Welcoming the delegation to the Ecumenical Centre on behalf of the four Geneva-based sponsoring ecumenical organisations, WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia concurred that "It is only by addressing the Israel-Palestine issue, and only a comprehensive and just settlement of that issue that can bring peace and security in the Middle East".
Entrusted by the WCC, the Conference of European Churches (CEC), the Lutheran World Federation (LWF), and the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC) with the mission of expressing global ecumenical solidarity with churches and people affected by the conflict in the Middle East, the delegation returned with the task of transmitting the hopes and expectations of the churches in Lebanon, Palestine and Israel to the international ecumenical family.
However, as they spoke about their journey, the simple questions of ‘Why?’ kept coming up over and over again.
Reporting on their 10-15 August visit to Beirut and Jerusalem, the three members of the delegation - CEC President Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tours (France) Mgr. Bernard Aubertin, and WCC programme executive on racism, Ms Marilia Alves-Schüller – emphasised that the representatives of Lebanon's various communities with whom they met had all agreed that the answer to that question is that the destruction was both deliberate and planned.
In support of that analysis, community leaders mentioned their concern at the growing influence of neo-conservative forces in the US on Israel’s political leadership. In particular they questioned US secretary of state Condoleeza Rice's comment that "The suffering of Lebanon is the labour pains of the new Middle East".
The delegation also wished to strongly affirm all that representatives of Lebanon’s different communities had shared with them about the over-riding value of the multi-cultural and multi-confessional nature of their society. For the community leaders, this represents a guarantee for peace.
