August 1988, Page 29

Religion and the Middle East

By the Rev. L. Humphrey Walz

Presbyterians Address Palestine-Israel Issues

A portion of a report entitled "Christian Obedience in a Nuclear Age," endorsed by the 200th Presbyterian General Assembly at St. Louis in June, deals with Palestinian-Israeli problems. In line with comparable statements by Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant bodies, it calls upon Palestinians "to exert sustained efforts to control acts of violence in order to facilitate the peace process," and upon Israel to "cease the systematic violation of the human rights of Palestinians in the occupied territories ... end the policies and practices of beatings and food and fuel embargoes in the attempt to subjugate and break the will of the Palestinian population ... end the settlements policy and the acquisition of land within the occupied territories ... end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza ... and participate in an international peace conference ... to meet with the Palestinian people ... and resolve the outstanding differences that confront the two peoples."

The resolution calls upon the US government to "discourage retaliation as a counter-terror strategy in the Middle East ... insist that weapons supplied by the United States for Israel's defense not be used against civilian populations in the occupied territories ... condemn the excessive use of force, and human rights abuses by the government of Israel in the occupied territories, stop all aid to Israel which subsidizes new Israeli settlements in the occupied territories... resist efforts to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem ... give public support to the concept of an international peace conference ... and permit the continued work of the PLO mission to the United Nations in New York." The resolution "calls upon all parties to recognize that retaliatory vengeance will not lead to justice, peace or security."

Churches, Elections, and Middle East Issues

Dr. Elwyn Ewald, executive director of the Evangelical Lutheran Office for Governmental Affairs, said that churches should play a role in presidential and congressional election campaigns by forcing candidates to take a stand on various issues, especially "what US policy should be regarding the Israeli/Palestinian question." Predicting that "the Middle East conflict will be a major issue on the agenda of the new Congress," he stressed the importance of thinking through and working out "both Israel's right to secure boundaries and the Palestinians' right to have their own state, and whether there should be an exchange of land for peace."

Churches, Racial Justice, and Palestinians

The "Open Letter to the Churches" from the 1988 International Consultation on Racism and Racial Justice begins with a confession of the churches' own "culpability in the maintenance of institutional racism" and their unreadiness "to understand and accept new racial realities as they appear." It urges "that the churches, from the hierarchy to the local congregations, listen to the stories of social injustice from ... their pews and in the world and to feel their pain."

In relation to the Middle East it calls the churches "to support the rights of the Palestinian peoples to secure a homeland and to give immediate attention to and begin dialogue with Palestinian support groups."

The consultation was convened by the US commissioner of the World Council of Churches and held in Los Angeles.

The Rev. L. Humphrey Wa1z, D.D., retired associate executive of the Presbyterian Synod of the Northeast, is active in denominational and ecumenical peacemaking movements.