The Standing Committee of the Primates of the Anglican Communion,
chaired by Archbishop of Canterbury Robert Runcie, expressed to the Israeli
government its "dismay at the appalling loss of [Palestinian] life in Jerusalem
on October 8" at the hands of Israeli security forces. The Anglican statement,
sent by way of the Israeli embassy in London, reiterated the international
consensus in urging a just settlement of the Arab-Israeli-Palestinian conflict on
the basis of Security Council Resolution 242, the so-called land-for-peace
formula. Episcopal Church Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning, a member of
the Standing Committee, shared copies of the statement with President Bush,
Secretary of State Baker, and Thomas Pickering, the U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations. In a related action, World Council of Churches General
Secretary Emilio Castro said on October 12 that Israel is "fully responsible"
for the 21 Palestinian deaths during the Old City incident. Dr. Castro, a
Methodist minister from Uruguay, said the killings have "to be seen as part of
a deliberate policy of the Israeli authorities to change the status of Jerusalem
by a combination of administrative actions and force."
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