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November 8, 2007

Holy Land religious leaders lobby Washington

by Beckie Supiano
Religion News Service   

WASHINGTON – Leaders of the Jewish, Muslim and Christian faiths in the Holy Land on Wednesday (Nov. 7) announced a series of practical steps toward achieving unity and curbing violence in the region.

The group, which came together in 2005 as the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land, made its first visit to the U.S. in advance of a Middle East peace summit that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is planning in Annapolis, MD.

While the religious leaders do not intend to be at the Annapolis meeting, they said their efforts to protect places of worship and stem derogatory depictions of faith parallel the policy changes being hashed out by the politicians.

While the Holy Land council is not political, Rabbi David Rosen of the American Jewish Committee’s office in Jerusalem said a political solution cannot be achieved unless the religious dimension of the conflict in Israel and Palestine is addressed.

The council represents major religious organizations in both Israel and Palestine, including Israel’s chief rabbis, Palestinian Islamic law clerics, Lutheran and Anglican bishops, and patriarchs from the Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches.

“We are here to say that we are not the problem – we are a part of the solution,” said Patriarch Michel Sabah, Israel’s top Catholic archbishop, at the news conference.

The council was formed in response to the Alexandria Declaration of 2002, in which religious leaders pledged to help end violence in the Holy Land.

The council’s U.S. trip is funded by a grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development, as well as support from U.S. religious organizations.