[saymaListserv] IMP^o^ 142a Appendix D - Israel/Palestine minute

[Mary Calhoun]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
IMP ^o^ Bulletin 142a
Draft Israel/Palestine minute
coming before Yearly Meeting (June 20-23)
........................................................................
Appendix D (minute 10) - Spring Rep Meeting Minutes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(from the Administrative Assistant;
    Appendix D supplied by Carol Lamm, Recording Clerk, and Sharon
Annis, Clerk)


<|>    The text below is from Appendix D, regarding Israel and
Palestine,
referred to by minute 10 from the 4-6-02 Rep Meeting.

<|>    In addition to the two minutes below, two earlier monthly meeting
minutes on this concern have been presented to SAYMA --
            -- Crossville FM (see minute 20, YM '01)
            -- Celo FM (see minute 14, Fall '01 Rep Mtg)

<|>    The contact for work on the draft minute is Sallie Prugh --
                3122 Monroe St, Columbia SC 29205
                ingham123 at aol.com   803-254-0626

<|>    West Knoxville Minute on Israeli-Palestinian Relations

    West Knoxville Friends are deeply disturbed by events in Palestine
and Israel, especially the killing and maiming of people on both sides,
the destruction of the social and economic infrastructure of Palestine,
and attacks on Palestinian government officials.  These actions have
lost all sense of who is counter-attacking and impair the Palestinian
Authority's capacity to restrain individually initiated violence against
Israelis.
    We also strongly oppose the confiscation of land by Israeli troops
and the violent ghettoization of Palestine.  We are disappointed in the
reporting of the American media including the press.  While many Jewish
people and other Israelis are peacefully protesting the government's use
of force against Palestinians, the media fails to report this and
instead focuses on sensationalizing the continuing violence of one side
against the other.  The flight of Palestinian refugees to other Arab
nations puts undue economic pressure on those nations and results in
those nations supporting insurgency among the Palestinians.
    We urge that Palestinians and Israelis acknowledge each other's
humanity and recognize that continued violence will not resolve their
conflicts.  We call on the United States government to cease supplying
weapons and intelligence to the Israeli government and instead encourage
dialogue and put pressure on the Israeli government to return land to
the Palestinians as required by United Nations resolutions 242 and 338,
as agreed to in the 1967 accord.  We demand that the Israeli government
and the Palestinian Authority stop the killing.  We call upon them, with
the support of the United States and the international community, to
resume negotiations and to negotiate until they arrive at a resolution
that respects the human rights of all the people of Israel and
Palestine.

<|>    Columbia Minute on the Middle East

    We believe that there is that of God in the people of Israel and of
Palestine, even those who are fighting and engaging in violent acts. We
cherish both peoples and the lands in which they live.
    We believe that violence does nothing but create more violence and
will never allow the people of this region to live next to each other in
peace and the fullness of human joy.
    We acknowledge the centuries of conflict, oppression,
discrimination, poverty and segregation that have led to the violence,
 ". . . visiting the sins of the fathers to the 3rd and 4th
generations."
    Both sides of the conflict as well as many outside interests
(groups, countries, and alliances) have caused or increased the
violence. With such a weighty history, stopping the fighting and
creating peace will be a long and arduous task, but it is imperative
that we find ways to start.
    As Quakers we have struggled to suggest ways that this conflict
might be resolved including economic sanctions, political pressure and
supporting peace negotiations. Several Monthly Meetings have approved
Minutes listing policies and activities that the international community
or the United States Government should follow.
    This is a terrible crisis and one fraught with conflicting religious
conviction, fear of retaliation and annihilation, redress of past
wrongs, and struggle over power and economic control.
    Beyond the political responses that we as individuals may choose to
make as Quakers we will continue to hold all of the people in the area
in the light. We will find ways to support individuals and groups who
are seeking peaceful solutions (the Israeli physicians who are going
into the West Bank to treat the Palestinian people, the Israeli soldiers
who are refusing to go to the West Bank to destroy homes, AFSC staff who
are working on peace in the Middle East). We will actively support
efforts such as the peace tax fund, which would allow us to live more
fully the Quaker Peace Testimony. We will support the Quaker Meeting and
School in Ramallah in their search for peaceful solutions. We will talk
with our Jewish and Islamic friends, relatives and neighbors about this
crisis and about our belief that there is a peaceful solution, which
although difficult to achieve, will be better than violence. We will
search for "ways that open" which will help lead the world to a time of
peace.

~~~~~~ end ^o^ ~~~~~~ 1stpost 051102 ~~~~~~

_______________________________________
IMP ^o^ ... "Information Made Present"

is a bulletin service of the SAYMA office to provide practical details
to our geographically-challenged Yearly Meeting via our free
list-server:  semi-official information, bulletins that you can print,
post, announce, publish, or pass around.  Please address questions,
corrections and additions to AdminAsst at sayma.org or call
276-628-5852 (machine; in-person Tu/Th 5-7:30p).
Thank you!  ^o^
-----------------------------------------------------
To receive IMP^o^ bulletins, subscribe to the free list server,
sayma at kitenet.net.  You can e-mail to sayma-request at kitenet.net,
writing only the word       subscribe    in the body of your e-mail
message.  You can also subscribe on the web at
http://kitenet.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/sayma.
------------------------------------------------------