[UUA-L] Sinkford Joins Religious Leaders in Expressing Concern and Seeking Diplomatic Solution in Middle East Crisis

[Unitarian Universalist Association]

(July 20, 2006)  The Rev. William G. Sinkford, UUA President, today
joined other religious leaders in writing to US President George W. Bush
to express deep concern over the growing crisis in the Middle East.

The full text of the letter and a complete list of signers follows.
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July 20, 2006
The Honorable George W. Bush
The White House
Washington, DC

Dear President Bush,

Mr. President, while attention is rightly focused on the
Hezbollah-Israel conflict,
we write with growing concern for the situation in Gaza and appeal to
you
to do everything possible to calm the crisis and restore hope for a
diplomatic solution to the conflict. We condemn the capture by
Palestinian
militants of Cpl. Gilad Shalit and pray that he will be released by
Hamas
without further delay and returned safely to his family.

The escalating violence and regional dimension of the conflict is
alarming. It is
urgent that you call on all the parties to restrain from using force
and, rather, to
trust a diplomatic process.

We urge the sustained intervention of the United States at the highest
level with
both Israeli and Palestinian officials and with the cooperation of Egypt
and the
Quartet. We ask you to work closely with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and
Defense Minister Amir Peretz toward a diplomatic solution which will not
further impoverish and burden ordinary Palestinians. Our churches and
institutions in Gaza struggle in despair to try to meet the needs of the
people -
both Muslim and Christian. We endorse the call by the church-related
humanitarian and development aid agencies for the urgent protection of
Gaza's
civilians, as specified by the Fourth Geneva Convention, as well as
immediate
and unobstructed access for the delivery of critical humanitarian aid
and
supplies necessary for basic human needs.

As religious leaders in the United States, we are deeply moved by the
July 7
statement by the Bishops and Patriarchs of Jerusalem. They condemn the
abduction of the Israeli soldier and the killing of the young settler by
Palestinians, but consider Israel's response - the destruction of
bridges and a
power station, the deprivation and deaths of civilians and arrests of
Palestinian
officials - as without proportion. "Things have gone too far. We call on
the
International community to intervene and insist on a diplomatic solution
to this
conflict. All Authorities must change course, and with unflinching
International
pressure and presence, they have to negotiate in order to reach the just
and
definitive peace."

We share and support your vision of a two-state solution. If the
Hezbollah-Israel crisis, which
threatens to expand into a regional war, continues it could end all hope
for a solution that brings
peace and security to Israel and the future state of Palestine and their
suffering peoples.
We hold you in our prayers as you seek a way toward peace in these
challenging times.

Sincerely,

Dr. Robb Davis
Executive Director
Mennonite Central Committee

Marie Dennis
Director
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns

Rev. Robert Edgar
General Secretary
National Council of Churches USA

Rev. Wesley Granberg-Michaelson
General Secretary
Reformed Church in America

The Most Rev. Frank T. Griswold
Presiding Bishop
The Episcopal Church in America

The Rev. Mark S. Hanson
Presiding Bishop
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America

The Rev. Dr. Stan Hastey
Executive Director
Alliance of Baptists

Bishop Janice Riggle Huie
President
United Methodist Council of Bishops

Very Rev. Dominic Izzo, OP
President
Roman Catholic Conference of Major
Superiors of Men's Institutes

Rev. Dr. Clifton Kirkpatrick
Stated Clerk of the General Assembly
Presbyterian Church, (USA)

Rev. John L. McCullough
Executive Director & CEO
Church World Service

Mary Ellen McNish
General Secretary
American Friends Service Committee

Stanley J. Noffsinger
General Secretary
Church of the Brethren

Bro. Mark Schroeder, OFM
President, Franciscan Friars (OFM)
English Speaking Conference, JPIC Council

Rev. William G. Sinkford
President
Unitarian Universalist Association of
Congregations

Rev. John H. Thomas
General Minister and President
United Church of Christ

Joe Volk
Executive Secretary
Friends Committee on National Legislation

Rev. Sharon E. Watkins
General Minister and President
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)