Episcopal Press and News
The Urgent Struggle for an Enduring Peace
Episcopal News Service. April 3, 1997 [97-1730]
The Middle East, the Holy Land, the home of our faith and still home to more than 10 million Christians, is poised on the brink of an uncertain future. Its people are searching for a future that could be based either upon the hope for justice and loving coexistence or one that will bow to past antagonisms and an endless cycle of violence and discord.
After my visit to the region -- to attend a meeting of Anglican Primates in Jerusalem and to travel to Gaza and the West Bank, Cyprus, Lebanon and Syria -- I am more convinced than ever that it is critical for the international community to support those who are working for a peaceful future.
Perhaps no two cities capture more clearly both the hopes and the fears of the region than the Holy City of Jerusalem and the war-torn but miraculously tenacious city of Beirut. During our time in Jerusalem we learned of the horrendous murder of Israeli children at the "Island of Peace" between Israel and Jordan. We also witnessed the beginning of the highly controversial construction of the new settlement in East Jerusalem, accompanied by predictions that the fateful decision by the Israeli government might derail the fragile peace process. And in Jerusalem itself, a touchstone of faith for three religions, we experienced a increasing level of distrust.
In Beirut we saw a city that has emerged from 16 years of civil war and external invasions with a seemingly indomitable will to recreate a society in which Christians and Muslims live and work together. Out of the ashes of war is rising a "new," reconstructed Beirut that also clings to the "old" in its attempts to recapture Lebanon's unique vocation of pluralism and coexistence in a region too often torn by national and sectarian rivalries. We were moved and encouraged by the role of the Middle East Council of Churches in this process of reconstruction and rehabilitation.
From our visits with religious and political leaders several common themes emerged:
- 1. Throughout the region people are deeply worried about the future of the peace process and disappointed by the role of the United States as a sponsor of that process. The repeated vetoes by the U.S. of United Nations Security Council resolutions produced both anger and incredulity among Muslims and Christians alike. They questioned the basic fairness of a process in which one side expressed almost uncritical support of only one partner in the process.
- 2. Many expressed concern about the emigration of Christians, a growing phenomenon throughout the region stemming from a variety of reasons -- worries about religious extremism, a shaky economic climate, the constant threat of war.
- 3. We walked through dusty refugee camps of Gaza and southern Lebanon where, in some cases, several generations of Palestinians stubbornly cling to the hope that the international community will remember their plight as they try to survive with diminishing support from the United Nations.
- 4. The Lebanese expressed frustration with the continued ban on travel to that country by American citizens, arguing that the ban is no longer justified by the security situation and may even be punitive toward Lebanon as a result of its role in the peace process. The ban is particularly galling to U.S. churches that have had a long and honorable tradition of work there.
- 5. From all of our conversations we sense incomprehension and deep hurt over the caricatures of the people of the Middle East in much of American society. We were constantly urged to ask members of our churches to visit and experience not only the problems but the strength of diverse cultures seeking new ways to live together in peace.
We returned from our trip with a renewed commitment to the people and the churches of the Middle East -- and a resolve to work for peace. I pledge my own personal efforts to communicate what we learned to church and government leaders and to work for a just and loving policy toward the peoples of a land that is still holy.