c. 1998 Religion News Service
CANTERBURY, England _ With virtually no opposition, the Lambeth Conference adopted a resolution Wednesday (Aug. 5) urging the government of Israel”to recognize the right of Palestinians, Christians and Muslims alike, to build their own homes and establish their own institutions in Jerusalem.” It also said Jerusalem, whose status is”fundamental to any just and lasting peace settlement,”should serve as the capital of two”sovereign”states _ Israel and Palestine _ with free access by Jews, Muslims and Christians.
The resolution also called on the United Nations, the United States and European nations to”demonstrate as firm a commitment to justice for Palestinians as they do for the security of the state of Israel.” Calling East Jerusalem an integral part of the occupied territories, it said all political arrangements relating to the territories _ issues of self-determination, release of prisoners, right of return, and eventual sovereignty _ should include East Jerusalem. The continued building and expansion of Jewish settlements within Jerusalem and the occupied territories”remains a major obstacle to any just and lasting peace.” The resolution went on to urge political leaders of countries where the Anglican Communion exists to encourage the Israeli government and the Palestinian Authority to work urgently for a just and lasting peace settlement.
Such a settlement, the prelates said, would include fair and proper provision for the right of return of Palestinians dispossessed by the conflicts of the past 50 years.
The resolution also said the serious population decline of the Christian community in the Holy Land posed a”substantial threat”to the threefold presence of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in Jerusalem.
Bishop Riah Abu el-Assal of Jerusalem, who introduced the resolution, said he believed there is a possibility an indigenous Christian presence could cease to exist in Jerusalem. There were 28,000 Christians in Jerusalem in 1967. Now, he said, there are only 8,000.
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