National Christian Leaders Call for Bold Action, U.S. Presidential Trip to Middle East

Twenty national church leaders sent a letter yesterday urging President Obama to open up broad new channels of diplomatic effort to help bring Israelis and Palestinians closer to peace. The church leaders urge the president to visit the region soon with members of the Middle East Quartet (U.S., EU, UN, and Russia) as a part of this concerted effort to achieve a just, lasting, and comprehensive peace.

Drawing on the Arab Peace Initiative and consulting with all the powers in the region, a bold and innovative new initiative must also help to overcome the deep fear and mistrust that has crippled past efforts to reach agreement on specific issues.

As revolution and change ripple across the Middle East, the time to act is now. These church leaders call for a comprehensive and multilateral approach that bypasses interim agreements and seeks a just, secure, and definitive end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“The indefinite continuation of the current political status quo between Israelis and Palestinians is an invitation to political instability or worse.  We are asking for the sake of both Israelis and Palestinians that the international community, with U.S. leadership, act with urgency and commitment to create the conditions necessary for peace,” said CMEP Executive Director Warren Clark.

Only then, the letter states, “can peace, healing, and reconciliation of neighbors for which we all pray be achieved, so that all involved may have life more abundantly.”

For the full text of the statement, including the signees, please click here.