning added. When asked what he will tell the Palestinians, especially chairman Yasir Arafat, Browning said that he intended to urge the Palestinians to "take the peace process seriously because the climate for peace is better than it has been for a very long time."
Browning acknowledged the risk that some might misunderstand the purpose for the trip, but quickly added that he was "willing to take those risks in an effort to support the fragile Christian community in that part of the world." The presiding bishop and his wife, Patti, have made several extensive trips to the Middle East in recent years to express their solidarity with the Christian churches of the region, especially the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East.
At the WCC Central Committee meeting in Geneva, Browning will join other world church leaders in electing a new general secretary to succeed the Rev. Emilio Castro.
In addition to support of a peace settlement in the Middle East, Browning and 15 other U.S. church leaders have urged President George Bush to ensure that humanitarian aid reaches the people of Iraq.
In an August 2 statement marking the second anniversary of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, the leaders said that the Baghdad government must be "held accountable for its unconscionable policies" toward its citizenry. Yet, the leaders also contended that "as a matter of principle, humanitarian relief should be unconditional.... We express our deep concern that the United Nations Security Council is violating this principle in the case of Iraq, thereby making the health of many Iraqi children apparently contingent on the fulfillment of political requirements of some Security Council members."
The church leaders urged Bush to "act on his commitment to ensure that adequate food and medicine reach the Iraqi people under international supervision while denying [Iraqi President Saddam Hussein] the means to rebuild his weapons of mass destruction."