As President Barack Obama's efforts towards a two-state solution in Israel/Palestine continue, religious leaders in the region and in the US are urging him to press for a lasting peace in the Middle East.
Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders representing the US-based National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI) have written commending Obama's decision to make Arab-Israeli-Palestinian peace "a high priority from the start of his presidency."
The letter was sent in anticipation of several key meetings between President Obama and Palestinian and Israeli leaders on the eve of the White House summit with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The President was also in conversation with the Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas last month (May 2009).
Hardliners on both sides are continuing to resist a two-state solution, but analysts say the momentum is moving in that direction.
"Despite the challenges and discouraging developments, there remains a window of hope to achieve both a viable two-state solution, acceptable to majorities of Israelis and Palestinians, and a final comprehensive peace between Israel and all her Arab neighbours," said the NILI leaders last month.
Following a 14-15 May 2009 peace conference at the Carter Center in Atlanta, Georgia. the Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem, Suheil Dawani (pictured) joined other global Christian leaders in supporting President Obama's commitment to Middle East peace issues, while calling for Gaza's borders to be opened immediately.
Chaired by former President Jimmy Carter, the conference, entitled 'Towards a New Christian Consensus: Peace with Justice in the Holy Land,' welcomed leaders from The Kairos Project, Churches for Middle East Peace, and the World Council of Churches.
Dawani was the only participant in the group from Jerusalem's Palestinian Christian community, according to a press release from the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem.
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http://www.ekklesia.co.uk/node/9570
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