In a letter today, the Rev. Mark Hanson, presiding bishop of the ELCA, urged President Obama not to block the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN.  US officials have vowed to use the US veto power to block the Palestinian initiative asking for full member status at the UN.  In preparation for a meeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a settlement freeze, one of the Palestinian demands for renewing negotiations, would not happen.  The Heads of Churches in Jerusalem recently issued a statement calling for two states having justice, peace and security, a shared Jerusalem and renewed negotiations to those ends.  They also urged restraint on both sides in anticipated protests after the bid is introduced.

Read Haaretz Article  | See more resources at Churches for Middle East Peace website

BBC Q and A about Palestinian statehood

In a May 2 statement  to ELCA members, ELCA Presiding Bishop Mark Hanson urged remembrance of those who have died because of Bin Laden’s choices “of hatred and violence” and those who continue to mourn their loss.  He also reminded us of our Easter focus on God’s new life, love of neighbor and the restoration of human community as the Christian vocation in life.  Here is the full text of the statement:

Sisters and brothers in Christ,

The death of Osama bin Laden is an occasion for solemn remembrance. We remember the lives of all whose deaths resulted from his choosing hatred and violence. We stand with those who continue to mourn the death of loved ones while giving thanks for their lives, their love and their faith. We also continue to hold in prayer all whose service in the military, in government and in humanitarian and peacemaking activities contribute to a safer and more prosperous world.

At the same time we also recall who we are: people baptized into Christ, freed to serve our neighbors. We are people called as Christ’s ambassadors of reconciliation with our neighbors, serving God’s work of restoring community. We engage our neighbors of other faiths, including our Muslim neighbors near and far, in respectful, searching dialogue and shared commitment to build a world that reflects God’s will for peace with justice. We pray for our neighbors, even those who are our enemies.

Most of all, in these 50 days of celebrating Christ’s resurrection, joy finds its fullest and deepest expression not over a human death but in God’s promise to unite all things in heaven and on earth, to reconcile the human family and to bring God’s reign of peace. Confident in what God has promised, we witness our resolve against any act of violence in the name of religion and our renewed commitment of service to the neighbors and world God so deeply loves.

In God’s grace,

Mark S. Hanson

Questions: What impact do you see this situation having on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories and within the wider region of the Middle East? How will it affect the United State’s role and image in the peace process?

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson, presiding bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA), and 32 Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders, said in a letter that a new peace initiative by former Israeli government, intelligence and security officials offers a useful sign for Middle East peace. The leaders, writing as the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI), sent the letter to President Obama April 14.

Speaking of the latest Israeli initiative, as well as the Arab Peace Initiative and the Geneva Accord, the leaders said:  “The main elements of these peace initiatives reflect years of official and informal, unofficial negotiations,” the religious leaders wrote. They wrote that “the peace initiatives include creation of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, based on the 1967 borders with possible limited land swaps as mutually agreed; a fair negotiated resolution of the issue of refugees that does not threaten the demography of Israel; the sharing of Jerusalem by Israel and the Palestinian state with both having their capitals in the city; and Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights as part of a peace agreement with Syria.”

NILI is an initiative composed of a broad range of Jewish, Christian and Muslim national organizations in support of a common, substantive message for Middle East peace.  It’s focus is on building support for strong U.S. leadership for a two-state solution to the conflict that brings security and recognition to Israel and establishes a viable and independent state for the Palestinians—two states living side by side in peace and security—with peace agreements between Israel and all her Arab neighbors.