ELCA NEWS SERVICE April 19, 2004 ELCA Council Calls on Bush to Reconsider Middle East Matters 04-067-JB CHICAGO (ELCA) -- The Church Council of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) expressed "grave concern regarding recent unilateral initiatives" being considered by the State of Israel, and called on U.S. President George W. Bush to reconsider his recent support of Israel's planned actions. The council "strongly affirmed" the principle of a negotiated Middle East peace settlement "within the context of international support" as outlined in the Road Map for Peace. The Road Map was developed in 2003 by the United States, European Union, United Nations and Russia. The Church Council is the ELCA's board of directors and serves as the legislative authority of the church between churchwide assemblies. The council met here April 17-18. Assemblies are held every other year; the next is Aug. 8-14, 2005, in Orlando, Fla. Last week, Bush announced changes in U.S. policy on the Middle East. While Bush said he supported Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's plan to withdraw from the Gaza Strip, Bush also said he supported Israel's desire to keep some Israeli settlements in the West Bank and implied support for Israel's construction of a security or separation wall in the West Bank. Palestinians criticized Bush's statements as an unwelcome change in longstanding U.S. Middle East policy. U.N. Secretary- General Kofi Annan and the European Union were also critical of Bush's statements. In its action, the council noted that Bush's support for Sharon's unilateral actions "has potentially compromised the leadership role of the United States in the process of negotiation and reconciliation between the Israelis and Palestinians within the framework of the Road Map for Peace." The council also noted that in June 2003 Bush "pledged the active, determined leadership of the United States in support of the Road Map." That plan "provides a framework for an end to all acts of violence as essential to building peace," the council said. In a separate but related action, the council affirmed a statement of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), "Break Down the Walls," which called for an end to both the construction of the West Bank wall and the creation and support of settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories. The LWF action criticized the wall as an obstacle to Middle East peace. Among other things, the council's resolution urged ELCA members to learn more about the situation in Israel and Palestine; encouraged ELCA units to continue their collaboration with Jewish organizations "that work in solidarity with the Palestinian people"; and reaffirmed previous ELCA churchwide assembly actions which called for an end to violence, an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and recognition of the "sovereignty and territorial integrity of every state in the area." The council requested that the ELCA Division for Church in Society communicate the resolution to Bush, the U.S. Secretary of State, the government of Israel and the Palestinian Authority. It also asked DCS to encourage ELCA members to communicate the resolution to their elected representatives in the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. In a brief discussion, the Rev. Mark S. Hanson, ELCA presiding bishop, told the council that an interfaith group of U.S. religious leaders is waiting for confirmation of a date to meet directly with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to discuss Middle East peace concerns. At a news conference in Washington, D.C., last December, the interfaith leaders announced a 12-step plan for Middle East peace. They also said they would mobilize broad public support for active U.S. leadership to pursue Middle East peace for all. The Rev. John C. Richter, council member, Wyomissing, Pa., said he had visited the West Bank. Richter called the wall "reprehensible," but he told Hanson that his concern is that council resolutions on the Middle East may compromise the church's ability to be a "peacemaker." In response, Hanson said he believes the church's role in the Middle East is to address injustices. "I don't think being a peacemaker is never to hold a position," Hanson said. Council member Ghassan "Gus" Khoury, Mt. Prospect, Ill., said the wall is not a good idea because it divides the Palestinian people and portions of the West Bank, isolating populations. "We desperately need resolutions like this," he said. "I thank Bishop Hanson for his leadership in this area." --- The full text of "Break Down the Walls" is available at http://www.lutheranworld.org/News/LWI/EN/1406.EN.html on the Internet. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news