suggestion

From: epicalc@earthlink.net (Carolyn S. Scarr)

The following is a suggestion of action an for Christian congregations
can do regarding the Middle East conflict. From Christian Peacemaker
Teams in Hebron. Modifications might be made for other groups.

Received from EPI Board Member Esther Ho, who spent two summers in
Hebron and maintains contact with the team. Please pass along.

Carolyn Scarr
================================================

Here's a concrete suggestion for what congregations can do in re: to the

Middle East conflict. Esther

Subject:
         NO CHRISTMAS IN BETHLEHEM: CPT Call for Solidarity with the
People of Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour
    Date:
         Sun, 3 Dec 2000 16:17:44 +0200
   From:
         cptheb@palnet.com

CPTnet
December 3, 2000

NO CHRISTMAS IN BETHLEHEM: CPT CALL FOR SOLIDARITY
WITH THE PEOPLE OF BETHLEHEM, BEIT JALA AND BEIT
SAHOUR

Since the beginning of the new Intifada, or Uprising, in early October,
the town of Bethlehem and the adjoining, predominantly Christian,
villages of Beit Sahour and Beit Jala have suffered from repeated
bombings by the Israeli military. Many Beit Jalan families facing the
Israeli settlement of Gilo and Beit Sahourian families whose houses are
next to a military camp have fled their homes. Additionally, the
military has sealed off even the side roads into the area, which is
leading to the economic strangulation of the three towns.

The annual Christmas festivities in Bethlehem’s manger square have
been cancelled, because the organizers have deemed it inappropriate
to celebrate when Palestinians all over the West Bank and Gaza are
being killed. The current 60% unemployment rate in the area is making
it nearly impossible for Christians and Muslims to buy what they need
for Christmas and Ramadan feasts and gifts.

Christian Peacemaker Teams is calling on the churches of North
America to show solidarity with the Christian and Muslim residents of
Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala by sitting in darkness and silence
for five minutes during their annual Christmas services. Ask the
members of your congregation to pray for the families living in the war
zone that encompasses Bethlehem, Beit Jala and Beit Sahour and for
an end to the Israeli military occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.

Additionally, CPT is asking U.S. residents to write their legislators
and
President Clinton, notifying them that their congregations will be
remembering the struggles of people living under the Israeli
occupation in the three villages during their Christmas services. You
may refer to the work of Christian Peacemaker Teams, which is in the
process of setting up a new project in a neighborhood in Beit Jala
which has been repeatedly bombed. Note that CPT’s presence in
Hebron has helped to reduce violence there, and request that all
Palestinians and Israelis receive more comprehensive international
protection.

Canadian citizens should write to the Prime Minister and their
members of Parliament commending the government for its recent vote
in the U.N. Security council that condemns Israel’s use of excessive
force against Palestinians. Describe the intolerable conditions that
the
residents of Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala are living under and
ask your legislators to support the sending of unarmed international
observers to provide protection for the Palestinians in the West Bank
and Gaza.

CANADA

Mr. Paul Heinbecker
Permanent Mission of Canada to the UN
    1 Dag Hammarskjold Plaza
    855 Second Avenue, 14th Floor
    New York, NY 10017
    USA
    Telephone: (1-212) 848-1100
    Fax: (1-212) 848-1195
    E-mail: canada@un.int
     <mailto:canada@un.int> Website: www.un.int/canada
<http://www.un.int/canada>

You can also contact Canada's Permanent Mission in Geneva,
Switzerland,
at:
    Mission permanente du Canada auprès de l'Office des Nations
Unies
    Rue du Pré-de-la-Bichette 1
    1202 Genève     SWITZERLAND
    Telephone: (011-41-22) 919-92-00
    Fax: (011-41-22) 919-92-27

The Rt. Hon. Jean Chretien, Prime Minister of Canada;
R. 311 S, Centre Block; House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6;
(no postage necessary);
tel:613-992-4211; fax: 613-941-6900;
e-mail: pm@pm.gc.ca

The Hon. John Manley, Minister of Foreign Affairs;
125 Sussex Drive
Ottawa ON K1A 0G2;
(no postage necessary);
tel: 613-995-1851; fax: 613-996-3443;

Directory of diplomatic reps in Canada:
http://www.arraydev.com/commerce/embassy/english/)

U.S.
President, Bill Clinton,
1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
NW Washington DC 20500
e-mail: president@whitehouse.gov
Tel. 202-456-1414

Senator _________
U.S. Senate
Washington, DC 20510

Representative ________
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Member of Congress:
Capital Switchboard 1-800-504-0031 or 1-888-723-5246

SAMPLE LETTERS

U.S.A.
Dear __________,

As Christians and Muslims in North America prepare to celebrate
Christmas and Ramadan, the Christians and Muslims of the
Bethlehem area are suffering repeated bombings of their
neighborhoods from the Israeli military—an action that Amnesty
International has deemed a grossly excessive response to shooting
toward the Israeli settlement of Gilo. (The gunmen who are doing the
shooting with light weaponry are not residents of the neighborhoods
experiencing the worst shelling.)

Additionally, the closure on the villages imposed by the Israeli
military
has resulted in a 60% unemployment rate in the area. Because of this
situation, Christmas festivities in Bethlehem’s Manger Square have
been cancelled.

Christian Peacemaker Teams, which has helped to serve as a violence
deterring presence in the West Bank city of Hebron for the last five
years, will be setting up a similar project in Beit Jala in the next
week.
As a sign that they do not count their lives as more valuable than
Palestinian or Israeli lives, Canadian and American CPTers have
moved into a neighborhood that has been a target of repeated
shellings by the Israeli military. We are asking you to support the
sending of unarmed international observers into the Occupied
Territories to demonstrate that you believe that Palestinian lives are
worth the same as Israeli and American lives.

In our church, we will be spending five minutes of darkness and
silence during our Christmas service this year in solidarity with those
suffering in the Bethlehem area. We will pray that the hearts and
minds of Israeli politicians—as well as yours—will be changed to
finally support the end of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and
Gaza.

CANADA
Dear _______

villages imposed by the Israeli military has resulted in a 60%
unemployment rate in the area. Because of this situation, Christmas
festivities in Bethlehem’s Manger Square have been cancelled.

Christian Peacemaker Teams, which has helped to serve as a violence
deterring presence in the West Bank city of Hebron for the last five
years, will be setting up a similar project in Beit Jala in the next
week.
As a sign that they do not count their lives as more valuable than
Palestinian or Israeli lives, Canadian and American CPTers have
moved into a neighbourhood in Beit Jala that has been a target of
repeated shellings. We are asking you to support the sending of
unarmed international observers into the Occupied Territories to
demonstrate that you believe that Palestinian lives are worth the same
as Israeli and Canadian lives.

I want to affirm the stance taken by Canada on the United Nations
Security Council Resolution 1322. I also want to encourage you to
continue to take a stance against the violence done by both Israelis
and Palestinians in Israel-Palestine, remembering especially the
villages of Bethlehem, Beit Jala, and Beit Sahour in this Christmas
season.

In our church, we will be spending five minutes of darkness and
silence during our Christmas service this year in solidarity with those
suffering in the Bethlehem area. We will pray that the hearts and
minds of Israeli politicians will be changed to finally support the end
of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Please use
Canada’s voice to this end.