Resolved, The Executive Council, meeting in Portland,
Oregon, March 2-4, expresses its continuing deep concern for the situation in
the Middle East, including increased regional tensions, the escalating violence
in Iraq, the lack of progress on the vision of a two-state solution for
Israelis and Palestinians, and instability in Lebanon; and therefore, the
Council:
is encouraged by the announcement of Secretary of State Rice that
the United States will participate in international meetings sponsored by the
Government of Iraq that will include Syria and Iran;
opposes U.S. military action against the Islamic Republic of Iran
and urges regional diplomacy, including both Iran and Syria in bilateral
relations, and asks that the U.S. Government refrain from actions that could
undermine efforts to constructively engage Iran;
encourages strengthening U.S. ties in the region with civil
society such as academia, non-governmental
organizations, the media, and religious groups as important steps toward
building relationships and improving the goodwill once enjoyed by the US around
the world, and commends the recent ecumenical delegation to Iran, which
included the Episcopal Church’s Director of Government Relations, and endorses
its conclusions calling upon the two governments to
immediately engage in direct face-to-face talks, cease using language that
defines the other using "enemy" images, and promote more people to
people exchanges including religious leaders, members of Parliament/Congress,
and civil society;
acknowledges that the Church already has said that military
action has not and will not resolve the conflicts in the region, encourages
the U.S. government, in consultation with leaders in Iraq and in its
neighboring countries, to set and announce a deadline for full military
disengagement, recognizing the sacrifice of U.S. forces in Iraq and the
suffering of the Iraqi people; and
believes that peace between Israelis and Palestinians is central
to the search for peace in the region, and therefore urgently draws attention
to existing Church policy that encourages the U.S. Government to pursue evenhandedly
a two-state solution with other international partners that ends the
occupation, provides full recognition of Israel and Palestine by the nations of
the world as well as security for both, with a shared Jerusalem as the capital
of both Israel and Palestine.
