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Our Continuing Hope for a Just Peace in the Palestinian/Israeli
Conflict
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives
September 17, 2002
This policy was developed by the KAIROS
Middle East Working Group, an advisory body of church staff, volunteers,
and others with specialized expertise on the Middle East. It was
reviewed by the International Human Rights Program Committee and
recommended to the KAIROS Board of Directors who approved it in
principle at their meeting of July 5, 2002. The policy was finalized
in its present form at the September 17, 2002 Board meeting. It
provides a framework for KAIROS policy interventions, advocacy,
and other justice initiatives related to Palestine and Israel. It
does not imply adoption by individual KAIROS members or their church
denominations.
Contents
This framework statement is to guide KAIROS in its work to promote
a peace that is just for both Palestinians and Israelis and for
people of all religions, particularly Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam, the three main religions rooted in the Middle East. KAIROS
welcomes dialogue on its work and also on this statement.
In seeking such a peace in this multifaceted tragedy, KAIROS, as
a Western church organization, is heir to a mixed history. It must
acknowledge the role played by Western colonialism in the Middle
East, as well as the churches' complicity in centuries of anti-semitism.
It must oppose the tendency in some parts of our society to target
Jewish institutions. It also acknowledges a profound indebtedness
to Jewish people for Christianity’s sacred scriptures and
for the many cultural contributions of Jewish people. We support
the Jewish people in their desire for a secure homeland.
KAIROS church bodies, either directly or through their global networks,
have also given substantial support for the Palestinian people,
especially those who became refugees as a result of the creation
of the state of Israel. This has included long term support for
the Department of Service for Palestinian Refugees of the Middle
East Council of Churches. KAIROS churches also have a history of
support for education and other humanitarian work throughout the
Middle East. KAIROS recognizes the importance of inter-religious
understanding in relation to Islam and inter-cultural understanding
in relation to Arab people, both of which have too many negative
images in our communities.
The predecessor organizations and member church bodies of KAIROS
have long sought to encourage the government of Canada to play an
active and constructive role in the search for a just peace. KAIROS
will continue to do so. In the region, KAIROS will work through
many channels, a key one being the Middle East Council of Churches.
KAIROS will also work through other partnerships, be they with Palestinians
or Israelis, involving Muslims, Christians, or Jews. In seeking
to work toward such a peace KAIROS will be guided by the following:
| 1. |
We believe that God wants the well-being of
all people. As creator and redeemer, God loves all people
equally and wants justice and peace for all. (John 3: 16; Micah
4: 3 - 4; Jeremiah 9: 23-24; Isaiah 32: 16-17) This teaching
can serve as a restraint lest individual nationalities or religions
are tempted to an inhumane exclusiveness. The Universal Declaration
of Human Rights reflects this Biblical teaching to a significant
degree. |
| 2 |
We believe that God wants people to live with a certain
mutuality and that this is the basis of peace and justice.
This is indicated in the basic Biblical call that we are to
love our neighbours as ourselves. (Leviticus 19: 18 and Mark
12: 31) This means that we must not seek our own security and
well-being at the expense of others but in ways that advance
theirs as well; that the rights we claim and the standards we
hold must also apply to others; and that we are to seek to understand
one another's perspectives and histories in the hope of mutual
acceptance. This teaching has obvious potential for inter-group
relations in the Middle East. |
| 3. |
We believe that the resources of the earth are there for
the benefit of all people. (Psalm 24: 1; Micah 4: 4; Isaiah
55: 11) In the Palestinian/Israeli conflict this has immediate
significance for water. The supply of water is quite limited
and, at present, access to it is most uneven. This teaching
also has implications for the land and for its remarkable fruitfulness.
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| 4. |
We believe that all human life is sacred and that violence
is wrong. (Micah 6:8; Matt. 5: 38-42) God's unconditional
love for each one requires of us that we live in harmony with
our neighbours, honouring their right to live in freedom and
dignity, and that we renounce acts of violence against our brothers
and sisters, including any deliberate attack on their right
to life. |
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Applications of These Affirmations
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What institutional structures are needed to implement these basic
affirmations in relation to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict?
| 1. |
A sustainable and just peace requires the
recognition and implementation of the Palestinians right to
self determination, including their right to establish a sovereign
Palestinian state. It also requires the recognition of Israel's
existence as a sovereign state. Both states should exercise
the privileges and responsibilities that accompany states
according to international law.
