Jerusalem churches: Don't veto Palestine resolution
Middle East and US religious leaders chart path forward for two-state solution.
Jerusalem's Christian leaders are jointly asking President Barack Obama not to veto a possible Palestine resolution at the United Nations following a historic summit with their American counterparts.
Leaders of 24 US and Palestinian churches gathered in Atlanta this week for a two-day summit at the Carter Center to chart a path forward for Israeli-Palestinian peace talks. Separately, the Holy Land church leaders wrote to Obama urging him not to use his veto if the UN Security Council takes up a two-state resolution later this year against Israel's wishes.
"As Holy Land church leaders, we approach you, Mr. President, to stress to you the gravity of the situation in the region. The hopes and aspirations of many of the faithful in the Holy Land for a two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders are quickly fading," the patriarchs and heads of local churches in Jerusalem wrote in an April 20 letter obtained by Al-Monitor. "We plead to you, during the remainder of your term, to invest in a just peace and to refrain from exercising the US veto rights in the United Nations Security Council in order to deliver new hopes for a just peace in the region and an end to extremism, terrorism, death and destruction in the entire Middle East."
The letter is signed by Greek Orthodox Patriarch Theophilos III, Armenian Patriarch Nourhan Manogian, Latin (Catholic) Patriarch Fuad Twal, Anglican Archbishop Suheil Dawani, Evangelical Lutheran Church Bishop Munib Younan and (Franciscan) Custos Pierbattista Pizzaballa.
