Churches Oppose Jerusalem Settlement

CHURCHES OPPOSE JERUSALEM SETTLEMENT

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) told President Bill
Clinton it is "gravely concerned about recent Israeli decisions
that jeopardize the peace process."  In a March 7 letter the
organization asked the administration, "as sponsor of the
peace process and friend of Israel, to convince Israel to
refrain from actions which create facts-on-the-ground and
preempt final status negotiations on Jerusalem."  CMEP is a
coalition of the Washington public policy offices of member
churches and organizations including the Evangelical
Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).  The letter cited
Clinton's stated view that "the Israeli decision to construct a
new settlement, Har Homa, does not build confidence and
indeed it builds mistrust."  It urged Clinton to "publicly state
U.S. opposition to Har Homa in order to restore the
confidence of those committed to peace."  The organization
wrote, "As Christians committed to working for peace, we
support a negotiated solution for Jerusalem that respects the
human and political rights of both Palestinians and Israelis,
as well as the rights of the three religious communities.  We
appeal to you to make that possible."  The Rev. Mark B.
Brown signed the letter on behalf of the ELCA; he is
assistant director for advocacy, Lutheran Office for
Governmental Affairs.  In a background paper CMEP says,
"For Israel to build a new exclusively-Jewish neighborhood on
land that historically was Palestinian and whose sovereignty
is subject to negotiation is a slap in the face of the peace
process."  It continues, "There is concern in Bethlehem that
Christian tourists, the principal source of income in
Bethlehem, would be re-routed to Har Homa, the so-called
Bethlehem of Israel."

For information contact:
Ann Hafften, Director (773) 380-2958 or NEWS@ELCA.ORG
http://www.elca.org/co/news/current.html