Peace in the Middle East

“A Christian Call for Peace” is a resource of Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) to promote a peaceful, just and durable resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. CMEP is a Washington, DC-based coalition of 16 Protestant denominations, Catholic and ecumenical organizations ( 100 Maryland Ave., NE, #313 , Washington , DC 20002 , 202.488.5613 (phone), www.cmep.org). For more information about CMEP’s Grassroots Advocacy Project, go to http://www.loga.org/mideastforum/ForumOverview.htm.

The petition’s purpose is to engage concerned Christians and congregations in Middle East peace advocacy.

We are asking congregations to announce the petition’s availability, and to collect signatures, sorted by Congressional district. Other groups that support the petition’s points are welcome to collect signatures.

If a group has members from more than one Congressional district, copies of the petition can be placed in several stacks – one for each district. Noting the appropriate Congressional district or member of Congress on the pages will be helpful!

Completed petitions should be returned directly to CMEP by mail or fax (100 Maryland Ave., NE, #313, Washington, DC 20002, 202.554.8223 (fax)). Groups should not send petitions to Congressional offices. The message of the campaign will be made stronger by the largest collection of signatures possible.

Each time the number of signatures for a Congressional district reaches 2,500 – CMEP or its regional programs will deliver the petitions during meetings between religious leaders and members of Congress in their district offices. Other key contacts will be asked to deliver petitions in areas where CMEP does not have regional programs. For areas that do not reach the 2,500 mark, the petitions will be bundled into state groups and delivered to the state’s US senators.

Completed petitions can be sent to CMEP throughout 2002. The CMEP website (www.cmep.org) will have updates on signature collections, and special events.

Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP), a Washington, D.C.-based program of the:

The CMEP Board is made up of staff persons assigned by CMEP's member organizations. CMEP's mandate is to voice the churches' perspectives as timely and relevant to U.S. policy considerations by the Administration and Congress and to educate and activate church leaders and members in advocacy of just U.S. policies. CMEP produces newsletters with issue analysis and advocacy guidance and, through an e-mail network, frequent advocacy alerts.

The Grassroots Advocacy Project is facilitated by Churches for Middle East Peace as part of the Church World Service and Witness, Middle East Forum’s grassroots organizing program. Its purpose is to raise the knowledge and involvement of U.S. Christian communities in advocacy for peace in the Middle East by building regional and local networks of interested individuals, organizing delegations of church leaders for meetings with members of Congress, and implementing strategies to voice denominational positions on Middle East peace to the Administration in order to impact its policies and actions related to Israel and Palestine.

The grassroots organizing program also encourages participation in the Ecumenical Prayer Vigil for Peace in the Middle East project and engagement with other Middle East Forum working groups on initiatives related to observers, delegations, speaker tours, resources, public education and other programs. (For more information see www.loga.org/mideastforum/home.htm.)

Churches for Middle East Peace
100 Maryland Ave., NE, #313 , Washington , DC 20002
202.488.5613 (phone), 202.554.8223 (fax)
cmepdc@aol.com
http://www.cmep.org

A Christian Call for Peace
We pray for peace in the Holy Land.
We are Christians called to express our concerns for peace in Israel and Palestine.

-- We believe that one of the primary outcomes of negotiations in the Middle East must be a viable Palestinian state living in peace alongside the state of Israel. For a Palestinian state to be viable and for Israel to be secure, Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza must end. All Israeli settlement activity in the Occupied Territories must cease.
-- We believe in the vision of a shared Jerusalem as the heritage, hope and home of two peoples and three religions. Jerusalem should be a shared, open city – a sign of peace and a symbol of reconciliation for the Abrahamic faiths.
-- We call for an immediate end to the cycle of violence. We support a negotiated agreement for an Israeli-Palestinian-Arab peace based on international law.
-- We strongly support the presence of international observers as one immediate means of discouraging further violence between Palestinians and Israelis.
-- We urge our country’s leaders to do all in their power to prepare the road for a just and durable peace.

Name
(please sign and print name)

Address/City/State/Zip
E-mail Send me action alerts via e-mail X

1. _________________________ _____________________________________ ___

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2. _________________________ _____________________________________ ___

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3. _________________________ _____________________________________ ___

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4. _________________________ _____________________________________ ___

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5. _________________________ _____________________________________ ___

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Signed by members of (congregation and address):
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This petition is part of the CMEP/Grassroots Advocacy Project and will be presented to our country’s leaders.

Information Sheet for “A Christian Call for Peace” AND A petition for peace in the Middle East

Information Sheet for “A Christian Call for Peace”
AND
A petition for peace in the Middle East