Ecumenical & Interfaith
News Network - PCUSA

The Pluralism Project at Harvard University has posted a case study, "A Sign of Division," for educational use on ways the Middle East conflict emerges as a challenge to interfaith relations. Part A of the case goes to the point of a proposed solution and Part B is on outcomes and resolution.

Organized by the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative (NILI), a fifteen person leadership delegation of Jews, Christians, and Muslims went to the Middle East together in December 2009. They agreed on a number of goals and called for active, fair, firm U.S. leadership in 2010 to restart negotiations for a two-state solution. See the blog of one participant and an interview with another.

The World Council of Churches has a Palestine-Israel Ecumenical Forum .The Ecumenical Accompaniment Program in Palestine and Israel, a WCC initiative, has a U.S. program in partnership with Church World Service. Previous American accompaniers (who served three-month terms on international teams) include Presbyterians Robert Traer, Debbie Blane, and Kate Tabor; Elice Higginbotham (pictured) and Max Surjadinata both of the United Church of Christ. See the blog by Higginbotham, who says of her motivation, "I think my real personal objective is 'to find my voice: to be able to speak about Palestine with Jewish friends and colleagues in ways that build bridges rather than undermine relationships.'”

A Canadian church coalition, KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, has protested the cut off of the Canadian International Development Agency funding it had long received based on charges concerning its "leadership role in the boycott, divestment, and sanctions campaign" against Israel. It responded that in 2007 it had actually opposed sanctions and a boycott. A United Church spokesman said the charge "cheapens the reality of anti-Semitism around the world and diminishes the very careful attention it deserves."

A U.S. State Department annual report on international religious freedom says Israel discriminates against non-Orthodox streams of Judaism and against Jewish-born believers in Christianity. The Palestinian Authority. it says, has not done enough to combat Muslim violence against Christians. Additionally, the report cites the difficulties of reaching places of worship and holy sites experienced by both Israelis and Palestinians.

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The Council of Christian Church Leaders of Iraq issued a statement on May 6, 2010, calling on government leaders and political parties to "give priority to the public interest and the security of citizens." The statement followed an attack on a bus carrying Christian university students that led to a death and the injury of nearly 200. The World Council of Churches general secretary also expressed concern about the escalation of violence against Christians.

The Lutheran bishop of Jerusalem offered support and his prayers to the Coptic patriarch following the violence unleashed upon Coptic Christians on the eve of their Christmas in January 2010. The American Jewish Committee (AJC) expressed its "shock and horror." AJC executive director David Harris said, “The litmus test of a healthy society ultimately is the degree to which the security and well-being of minorities is guaranteed." Within the PC(USA), the National Middle East Presbyterian Caucus issued a statement that said, in part, "As Christians who trace our heritage to the witness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we reject violence and aggression, and prayerfully express our sincere concerns for the peace and welfare of all Egyptians regardless of their religious affiliation and ethnicity."

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The Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004 requires the State Department to document and combat acts of anti-Semitism. Its report to Congress, Contemporary Global Anti-Semitism, describes as a new form of anti-Semitism the "criticism of Zionism or Israeli policy that -- whether intentionally or unintentionally -- has the effect of promoting prejudice against all Jews by demonizing Israel and Israelis and attributing Israel's perceived faults to its Jewish character."

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The Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) has used an interfaith, people approach in two-week peacemaking trips to Iran open to general applicants

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Laurie Pierce (pictured), an American who studied in Iran under the Mennonite's Muslim-Christian exchange program, has written What Is Iran? Answers to Common Questions, ISBN #978-0836194463. See the blog she wrote while in Iran.

The United Nations General Assembly has approved a resolution adopted by the UN's Third Committee in late November that condemns Iran for violating the human rights of its citizens. Among other concerns, the resolution cites discrimination against minorities in the Islamic Republic of Iran. These minorities include Christians, Jews, Baha'is, Suuni Muslims, and Sufis.

The American Foreign Policy Project's Joint Experts' Statement on Iran says that Iran's long-standing policy "has been to deny the legitimacy of Israel; to arm and aid groups opposing Israel in Lebanon, Gaza and the West Bank; but also, to promise to accept any deal with Israel that the Palestinians accept." It says that "national self-preservation and regional influence -- not some quest for martyrdom in the service of Islam -- is Iran's main foreign policy goal."

American Jewish organizations polled by JTA placed preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons capability at or nor the top of their hopes for what the U.S. administration and Congress will achieve in 2010.

