Bishops call for ceasefire

America’s bishops have reiterated Pope Francis’ call for a ceasefire and peace between Israel and Hamas.

In a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry, the chairman of the U.S. bishops’ Committee on International Justice and Peace, said that the United States should seek an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, provide humanitarian relief to the vulnerable people of Gaza, and return to the challenge of pursuing a just and lasting peace.

Bishop Richard E. Pates of Des Moines, Iowa, wrote, “Israelis should not have to live in fear of Hamas’ indiscriminate rocket attacks on civilian areas. At the same time, Palestinians should not have to live in fear for their lives from air and ground attacks or to suffer the humiliations of occupation.”

He noted that Catholic Relief Services has had to suspend it relief efforts in Gaza because of the fighting.

The full text of the letter is here

More information on the U.S. bishops’ advocacy on Israeli-Palestinian peace is available here..

New initiative for Israeli-Palestinian peace

Catholic News Service reports that Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders are calling for bold new initiative for Israeli-Palestinian peace:

Thirty Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders from the United States called for "a bold new U.S. initiative for a two-state peace agreement before it is too late." They made the call in a statement sponsored by the National Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace in the Middle East (NILI).

"The current dangerous stalemate, including the legacy of past failed peacemaking efforts, undermines our security and that of others, destabilizes the region, fuels terrorism and extremism, allows continuing Israeli settlement expansion, and prolongs Palestinian disunity," wrote the leaders, who included retired Cardinal Theodore McCarrick of Washington, Rabbi David Saperstein of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, and Sayyid Syeed, Ph.D. of the Islamic Society of North America. "These realities and the absence of negotiations threaten to kill the prospect of a viable two-state peace agreement, the only realistic solution to the conflict."

The leaders acknowledged daunting challenges but said they "believe a bold new initiative for an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement should be an immediate priority of the Obama Administration in 2013" and that they "fear the opportunity for a peaceful resolution is rapidly waning and the current stagnation encourages the rejectionists on both sides."

They said the United States "has unique leverage and credibility in the region. Indeed, no past progress towards peace has occurred in this conflict without U.S. leadership, facilitation or staunch support. Once again, we need active, fair and firm U.S. leadership to help break the current deadlock and to achieve a two-state peace agreement now before it is too late."

The Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders of NILI are pledged to mobilize strong support for bold, determined U.S. leadership for peace in churches, synagogues and mosques across the country.

The full text of the statement is here.