Christian Leaders Condemn Violence in Jerusalem, Pray for Peace
Episcopal News Service. March 7, 1996 [96-1403]
(ENS) Presiding Bishop Edmond Browning joined the archbishop of Canterbury and other Christian leaders around the world in condemning the recent wave of suicide bombings that has rocked Jerusalem.
In a letter to President Bill Clinton, Browning said that "there is no justification in any of the Abrahamic faiths for these heinous acts," adding that he supported Clinton's call "for the peace process to go forward more than ever because of the sacrifice of so many innocent lives."
The Islamic extremist group Hamas has claimed responsibility for the four bombings, which have killed 61 people, saying that they were in retaliation for the assassination of a Hamas bombmaker, reportedly by Israeli security forces. The New York Times reported March 7, however, that a captured Palestinian accused of recruiting three of the bombers has claimed the attacks were intended to disrupt the political process toward Middle East peace.
"I urgently call upon you to make a dramatic, public witness to the irreversibility of the peace process" that would "affirm that the cause of peace cannot be extinguished by the violent hatred of a few," Browning told Clinton.
Archbishop of Canterbury George Carey expressed his horror over the recent upsurge of violence in Jerusalem in letters to Prime Minister Shimon Peres of Israel and President Yasser Arafat of the Palestinian Authority.
Carey said that he is "alarmed that these incidents could lead to a return to the appalling spiral of violence, hatred and revenge at a time when peace was within reach."
While saying he could not "judge what course of action should be taken," Carey pleaded for restraint. "It is now more urgent than ever to insist upon the search for peace, and to resist the spiral of violence, reprisals and intimidation which could so easily resume," he said.
"This is just one more example of how extreme fundamentalism seeks to destroy rather than up build God's children, whether they be Christian, Muslim or Jews," observed the Rev. Canon John L. Peterson, secretary general of the Anglican Communion, who as dean of St. George's College lived in Jerusalem for 12 years. He stressed his "great compassion" for "all the innocent people whose daily lives are threatened by such outbursts of violence and outrage."
The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) also expressed compassion for the victims and their families, but warned that a harsh response from Israel to the bombings could appear to "prove to extremists that their strategies are effective and that their cause is advancing."
In a statement March 5, Riad Jarjour, MECC general secretary, said, "Israel would be wise not to carry out threats either to quarantine Israeli society from exposure to Palestinians, or to create a political climate which holds guilty the vast majority whose only 'crime' it has been to dream of and work of those things which make for peace."
The Most Rev. Samir Kafity, primate of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, joined the patriarchs and other church leaders of Jerusalem in condemning "all acts of violence, whatever their origin" and calling for prayer among Christians around the world.
"Human life is a sacred gift from God who created all men and women in his very own image and no one has the right to desecrate it," said the statement from Anglican, Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Greek Catholic church leaders. "We state unequivocally our belief that violence can never lead to peace, whether it comes from groups or states. Palestinians and Israelis must not allow violence and extremism to deter their quest and efforts for peace at this critical moment in our history."
The church leaders called for cooperation "to create a climate of peace in the area based on full respect of the human person." And they contended that religious authorities had a "responsibility and a role in the creation and the facilitation of a new atmosphere of peace." They concluded that "peace is the only guarantee for tranquility and security of all."
Kafity, who is a Palestinian, said, "My own people are equally devastated and numbed by the events of this past week. Yet we must not be deterred from the quest for true justice and peace."
In a letter meant to be read in Episcopal churches in the diocese on Sunday, March 10, Kafity called on church members to "raise the voice of peace" so that "peace may be the prime mover of our thoughts, concepts, words and actions."
Noting that the archbishop of Canterbury has called for a day of prayer for peace in Ireland on March 10, Kafity said, "May we on this same Sunday in the churches of the Anglican Communion join in prayer for Ireland and Jerusalem."
"Anyone who does not work for peace and justice is working against his own people, no matter who they are," said Bishop Riah Abu el-Assal, bishop coadjutor of Jerusalem. "I am convinced that peace will come, not the work of terrorism."