VIEWPOINTS

FAITH EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO IRAQ WAR - HOLY LAND -- and UNILATERAL FOREIGN POLICY

Sen. Bob Kerrey op-ed in the New York Times, April 11, 2004 is worth reading. http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/041304B.shtml
Declaring this a war on terror (terror being a tactic, not geopolitical) means there is no way to define when it is over.

Several selections point up that the Peace Movement needs to deal with the "go it alone" new American defense and foreign policy. This new strategy, supposedly necessitated by a terrorist world, is a major departure from the American and International norms. Discern!

Discern! "Because as people of faith and leaders of diverse religious communities, we recognize that we are at a moment of choice even more urgent than before the war in Iraq began" The Domestic Interfaith Summit on April 29-30 issued an "Urgent Call" and "Words of Reflection. Acknowledging that there are competing visions of how peace should be pursued, the meeting was co-called by the National Council of Churches USA, Islamic Society of North America and Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. Click here for text and to endorse statement ncccusa.org

Discern! The Christian Century, March 8, 2003 issue focuses on United States as empire and the paradigm change of American foreign policy being advocated and described in the new National Security Strategy of September 17, 2002.

Discern! PBS Frontline special how the 1992 Paul Wolfowitz morphed into the National Security Strategy of the United States Released on Sept. 17, 2002 Frontline the war behind closed doors analyses 1992 - first draft of a grand strategy PBS.htm

Discern! The New American Century Project is a neo-conservative think tank advocating the new strategy newamericancentury.org/index.html See: Defense Policy Guidance Paper and Rebuilding America's Defenses: Strategy, Forces and Resources for a New Century, (Sept 2000 Project) http://www.newamericancentury.org/publicationsreports.htm

Discern! http://www.whitehouse.gov/nsc/nss.html Influential in creating this policy were papers which advocated a "commitment to seizing and exploiting the opportunity for American global hegemony on a permanent basis. "

Discern! Religion and American Foreign Policy: Prophetic, Perilous, Inevitable Feb. 5, 2003 The Brookings Institution Religion and American Foreign Policy Prophetic, Perilous, Inevitable.htm

Discern! Antiwar Movement Tries to Find a Meaningful Message by Kate Zernike, NY Times April 20th, 2003 Message

"Shock and Awe" Remarks and Jewish prayer by Leonard Grossman LeonardGrossmanhtm.htm Awe should be reserved for that humble attitude before God who judges people and nations as the poem Recessional by Kipling warned the British Empire . Recessional poem.doc

A Pessimistic Vision For Holy Land The 7th c. Hudaybiyah Treaty by Cynthia Yacowar-Sweeney: Arafat's Piece Plan

A Hopeful Vision For Holy Land (November 17th, 2000) Walter Ruby and Aref Dajani Walter-Aref-article.html

The Carter Center, Atlanta GA http://www.cartercenter.org/ See the text of President Carter's Nobel lecture 2002.

The Electronic Intifada (EI) publishes news, commentary, analysis, and reference materials about the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict from a Palestinian perspective. http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml Search site for a number of reports by Annie Higgins in Jenin (see Life story of Olives, below)

Life Story of the Olives by Dr. Annie Higgins, Arabic professor at UIC writing from Jenin, Occupied Palestine7 January 2003 http://electronicintifada.net/v2/article1038.shtml

Win Without War is a coalition of national organizations representing broad constituencies that aim to Keep America Safe by advocating alternatives to preemptive war in Iraq. The coalition offers a mainstream, patriotic voice for engaging opinion makers, activating concerned citizens, and communicating effectively to the media. Currently it is calling for an independant commission to investigate the excuses for the justifications used for the Iraq war http://www.winwithoutwarus.org/

Iraq and the Arabs' Future Fouad Ajami From Foreign Affairs, January/February 2003 Summary: The driving motivation behind a new U.S. endeavor in Iraq should be modernizing the Arab world. Most Arabs will see such an expedition as an imperial reach into their world. But in this case a reforming foreign power's guidelines offer a better way than the region's age-old prohibitions, defects, and phobias. No apologies ought to be made for America's "unilateralism." Fouad Ajami is Majid Khadduri Professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the School for Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University. http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20030101faessay10218-p0/fouad-ajami/iraq-and-the-arabs-future.html

