Bernardin Center Fosters Peace Statement

On May 4, 2003 this statement on peace in the Middle East authored by civic leaders appeared in the Chicago Tribune. The statement came out of public discussions sponsored by the Bernardin Center at Catholic Theological Union and written by a group of 10 concerned Jewish, Christian, and Muslim leaders, including CTU President Fr. Donald Senior.

AN URGENT APPEAL CONCERNING PEACE BETWEEN PALESTINIANS AND ISRAELIS

As citizens of the United States and as members of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities, we feel an urgent responsibility to address the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the Middle East. Each of us has personal, religious, and cultural ties to that region. From those lands came Abraham, the common ancestor of all three religious traditions, and in those lands were forged the religious history and profound legacy of faith in which all of us share.

Yet these lands, particularly Israel and the Palestinian territories, have not known peace for over half a century. The violence there continues to mount, innocent lives are being destroyed, the economies of both sides are in shambles, and there seems to be little if any progress towards an equitable solution. We sense that many of the peoples in this region no longer have hope that peace is possible and see no way out of the morass of violence and suspicion that has only intensified in recent months.

We express our concern about this situation not as government representatives or religious leaders but as members of the business, civic, and legal community of Chicago. We have gathered under the auspices of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Center in the spirit of mutual respect and commitment to open dialogue that characterized the leadership of Cardinal Bernardin himself.

We recognize that as citizens of the United States we enjoy the gift of freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Despite the racial and cultural tensions that have been part of our history, we also experience that our country is a place where peoples of diverse origin, race, and religious allegiance can join together in mutual respect and understanding. The very fact that we ourselves--Christians, Jews and Muslims--can come together in a spirit of friendship and find common ground on such a difficult issue is itself an expression of the freedom and opportunity we enjoy as American citizens. We believe that these gifts impose on us a responsibility to work for peace.

It is our common conviction that the government of the United States is an indispensable party to the peace process and therefore we support the recent statement of the President that commits our government to renewing its efforts to promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians. It is not our competence or role to instruct our government leaders on the mechanics of such a peace process. Nor do we intend to take a position on the complex historical circumstances that have fed this conflict. However, we believe there are certain principles and moral values that need to be included in any equitable and lasting solution.

At the outset and as the most urgent priority of any peace process, the security of both Israelis and Palestinians must be guaranteed. We also unequivocally condemn any acts of violence taken against innocent civilians. These acts of violence do not further the legitimate causes of the parties but only increase the burden of human suffering and generate fear, hatred and a spiraling of violence.

We recognize that the ongoing violence and lack of a political solution have done enormous damage to the economies and infrastructures of both sides. Collapsing morale and fear plague both Israelis and Palestinians and discourage economic investment and initiative. We consider it imperative that along with strong and effective security measures, the international community must publicly commit itself to visible and practical projects that will create jobs, rebuild the infrastructure of the region, and encourage investment such as the Marshall Plan did for Europe at the end of World War II. We believe that evidence of economic investment and the prospect of growing employment can contribute to the establishment of security by giving people a stake in the peace and thereby eroding support for the perpetrators of violence.

Along with international support for security measures and economic recovery, efforts must also proceed along the political front and be undeterred by acts of violence or subversion by groups opposed to a peaceful solution. We support the two-state solution that has been endorsed by our own government, by members of the international community, and by the major political parties in the region. We recognize that any solution will have to deal forthrightly with the issue of the settlements and the refugee question. An ultimate solution must be based on international law as outlined in the pertinent United Nations resolutions and be negotiated to the satisfaction of the Israelis and Palestinians themselves.

It is evident to us that in all of these efforts the government of the United States must play a vigorous and sustained role. The support of the international community, including the Europeans, Russians, and the Arab League, is also crucial. So, too, is strong endorsement by international religious leaders from the Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities. Yet to bring about peace, we believe that it is crucial that our own government resume its essential role as an honest broker between the parties in the region and therefore we fully support its recently announced determination to do so.

For that reason we appeal to all citizens of good will to join us in this effort to awaken the moral conscience of our various communities, to support our government in its determination to promote a solution to the conflict, and together to begin again the journey to peace. We fully recognize that journey will be arduous and we are under no illusions about the enormous obstacles that stand in the way. But we also believe that it is our responsibility not to give in to despair but to reaffirm our conviction that peace is possible and to recommit ourselves to the hard yet noble work of peacemaking.

A. Robert Abboud
Dr. Imad Y. Almanaseer
Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni
Marshall Bennett
Lester Crown
James Denny
Newton N. Minow
Talat Othman
Penny Pritzker
Rev. Donald Senior