A World Council of Churches delegation to the Middle East has also called for increase dialogue between Christians, Jews and Muslims. During a press conference on Wednesday in Geneva, delegation leader the Rev. Jean-Arnold de Clermont, president of the Conference of European Churches and head of the Protestant Federation of France, said: “We need to speak truthfully with each other now. We need to talk about the future meaning of justice in this situation,” according to Ecumenical News International.
The delegation to Beirut, Jerusalem and Ramallah included Roman Catholic Archbishop Bernard-Nicolas Aubertin of Tours in France and WCC staff member Marilia Alves-Schuller.
ELCA’s Dagher-Wakim pointed out 70 percent of the people who suffer in southern Lebanon are Muslims.
"This is not a civil war. Christians and Muslims are not fighting. It is not their fight,” said the CRC director. “You can't imagine the horror of parents carrying their dead children. The world doesn't see this. The world only sees people with beards, and people who are beating their breast with fists and shouting."
"People come in all shapes and sizes and in all religions," she continued. "But sometimes people judge from afar by (the) actions of a few. It is not a time to judge whether a Muslim is a terrorist or not.”
Since the conflict Israel-Hezbollah conflict began on July 12, ELCA International Disaster Response has sent $45,000 to the CRC. It also sent $50,000 on July 17 to support relief work in Lebanon through Action by Churches Together (ACT) and the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC).
MECC is a member of ACT – a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergency situations worldwide. ACT is based in Geneva with the World Council of Churches (WCC) and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF). The ELCA is a member of ACT, the LWF and WCC.
Michelle Vu
Christian Today Correspondent
