Calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and Southern Israel

I have been privileged to be a part of the Abrahamic Faiths Peacemaking Initiative for the past year or so. Recently the group met to discuss our response to the violence that is destroying the lives of thousands of people in Southern Israel and the Gaza Strip. These are difficult conversations. Imagine religious leaders from the Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities in the Los Angeles area talking face-to-face about this. The conversation got intense at times, but was always repectful because of the relationships that have been forged over the years. We are not playing at the edges of interfaith conversation. This is really work!

Below is a portion of the statement we drafted that was released at a press conference this morning. I am honored to be a signor.

“We have inherited a big house, a great ‘world house’ in which we have to live together - black and white, Easterners and Westerners, Gentiles and Jews, Catholics and Protestants, Moslem and Hindu, a family unduly separated in ideas, culture, and interests who, because we can never again live without each other, must learn, somehow, in this one big world, to live with each other.

– Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Peace Prize Lecture 1964

As Christians, Jews, and Muslims, heirs to the great legacy of Abraham, we affirm that all human beings are created in the image of God. We do not discriminate when violence is directed against innocents or when rage, fear and recrimination disturb the quiet of our streets.

As a multireligious community concerned about the security of Israel and the Palestinians, we join with those who seek not only an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire but also a commitment to find new avenues of reconciliation rooted in our shared values of healing, justice, and mercy.

Let us be clear about our immediate priority: the dire human suffering in Gaza and southern Israel must be brought to a swift end.

Read the whole thing here.