07731
November 9, 2007

Respect for holy sites central to MidEast peace say faith leaders

by Chris Herlinger
Ecumenical News International

NEW YORK — A group of Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders from the Middle East has pledged to make the protection of holy sites a foundation of any peace effort for the region.

“Each religious community should treat the holy sites of other faiths in a manner that respects their integrity and independence and avoids any act of desecration, aggression, or harm,” 10 members of the Council of Religious Institutions of the Holy Land said in a statement following November 4-6 meetings in Washington DC.

The leaders said they support the designation of Jerusalem’s Old City as a World Heritage Site and will “work to secure open access to the Old City for all communities, and seek a common vision for [a] city which all of us regard as holy.”

The declaration came in advance of a Middle East peace summit scheduled to begin in late November at Annapolis, Maryland.

Those issuing the statement included Rabbi David Rosen, President of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultations, Michel Sabbah, the Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarch of Jerusalem, and Sheikh Tayser Rajab al-Tamimi, the Supreme Judge of Sharia Courts in Palestine.

“We are not a problem. We are part of the solution,” the Reuters news agency quoted Sabbah as saying at a November 7 media conference in Washington.

The issue of desecration or harm to sites has long been a concern in Jerusalem, a city deemed holy by all three religious groups. In their statement, the religious leaders acknowledged that each religion’s respective holy places “have become a major element in our conflict.”

The leaders said they lament this because, “our respective attachments to our holy places should not be a cause of bloodshed, let alone be sites of violence or other expressions of hatred.”

Steps proposed by the leaders included “'hot line’ procedures of rapid communication” to address and advise government officials about the protection of sites in situations where they may be under threat.