June 1, 2000,
NEW YORK CITY The Rev. Dr. Robert Edgar, General Secretary of the National Council
of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.A. (National Council of Churches), today
issued the following statement regarding the withdrawal of Israeli forces from south
Lebanon:
Observing
the withdrawal of Israeli military forces from south Lebanon, we offer thanks to God that
this destructive, oppressive and ultimately futile military occupation finally has come to
an end. For 20 years, the people of south
Lebanon have endured daily violations of their rights, persons and properties, while
Israel has achieved neither the peace nor the security that were the declared aims of
their occupation. Rather, it has provoked the
fierce resistance of the Lebanese people. In
the ensuing struggle, thousands of lives have been lost.
Recognizing
that there are still many steps on the way to justice, peace and stability between Israel
and Lebanon and with neighboring Syria, we are thankful that this major step has been
taken.
The NCC
has called repeatedly for the implementation of U.N. Security Council Resolutions 425 and
426 demanding Israeli withdrawal to the internationally recognized border. We support the role that the United Nations and
its member states are now playing to stabilize this situation and verify Israels
compliance. We call upon on all parties to
cooperate with and facilitate the U.N.s fulfillment of this task without conditions,
and in surveying and identifying the internationally recognized border between Lebanon and
Israel.
God
desires that we seek peace, and pursue it.
Therefore, we urge all parties: exercise forbearance; avoid provocation and
the creation of pretexts; disavow violence and refrain from further hostilities and armed
conflict. While urging Israel to continue the
process of withdrawal from occupied territories, we note that long standing territorial
claims and disputes between Egypt and Israel in Taba in the Sinai and between Jordan and
Israel in Wadi Arava were resolved without resort to violence. Therefore, let not one more life be lost.
We share
in the relief and joy of the people of Lebanon that their sufferings due to the occupation
are at an end. Long sundered families have
been united, prisoners have been freed, exiles have returned. In cooperation with the global ecumenical
community and our church partners in Lebanon, we will join in the task of providing relief
and reconstruction assistance so that normal life can begin to be restored.
The end
of the occupation enables the people of Lebanon to reclaim their land and reunite
themselves as one people. We support and
encourage those measures that strengthen the government of Lebanon and assist its
effective return to these areas, and that also would heal divisions between communities
and nurture the re-emergence of civil society. The
full restoration of Lebanons territorial integrity should encourage Lebanons
unity, sovereignty and independence.
In this
regard, we note especially the plight of the Palestinian refugees in Lebanon, who now, for
the first time in a generation, gaze poignantly at their lost homeland across the border
fence. A just resolution of the status of the
Palestinian refugees, who are both vulnerable and victimized, is critical for the
stability and security of Lebanon, Israel and the region.
Having
taken this step toward relinquishing the occupied lands of a neighboring Arab state in
compliance with international law and explicit U.N. resolutions, Israel should be
encouraged and emboldened to continue the process. Many
Israeli families have felt agony and grief over the death of their sons during the
occupation of south Lebanon; neither have the residents of northern Israel escaped the
cycles of violence against which the occupation was to protect them. For their sake as well, all outstanding matters
that are a source of conflict, such as the holding of Lebanese prisoners, should be
resolved immediately. At the same time, no
spurious arguments should be made nor impediments placed in the way by any party, for this
is the path to a just peace and a secure future for all.
We ask
that God be present with all those who are living through this extraordinary moment, to
temper exuberance and to cool passions, to alleviate pain and comfort sorrows, to allay
fears and suspicions, to encourage faintheartedness, to banish hate and the desire for
vengeance, and to grant a spirit of magnanimity and forgiveness. And may all receive Gods presence, for God
will call all to account in Gods time.
May the
God of Abraham, worshipped by Jew, Christian and Muslim, grant peace to every soul and
nation.
-end-
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