August 29, 2005

AMMAN, Jordan/GENEVA – Leaders of the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) on a visit to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, have praised King Abdullah II and the Jordanian government for their leading role and significant contribution to the Middle East peace process.

"We came to Jordan for encouragement and a sense of hope believing that together we can build a lasting and secure peace in the Middle East and in the world," LWF President, Bishop Mark S. Hanson said at a press conference in Amman. The LWF President, LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko and LWF Vice-President for the Asian region, Bishop Dr Munib A. Younan were in Jordan August 26-29 ahead of the LWF Council meeting that begins this week in Jerusalem. They held discussions with religious and political leaders with the aim to hear and voice hope for regional peace. Their presence was also meant to show solidarity with members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL).

The Lutheran leaders welcomed as equally important for Christians the November 2004 "Amman Message" which the king addressed to all Muslims worldwide, affirming peace, tolerance, justice and sanctity of human life as basic tenets of the Islamic faith. In the message, King Abdullah II also called on the world's 1.2 billion Muslims to be "full partners" in the development of human civilization and in the progress of humanity in our age."

"Just as the Amman Message calls upon Muslim communities and 1.2 billion Muslims to be part of a lasting peace, so I as a Christian leader also call upon Christians to join that message believing that together we can build a lasting and secure peace in the Middle East and in the world," Hanson said.

Noko pointed out that if the "Abrahamic religions were to say exactly what has been said in the Amman Message Christians, Muslims and Jews can build bridges for peace among ourselves, among religions and among the nations of the world."

The Lutheran leaders reiterated the LWF's position on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and affirmed their support for the full implementation of the Roadmap for Peace in the Middle East initiated by the United States of America, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations. This plan, they said, offers a solution to ending the conflict between both sides.

They stated their opposition to the wall erected by Israel to separate Israeli and Palestinian community, saying it undermined the Roadmap peace process, and did not provide a solution to the root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Younan spoke of the wall's impact on the Palestinian people, saying it impedes access to their farming land, violating both their economic and cultural rights.

The wall, the LWF general secretary said, creates new facts on the ground, which are not in favor of peace. A new demography is being created about the reality of the Palestinian boundary and that of Israel, he noted, and emphasized the need to go back to the borders drawn before 1967.

Noko said the wall takes away people's land and destroys olive trees hundreds of years old. "The olive trees [are] part of the history of the Palestinians. When you destroy those trees, you are taking away the people's identity. Commenting on Israel's justification for the wall to protect itself from acts of terrorism, the general secretary argued the wall favors neither the Palestinians nor Israelis." It is unacceptable also because it "created enemy images" and did not provide security for Israel. "We can never be secure until our neighbors are secure. We have to invest in the security of our neighbors in order that we get security for ourselves," he added.

Hanson spoke of his involvement in an inter-faith initiative for Middle East peace in the United States, which in 2003 unveiled a 12-point plan addressing the governments of the USA, Israel, and the Palestinian Authority, asking them to follow the Roadmap peace process. These efforts will continue even during the LWF Council meeting as the LWF president, general secretary and other LWF officials have audience with religious and political leaders from both Israel and Palestine.

The Lutheran leaders also affirmed the LWF's early opposition to the US [and its allies'] involvement in the current war in Iraq, saying it found no justification for the war.

During meetings with Jordanian government officials, and representatives of the king, members of the LWF delegation stressed the need to invest in education for peace in the Middle East, targeting school-going children as a way of inculcating a culture of non-violence.

Lutheran World Information