c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) Hoping to capitalize on the momentum created by the current re-examination of U.S. policy in the Middle East, an interfaith group of prominent religious leaders is pressing the Bush administration to place the Israeli-Palestinian conflict higher on its agenda for the region.

The National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East, in a letter to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, cited “a new urgency” for reviving serious negotiations and achieving a more lasting peace in the conflict that has shaped the Middle East for more than half a century.

“While Palestinian and Israeli leaders have essential roles, U.S. leadership is crucial to halting the violence, and restarting and successfully completing Israeli-Palestinian and Israeli-Arab negotiations for peace,” the religious leaders, from 29 organizations, told Rice in a letter Tuesday (Dec. 12).

The letter was one of a number of efforts by religious groups to refocus attention on the Middle East in order to achieve some progress on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Prompted by the deteriorating situation in Iraq, President Bush has embarked on a wide-ranging review of U.S. policy, including a look at proposals by the Iraq Study Group, a bipartisan commission that released its 142-page report Dec. 6.

A key recommendation of that report is jump-starting the stalled negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis as part of a “new diplomatic offensive” to reduce tensions in the region.

The same day the letter was sent to Rice, British Prime Minister Tony Blair told a news conference there is “nothing more important” in world politics than resolving the “deadlock” in the Middle East peace process.

Blair also touched on a significant obstacle to an Israeli-Palestinian peace: the refusal of Israel and Western governments to deal with Hamas, the militant group that controls the Palestinian government and refuses to recognize Israel’s right to exist.

On the other side, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has firmly rejected any link between resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the war in Iraq, while holding open the possibility of talks with a Palestinian unity government.

The religious leaders, who as a group have been pushing the U.S. on the issue since 2003, insisted they “are not naive about the obstacles that lie ahead” but said “at this time of crisis and danger, we must speak a word of hope.”

Their “elements of a way forward” include a call for Washington to encourage Palestinian leaders to “make clear” that they support a two-state solution with Israel. Palestinian leaders must also “clearly reject violence, recognize Israel, accept previous agreements and be committed … to the creation of a viable, independent, democratic state in the West Bank and Gaza living side by side with Israel.”

The U.S., they said, should encourage Israel to remove “illegal outposts,” halt expansion of settlements, avoid constructing the “security barrier” in areas that infringe on Palestinian land, and reiterate its commitment that the wall’s route does not prejudge final borders. The leaders’ letter does not address the issue of already existing settlements in the occupied territories.

The U.S. should also encourage Arab states to “undertake diplomatic initiatives to restart and advance Israeli-Syrian and Israeli-Lebanese negotiations for peace,” the leaders said.

Notably absent from the religious leaders’ comprehensive plan was any mention of Iran, whose increasingly assertive role in the region raises significant questions, especially on Iraq and Lebanon.

“The unique role of the United States in the region and in the world gives our nation a special responsibility to pursue peace,” the religious leaders said. “The United States must make peace in the Middle East an urgent priority.”

Middle East peace was also on the agenda of Pope Benedict XVI and the World Council of Churches this week.

Benedict met with Israel’s Olmert on Wednesday for 35 minutes for what the Vatican called a discussion of Middle East peace issues. Olmert urged Benedict to protest those who would deny the Holocaust, a reference to the two-day conference being held in Iran.

The World Council of Churches, meanwhile, said it has launched an effort to galvanize worldwide church advocacy for the Middle East. The proposed Palestine/Israel Ecumenical Forum will be part of a multi-year program to promote peace in the region and include an International Conference on the Middle East next May.

Among the 35 signers of the interreligious leaders statement were:

Cardinal William Keeler of Baltimore; Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Archbishop Demetrios of the Greek Orthodox Church in America; Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori of the Episcopal Church; the Rev. Michael Livingston, president, National Council of Churches; Richard Mouw, president, Fuller Theological Seminary; Rabbi Harry Danziger, president, Central Conference of American Rabbis; Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president, Union for Reform Judaism; Rabbi Brant Rosen, president, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association; Sayyid Muhammad Syeed, national director, Islamic Society of North America; Naim Baig, secretary general, Islamic Circle of North America; and Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, founder, American Society for Muslim Advancement.

KRE/PH END RNS