Early in this conflict, there was a fundamental question
of whether there should be one state accommodating two peoples,
or two states, meaning one for each people. The 1947 UN General
Assembly "partition resolution" (No. 181) opted
for the two-state approach. This approach also underlies UN
Security Council Resolutions 242 (1967) and 338 (1973). We
call for a full and equitable implementation of the two-state
solution.
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| 2. |
We call for the full implementation of United Nations
Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.
These resolutions require Israel to withdraw to its borders
as they were on June 4, 1967. They also require Arab countries
and other parties to accept Israel within those borders. Over
the years there have been very substantial indications that
the second requirement has been met. The first requirement
has not been met. The international community must meet its
commitments in ensuring implementation of these Security Council
Resolutions. This means that Israel must withdraw completely
from the territories that it occupied in 1967, including the
settlements in those territories. These settlements, which
have doubled in number since the Oslo Agreement in 1993, are
a flashpoint for confrontation and conflict. Some form of
compensation for Israel should be negotiated in recognition
of the value of the evacuated housing developments which could
be used to help accommodate Palestinian refugees.
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| 3. |
Until Israel withdraws from the territories it remains
an occupying power and must be held to the relevant international
law, particularly the IV Geneva Convention and the Hague Regulations.
The Convention spells out what an occupying power may and
may not do on land that it occupies. Israel is in violation
of the Convention in many ways. It has constructed permanent
homes there for its people; its ever-expanding network of
by-pass roads fragment these already small territories and
limit the movement of the Palestinian people; it restricts
the people's access to the water of the area; it has confiscated
lands, destroyed Palestinian roads, uprooted untold numbers
of orchard trees, demolished homes, transferred local people,
and imposed many restrictions on normal activities. If Israel
were to abide by this Convention, it would not end the occupation
but life for the Palestinian people would be much better.
Other signatories to the Convention, including Canada, have
an obligation under Article #1 to ensure that it is upheld.
Palestinians have the right to resist the occupation through
non-violent means.
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| 4. |
Both Palestinians and Israelis must be held to a common
human rights standard which includes the protection of civilians.
All attacks on civilians, whether in pursuit of political
ends or as a part of military operations, of for any other
reason, are unacceptable and must be deplored.
Attacks on civilians include suicide bombings, targeted
assassinations and military attacks in populated areas which
are known beforehand to likely result in civilian deaths.
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| 5. |
Lasting peace in the region requires recognition of
the human rights of the Palestinian refugees. These are outlined
in United Nations General Assembly Resolution 194 and the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights. These include their
right of return, their representation in negotiating and building
peace, their right to citizenship and a permanent home, and
some form of compensation for the loss of homes and property.
Given that Palestinian refugees now number in the millions,
their return to Israel might seem an impossibility. Nevertheless,
their right to return must be honoured, though its implementation
could include alternatives for those refugees who would find
them acceptable and fair.
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| 6. |
The city of Jerusalem must be shared and open.
The question of Jerusalem has two dimensions: one relates
to Palestinians and Israelis as nationalities; the other to
Muslims, Christians and Jews as religious people. Sovereignty
must be shared between the two nationalities. All faith groups
must have open and free access to their holy places.
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| 7. |
Organizations within civil society in Palestine and
in Israel which are committed to transformation and to building
democratic and pluralistic societies must be supported.
Every encouragement must be given to groups and individuals
who are committed to justice for all, who believe that there
has to be a place for everyone, who recognize that ultimately
peace is indivisible, and who, even in the face of violence,
can call people on all sides to accept our common humanity
and to persevere in the work towards a just peace.
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| 1 |
KAIROS: Canadian Ecumenical
Justice Initiatives is a coalition dedicated to promoting
human rights, justice and peace, viable human development,
solidarity among all peoples, and respect for the earth, believing
this to be a faithful response to God's call. KAIROS members
are the Anglican Church of Canada, the Canadian Catholic Organization
for Development and Peace, the Canadian Conference of Catholic
Bishops, the Canadian Religious Conference, the Christian
Reformed Church in North America, the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in Canada, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, the
Presbyterian Church in Canada, the Primate's World Relief
and Development Fund, the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers),
and the United Church of Canada. |
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