Action Alert For Peace in the Holy Land

Urge Congress and President Obama to exercise strong leadership for Holy Land peace

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TAKE ACTION NOW! Let your members of Congress and President Obama know that you strongly support U.S. leadership to secure a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land. Visit the Catholics Confront Global Poverty Action Center to send them a message now.
WHY IS THIS ACTION IMPORTANT NOW? An Israeli announcement to expand settlements in East Jerusalem, recent violence that led to four Palestinian deaths in the West Bank, and a rocket attack from Gaza that killed a worker in southern Israel are causes for serious concern among Christian leaders in the United States, including Bishop Howard Hubbard, Chairman, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Committee on International Justice and Peace, and Ken Hackett, President of Catholic Relief Services (CRS). In a recent letter to President Obama they stated: “The expansion of settlements endangers efforts to start the proximity talks that are to be the first step towards direct negotiations on all final status issues that include borders, refugees, security, and a shared Jerusalem.” They added: “We cannot permit the benefits of reconciliation and peace to be undermined by fear. Continued violence only strengthens rejectionists on both sides.”
USCCB and CRS support strong U.S. leadership to seek a comprehensive peace agreement that ends the conflict in the Holy Land and achieves both the Palestinian goal of an independent, secure and viable state and Israel’s goal of a secure state with recognized borders.

WHAT DOES PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND HAVE TO DO WITH MY FAITH? Our Catholic faith teaches us to be peacemakers. The U.S. bishops wrote in The Challenge of Peace: God’s Promise and Our Response, “Peacemaking is not an optional commitment. It is a requirement of our faith. We are called to be peacemakers, not by some movement of the moment, but by our Lord Jesus.” Our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, has called on the international community to help Israelis and Palestinians to discard the “dead end” of violence and pursue instead “the path of dialogue and negotiations.”
WHAT IS THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DOING TO PROMOTE PEACE IN THE HOLY LAND? As part of an unprecedented interreligious initiative that engages Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders and communities within the United States, USCCB is coordinating efforts to promote a just peace in the Middle East. CRS has worked in the Holy Land for nearly half a century, supporting a just and lasting peace for all people, while responding to the humanitarian and sustainable development needs of Palestinians.
Through the Catholics Confront Global Poverty initiative, USCCB and CRS are encouraging Catholics to advocate for strong and sustained U.S. leadership to hold both parties to the conflict accountable in building a just and lasting peace. We also support U.S. funding-coupled with accountability-for the Palestinian Authority to increase its ability to govern and build the capacity for a future state, as well as for urgently needed humanitarian assistance for the Palestinian people.
For more information contact:
Dr. Stephen Colecchi, Director, International Justice and Peace, USCCB, scolecchi@usccb.org, (202) 541-3196
Tina Rodousakis, Grassroots Advocacy Manager, CRS, trodousa@crs.org; (410) 951-7462