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Taking the Side of Peace in the Middle East
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Click here to see KAIROS’ policy on Israel/ Palestine |
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(Toronto) – A national delegation of high-level Canadian
church leaders, laypeople, and staff heads to the Middle East on
Thursday, March 11, 2004. This KAIROS mission is a response to a
request from the Middle East Council of Churches for Canadian Christians
to come to the region to witness and support people in Israel, the
Occupied Palestinian Territories, and Lebanon who are working for
peace.
KAIROS, Canada’s largest ecumenical organization, is a partnership of eleven churches and church-related organizations committed to positive social change on a wide range of issues in Canada and in the global South. In the Middle East, KAIROS works in partnership with Palestinian and Israeli groups to promote a peace that is just for both peoples.
“KAIROS is a Greek word which means a historic moment holding both crisis and opportunity – a moment in which faith inspires us to action,” says Mary Corkery, Executive Director of KAIROS, and a member of the delegation. “The extraordinary efforts of many Israeli and Palestinian people to find common ground are signs of hope. Yet their voices are not being heard in the media, either here in Canada or in the Middle East. This mission will bring their messages home to the Canadian people.”
The Right Reverend Peter Short, Moderator of the United Church of Canada; the Right Reverend Peter Coffin, Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of Ottawa; and the Most Reverend Martin Currie, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Grand Falls, Newfoundland will participate in the nine-person delegation that will visit Jerusalem, Gaza, Ramallah, Nablus, Syria and Lebanon.
From March 11 - 25, the delegation will meet senior Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders and visit the peace-building programs supported by KAIROS in the region.
“A whole generation of children are growing up in an environment of profound turmoil and suffering as the conflict intensifies,” says the Right Reverend Peter Short, Moderator of the United Church of Canada. “Our mission is a way of showing people in the Middle East that Canadians have not forgotten them. We are joining hands with them to help create world-wide momentum for sustainable peace, rooted in justice.”
KAIROS hopes the experience gained from the tour will bolster efforts to persuade the Canadian government to take a more active role in support of peace in the Middle East.
“Canada has called for more negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians. However, negotiations can only be effective within the framework of international law, especially the implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions and conventions,” says Dale Hildebrand, Manager of KAIROS’ Global Partnerships Program, a member of the delegation. “We want our government to help end the Israeli occupation of territories seized in 1967, a key barrier to the peace so desperately needed for the Palestinian and Israeli people. This has gained new urgency with Israel’s construction of the separation wall in the Occupied Territories.”
The delegation also includes: Sister Margo Ritchie of the Federation
of the Sisters of St. Joseph in London, Ontario; the Reverend David
Harris, representing the Presbyterian Church in Canada; Dr. Paul
Kingston representing the (Anglican) Primate’s World Relief
and Development Fund; and Dr. Andrea Mann, Regional Mission Coordinator
for Asia and the Middle East for the Anglican Church of Canada.
Media contact:
Adiat Junaid
Communications Coordinator
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
Telephone: (416) 463 5312 ext. 223
E-mail:
ajunaid
Website: www.kairoscanada.org
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