General Board of Church and Society
The United Methodist Church
100 Maryland Avenue, NE
Washington, D.C. 20002
(202) 488-5600

Contact: Wayne L. Rhodes, Director of Communications
(202) 488-5630 or wrhodes@umc-gbcs.org

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (March 30, 2009)

Social justice agency's directors issue call for Middle East Peace

Statement urges President to speed up withdrawal from Iraq, calls Israeli-Palestinian resolution 'critical' to peace in region.

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The directors of the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society issued a statement during their spring meeting here that calls for the earliest possible end to the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan and Israel/Palestine.

The statement, “A Call for Middle East Peace,” notes that the directors’ meeting occurred on the sixth anniversary of the U.S.invasion of Iraq. The statement praises President Obama for setting a withdrawal date for U.S. combat forces, but urges him to achieve it sooner. The statement also questions his decision to send additional military forces into Afghanistan before a comprehensive review of the situation has been accomplished.

A “just and durable resolution” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is critical, according to the directors. In the statement, the directors say they are praying for U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell in facilitating a peace settlement. They also set forth five elements that an accord should ensure: a safe, secure Israel; a safe, secure, viable and contiguous Palestine; an end to Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory; a recognition of Palestinian refugees' right of return; and a shared Jerusalem.

Micah 4:2-4 is the biblical inspiration for the call for Middle East peace. Those verses declare that nation will not take up sword against nation, "nor will they train for war anymore."

The General Board of Church & Society is one of four international general program agencies of The United Methodist Church, which has more than 11 million members worldwide. The agency’s primary areas of ministry are Advocacy, Education and Leadership Formation, United Nations and International Affairs, and resourcing these areas for the denomination. It has offices on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., and at the Church Center at the United Nations in New York City.

The agency’s board of directors comprises more than 60 persons, lay and clergy, from around the world.

The directors’ “Call for Middle East Peace” points out that The United Methodist Church has long advocated peaceful negotiations as “the best means” to resolve disputes between nations and peoples. “As Christians we are called to seek every means of establishing justice and solving disputes nonviolently to replace enduring conflicts with enduring peace,” the statement says. “Nowhere is this more important than in the Middle East, a region fraught with enduring conflicts.

The statement follows:

A Call for Middle East Peace

Board of Directors of the United Methodist General Board of Church & Society

Many nations will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths. The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord fromJerusalem. He will judge between many peoples and will settle disputes for strong nations far and wide. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Every many will sit under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and no one will make them afraid, for the Lord Almighty has spoken.

— Micah 4:2-4 (NIV)

The meeting of The United Methodist Church General Board of Church & Society directors coincides with the sixth anniversary of the United States’ invasion of Iraq. We are deeply grieved by the continuing conflict and loss of life on all sides, and pray for its earliest possible end.

The United Methodist Church has long advocated peaceful negotiations as the best means to resolve disputes between nations and peoples. As Christians we are called to seek every means of establishing justice and solving disputes nonviolently to replace enduring conflicts with enduring peace. Nowhere is this more important than in the Middle East, a region fraught with enduring conflicts.

We welcome President Obama’s Feb. 24 announcement to withdraw U.S. military forces from Iraq by December 2011. We remain concerned with the presence of U.S. troops until that date and urge the President to speed up withdrawal.

The United States has a moral obligation to do more than just withdraw its military forces. It must provide funding for long-term development and assist in the return of refugees to their homes. Adequate funding must also be provided to address needs of returningU.S. military personnel and their families.

The President also announced plans to send 17,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. We have misgivings about that decision. It comes before the completion of the comprehensive assessment of U.S. policy in Afghanistan that includes social, economic and military strategies. We call on the administration to intensify diplomatic efforts to resolve the conflict instead of expanding the U.S.military presence.

Israel’s invasion of Gaza reminds us of the critical need for a just and durable resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We pray that new U.S. Special Envoy George Mitchell can facilitate a peace settlement. It is our conviction that an accord must ensure the following: a safe, secure Israel; a safe, secure viable and contiguous Palestine; an end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory; a recognition of Palestinian refugees’ right of return; and a shared Jerusalem.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza is dire. It is imperative that assistance be permitted into Gaza without delay.

All of the concerns, hopes and prayers embodied in this statement are based in our faith in Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace.

—   Washington, D.C.
March 22, 2009