Jerusalem Media Communication Center Polls of Palestinians regarding continuing intifada and negotiating with Israel http://www.jmcc.org/

Iraq and the Arabs Future by Fouad Ajami from Foreign Affairs, January/February 2003 http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20030101

Jerusalem Sabeel Document-Principles for a Just peace in Palestine-Israel http://www.sabeel.org/justice/

Sabeel VOX newsletter http://www.sabeel.org/news.html#vox Produced by SABEEL -Also available as email. Sabeel Center in Jerusalem in which Naim Ateek provides liberation theology leadership for peace and justice in the Holy Land.

The math of martyrs: Has the U.S. unwittingly entered into the business of producing terrorists because the Bush administration discounts the power of religion? By Susan B. Thistlethwaite, president of the Chicago Theological Seminary Published Chicago Tribune March 26, 2003 http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/iraq/

American Muslim writes in New York Times Keeping Faith With Islam in a New World September 3, 2002 By Mona Eltahawy NYT9-3-Eltahawy.htm

MiddleEast Network of United Methodists on MFSA website http://www.mfsaweb.org/ click MENUM.

Muslim Wake Up online opinion magazine http://muslimwakeup.com/

Pro and Con Iraq War bibliography from Tribune writer, Eric Zorn http://ericzorn.com/war/ pro con bibliographcolumn

Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research Polls of Palestinians regarding continuing intifada and negotiating with Israel http://www.pcpsr.org/survey/polls/2002/p6a.html

The seductive psychology of war - Bob Abernethy's interview with New York Times reporter Chris Hedges, author of War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning Chris Hedges Interviewed by Bob Abernethy.doc

Christian positions on war (according to Roland Bainton's typology Theology Today review) have historically been of three types: 1. Crusade, 2. Just War guidelines 3. Pacifism. Each draws upon scriptural bases. Islamic position on war is also nuanced. United Methodist teachings are listed in the Discipline, Social Principles and General Conference Resolutions. See Catholic conservative George Weigel, also John Kelsay author of The Just War and Jihad Kelsay article and Middle East Quarterly What does Jihad mean?

Debates on "Just War" Theory and the War http://www/mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/poll16/justwar.htm and http:///www.americanvalues.org/html/1b____pre-emption.html and http://www.opendemocracy.net and http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/ops/iraq__pro-con.htm Religion in a Time of War March 27, 2003 Rev. Peter J. Gomes, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Chris Hedges http://www.firstperson.org/programs/2003/03/27_religionwar/rafiles/20030327_religionwar.ram

The Role of the Church in U.S. Foreign Policy Today" NCCC Dr. Robert Edgar's April 15, 2003 Address " 03news47.html

Just War re: Iraq The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Sept. 30, 2002, Iraq and Just War A Symposium.htm

Church/State and Mosque/State relationships by Lamin Sanneh Muslim-Christian Encounters Governments under God.htm

Morality War and Journalism - essay on casualty ratios and conscience MoralityWarJournalism.htm

Year of Dialogue of Civilizations was declared by The United Nations in 2001 Dialogue Conference and UNESCO

Interviews by Terri Gross on Fresh Air, NPR, on January 23, 2003 about the weekend protests in Washington DC. Interviews with Mara Verheyden Hilliard of ANSWER, and Robert Edgar of the National Council of Churches. http://freshair.npr.org/day_fa.jhtml?display=day&todayDate=01/23/2003
http://www.8thdaycenter.org/

NPR Interview with UMC Bishop C. Joseph Sprague 2/21/03 wbez interview.

TRUTHOUT - an ezine on peace and political issues and exposes http://www.truthout.org/index.htm

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Advent Emphasis on Peace	Use the four weeks of Advent be a time to reflect in congregations on the anticipation of the Prince of Peace Resources from the Common Lectionary
Make Peace your focus	FOCUS
PASSAGES FROM THE COMMON LECTIONARY	PASSAGES
and Advent resources United for Peace	http://www.grassrootsvoices.org/advent2003.html