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An Appeal for a Shared Responsibility
for the Holy Land
ZNAK Christian Culture Foundation
April 2002
We - Polish Christians,
Muslims and Jews participating in the interfaith dialogue
- despair over the growing conflict in our common Holy
Land. We share the suffering of every victim of terrorist
attacks and military actions, of every Jew and Palestinian,
of every Muslim and Christian who lives a life threatened
by uncertainty and fear.
We sympathize with Palestinians
who recognize Israel's right to exist and with Israelis
who recognize that Palestinians have a right to their
own sovereignty. We join in prayer with all those who
support and nurture the hope that Israel can live free
of terrorism and that Palestinians can live free of
humiliating foreign rule.
A joint declaration was signed
on 21 January 2002 in Alexandria by distinguished representatives
of Judaism, Islam and Christianity from Israel and the
Palestinian Autonomy (among others, the Sephardic Chief
Rabbi Bakshi-Doron; the Israeli Undersecretary of Foreign
Affairs, Rabbi Melchior; the Chief Judge of the Shari'a
Courts, Sheik Tamimi; Secretary of State of the Palestinian
Autonomy, Sheik El Sider; the Roman Catholic Patriarch,
Archbishop Sabbah; and a representative of the Orthodox
Patriarch, Archbishop Aristichos), as well as other
eminent persons (among them, the Archbishop of Canterbury
George Carey, Egyptian Sheik Tantawi, the AJC director
for interfaith dialogue, and the Chairman of the International
Council of Christians and Jews, Rabbi Rosen). This document
expresses a will to seek solutions jointly, to refrain
from demonization or provocation, and to secure a proper
education for future generations. We welcome this declaration
with satisfaction. Herewith specific excerpts taken
from it:
"According to our faith traditions, killing
innocents in the name of God is a desecration of His
Holy Name, [...] We call upon all to oppose incitement,
hatred and misrepresentation of the other.
Palestinians and Israelis must respect the divinely
ordained purposes of the Creator by whose grace they
live in the same land that is called holy. As a first
step now, we call for a religiously sanctioned cease-fire,
respected and observed on all sides."
We, Polish participants in a dialogue
between Christianity, Judaism and Islam, support this
appeal. We do this in part as citizens of the country
where Auschwitz-Birkenau lies - a place which illustrates
what evil we, humankind, are capable of committing,
a place which cries out:
DO NOT ALLOW HATRED TO GROW!
An inflationary spiral of violence
and hatred can only result in short-term effects; it
may also lead to mutual suicide. Thus reconciliation
must be the goal.
With hope we read in the Alexandria Declaration:
"As religious leaders, we pledge ourselves to
continue a joint quest for a just peace that leads
to reconciliation in Jerusalem and the Holy Land,
for the common good of all our peoples."
We trust this statement is still
valid; we would like to participate and help.
This is why we are creating a website with information
about all undertakings and endeavors aimed at overcoming
conflicts and dedicated to dialogue and cooperation
- first and foremost in the Middle East, but in our
own country and others as well.
We would be grateful for any and
all information regarding either large and exceptional
or small and modest events which have not received a
lot of publicity, and about campaigns and activities
that should be supported, imitated, or assisted.
Hence, at the present
moment, we would be grateful if you send such information
to:
fundacja@znak.com.pl
(ul.Kościuszki 37, 30-105 Kraków)
On behalf of the Polish Council of Christian and Jews
Rev. Michał Czajkowski
Stanisław Krajewski
On behalf of the Joint
Council of Catholics and Muslims
Zdzisław Bielecki
Selim Chazbijewicz
On behalf of the ZNAK Christian
Culture Foundation
Stefan Wilkanowicz
On behalf of the ZNAK Publishing
House
Henryk Woźniakowski
On behalf of Znak Monthly
Jarosław Gowin
On behalf of Tygodnik Powszechny
Weekly
Rev. Adam Boniecki
On behalf of the Catholic
Intelligentsia Club in Krakow
Barbara Czałczyńska
On behalf of the Catholic
Intelligentsia Club in Warsaw
Piotr M.A. Cywiński
On behalf of Więź Monthly
Zbigniew Nosowski
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