US Adminstration Responds to Church Leaders’ letter on peace in the Middle East
US Adminstration Responds to Church Leaders’ letter on peace in the Middle East
On June 4, a broad and diverse group of national American Christian leaders today sent a letter to President Obama on the heels of his historic speech in Cairo. The message of support expressed gratitude for President Obama’s efforts at reaching out to the Muslim world and for making Israeli-Palestinian peace a top priority of his Administration. But it also expressed grave concern over the “deteriorating situation in the Holy Land” and urged the Obama Administration to make real and concrete progress in achieving a just peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
In response to that letter, Jeffrey Feltman, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near East Affairs, wrote to the Christian leaders this letter of June 24. The letter, on behalf of President Obama, was addressed to the original committee that drafted and circulated the letter, which included leaders of Churches for Middle East Peace, Ron Sider of Evangelicals for Social Action, Jim Wallis of Sojourners, Lynn Hybels of Willow Creek Community Church, Stephen Colecchi of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and Dr. Bill Shaw of the National Baptist Convention.
The State Department letter begins with an expression of appreciation for the Christian community’s “work to advance our collective goal of realizing a comprehensive Middle East peace.” It lays out the obligations that the Administration has placed on all parties, including Israel, the Palestinians and the Arab states and includes key paragraphs on the Gaza situation and Palestinian Christians.
Click here to read about the church leaders’ June 4, and the text of the letter.
Click here to read Mr. Feltman’s response from the US Administration.