A joint delegation of the World Council of Churches and the Conference of European Churches urged authorities in Turkey to improve the situation of religious minorities in the Muslim-majority country after a November 2009 visit. Issues include the legal status of churches, property, the right to religious education, and appropriate recognition of the Ecumenical Patriarch (ENI #09-0961).

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Palestinian Christian leaders have issued a Palestinian Kairos document, "A moment of truth: A word of faith, hope and love from the heart of Palestinian suffering" declaring that "the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land is a sin against God and humanity." They condemn both anti-Semitism and Islamophobia. And they "call on individuals, companies and states to engage in divestment and in an economic and commercial boycott of everything produced by the occupation." The report of the PC(USA) Special Committee to Prepare a Comprehensive Study Focused on Israel/Palestine asks the 219th General Assembly to endorse "the emphases on hope, love, non-violence, and reconciliation" found in the Kairos statement. See a full list of the document's signatories. Jerusalem church leaders adopted two statements earlier, in 2006: one a Declaration on Christian Zionism and the other on the Status of Jerusalem.

The pope, in his traditional New Year's message for 2010, called again for "universal recognition of the right of the State of Israel to exist and to enjoy peace and security within internationally recognized borders. Likewise, the right of the Palestinian people to a sovereign and independent homeland, to live in dignity and to enjoy freedom of movement." He also called for "protection of the identity and sacred character of Jerusalem, and of its cultural and religious heritage, which is of universal value." In mid-January, a group of western Roman Catholic bishops issued a communique on "The Courage to Achieve Peace in the Holy Land." They too called for a two-state solution and called attention to the growing distance between Israelis and Palestinians when a lack of human contact undermines trust and dialogue.

Some 85 theologians at an international consultation organized by the World Council of Churches (WCC) on September 10-14, 2008 said that violence in Israel-Palestine challenges Christian theologians to rediscover life-giving biblical metaphors for promoting justice, peace, reconciliation and forgiveness. The Bible "must not be utilized to justify oppression or supply simplistic commentary on contemporary events," they said. Palestinians provided major conference input but so did North American and Europeans scholars who spoke about the results of Christian-Jewish dialogue. See the final statement, the Bern Perspective. See also the Amman Call from 2007.x

The recent assembly of the Fellowship of Middle East Evangelical Churches (FMEEC) in 2010 heard that security concerns and lack of employment opportunities are causing Christians to leave the region in increasing numbers. A region that was once 20% Christian is now about 5% and dropping, some observers say. Rosangela Jarjour is the FMEEC general secretary. See also a Catholic perspective about "the Christian population of the Holy Land [being] in freefall."

A dozen Iraqi church leaders at a meeting called by the World Council of Churches, declared that Christians are deeply rooted in Iraq and an essential part of the society. They want to help with Iraqi rebuilding from a position of having equal rights and responsibilities. They asked western Christians not to encourage migration. See the group's statement.

A lineamenta written in advance of a Special Assembly for the Middle East of the Synod of [Catholic] Bishops deals with the place of Christians in the Middle East region and their relations with Jews and Muslims. The meeting, to take place on October 10-24, 2010, was initiated by Pope Benedict XVI following his May 2009 pilgrimage to the Holy Land, based on his anxiety for "all the churches." It will bring together the leadership of the seven Middle Eastern churches in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, with Armenian, Chaldean, Melkite, Syriac, Coptic, Maronite, and Latin rites. The Vatican document assumes a meaningful role for Christians as a minority in the region.

The National Council of Churches' interfaith relations commission has a brochure, "Why We Should Be Concerned About Christian Zionism," available for download in both English and Spanish. Tony Campolo, an Evangelical, finds Christian Zionist problematic and sees its origin in 19th century dispensational Darbyism. PC(USA) minister Donald Wagner says that Christian Zionism has been around since the 1600s but has now converged with trends in the U.S. fueled by 9/11 fears, end times prophecy, and political conservatism.

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On this web site:

Specific Resources: general Christian-Jewish resources and Christian-Muslim resources

General Assembly: business coming to the PC(USA)'s 219th General Assembly (2010); also archived pages with actions on the Middle East adopted by the PC(USA) 218th General Assembly (2008), actions of the 217th General Assembly (2006) related to the Middle East and to Christian-Jewish relations, and action of the 216th General Assembly on Iraq

Middle East Churches: an archived resource

Presbyterian constituency groupings' web sites:

Israel/Palestine Mission Network (see their partnerships information)

Presbyterians Concerned for Jewish-Christian Relations (see their list of other web sites)

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