Religious Heads Commend Rice on Israel-Palestine Progress toward Peace
Access to the Gaza Strip opened for the first time since Israel pulled out in the summer. For four hours on the first day, travelers were free to cross from Southern Gaza into Egypt without security checks. The Palestinian-run border will eventually be open 24 hours a day, according to officials.
Religious leaders give credit to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice for her leadership in helping the Israel and the Palestinian Authority establish an agreement. The deal resolves weeks of negotiation that kept the strip mostly sealed off.
"The important thing here is that people have understood that there is an important balance between security on the one hand and, on the other hand, allowing the Palestinian people freedom of movement," Rice said at a news conference, according to The Washington Post. "The other important point is that everybody recognizes that if the Palestinians can move more freely and export their agriculture, that Gaza will be a much better place, where the institutions of democracy can begin to take hold."
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American Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders along with heads of other national organizations commended Rice in a letter written on behalf of the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East. The 37 leaders expressed appreciation for the major progress made towards Israeli-Palestinian peace.
"We deeply applaud your work in helping Israel and the Palestinian Authority reach agreement on enabling freer movement of people and goods in and out of Gaza and the West Bank to build positively on Israeli disengagement, while effectively meeting Israeli security concerns," the letter stated. "We believe reconstruction of the economy in Gaza, including large scale job creation, is essential for restoring Palestinian hopes for peace and providing further incentive for a nonviolent path to peace."
The undersigned heads articulated their support to U.S. leadership of the Road Map to Peace, particularly U.S. President George W. Bush's commitment to creating democracy in Israel and Palestine and the President's call on Israel to remove unauthorized outposts and stop settlement expansion.
"We believe the Road Map to Peace continues to provide an essential framework for negotiated progress toward peace."
Starting mid-December, Palestinians also will be able to cross the West Bank and Gaza border for the first time in five years.
For a complete copy of the letter, go to www.episcopalchurch.org.
