More Religious Leaders Endorse Alexandria Declaration for Mideast Peace
Episcopal News Service. March 27, 2002 [2002-078]
Jan Nunley
(ENS) Support is growing among U.S. religious leaders for a declaration signed in January by leaders of the three Abrahamic faiths which calls for a "religiously sanctioned cease-fire" in Jerusalem and the Holy Land.
The First Alexandria Declaration of the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land was originally issued in Alexandria, Egypt, on January 21. In addition to a cease-fire "respected and observed on all sides," it also calls for "the implementation of the Mitchell and Tenet recommendations, including the lifting of restrictions and return to negotiations" on the part of Israelis and Palestinians.
Signers of the Alexandria Declaration include the Sephardi Chief Rabbi in Israel, a representative of Israel's Chief Rabbinical Council, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel, the sheik who heads the Palestine Authority's religious courts, the sheik who leads the world's supreme Sunni Muslim institution, the Orthodox, Armenian, and Latin (Roman Catholic) Patriarchs, and the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem.
Bishops affirm Alexandria Declaration
At a recent meeting of the Episcopal Church's House of Bishops, 79 bishops signed a statement affirming the Alexandria Declaration and urging "the leadership of the warring factions and the United States to move immediately to end the futile and immoral bloodshed and violence in Israel and Palestine."
The statement read: "We, the undersigned bishops of the Episcopal Church, meeting in Navasota, Texas, March 7-12, 2002, personally affirm the principles of The First Alexandria Declaration of the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land, and we implore the government of the United States of America to use all peaceful methods at its disposal to encourage this initiative for peace in the Holy Land in this period of escalating, mutually destructive violence."
The statement was sent to President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Colin Powell, John Sununu, Charles F. Bass, Judd Gregg, Robert C. Smith, Palestinian Liberation Organization ambassador Hasan Abdel Rahman, the Permanent Observer, Mission of Palestine to the United Nations, the Permanent Mission of Israel to the United Nations, and Ambassador David Ivry.
"While (this statement) breaks no new ground for us as the Episcopal Church, the bishops who have endorsed it welcome its contribution to the ongoing search for peace in the Holy Land and particularly appreciate the breadth of interfaith support it enjoys," said Bishop Christopher Epting, the Episcopal Church's deputy for ecumenical and interfaith relations.
Unprecedented collaboration
Meeting on March 26 at St. John's Episcopal Church in Lafayette Square, the "Church of the Presidents" not far from the White House, a group of Washington religious leaders endorsed the Alexandria Declaration and commended it to their constituents during Passover, Holy Week, and Islamic observances.
Allen Bartlett, assisting bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, who convened the gathering, said, "The Alexandria Declaration is an unprecedented collaboration in which the most senior Muslim, Jewish, and Christian leaders from the Holy Land are calling for an end to the bloodshed and violence, have recognized the sanctity of the Holy Land for all three faiths, and pledged to work together to ensure a just peace."
In addition to its endorsement of the Declaration, the Washington gathering announced a major interfaith Vigil for Peace, to be held at the Washington National Cathedral on Sunday, May 5 at 7:30 PM. This will be done in conjunction with similar observances in Jerusalem the same day, arranged by signatories of the Alexandria Declaration.