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Clerics in secret Middle East talks
BroHanif
07/05/01 at 05:38:11
A.W.W. Religion it seems is the answer to the problems, not politicians. What do you think ?? Salaams H ------------------------------------------------------------- Special report: Israel and the Middle East Jonathan Freedland Wednesday July 4, 2001 The Guardian Senior religious leaders from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide have been meeting in a top secret, Oslo-style "back channel" to bring peace to the Middle East, the Guardian can reveal today. The group of rabbis and imams have met for nearly a decade in Jerusalem and abroad - with the secret backing of a European government. Their avowed goal, as the region languishes in one of its bleakest periods with a ceasefire barely holding, is to find a way for Israelis and Palestinians to live alongside each other and for Judaism and Islam to co-exist. "Just as religion can be used as a weapon for those who want no solution and no compromise, so religion has the possibility to turn things around and bring a solution," Rabbi Michael Melchior, Israel's deputy foreign minister and lead member of the Jewish delegation at the secret talks, told the Guardian. The "framework", as he calls it, has held no formal meetings since the outbreak of the current intifada last September but the channel of communication has never shut down, even when times have been "extremely difficult." This week it is set to bear important fruit, as Sheikh Talal Sader, minister of state in Yasser Arafat's Palestinian Authority, heads to Jerusalem for talks with a senior rabbinic counterpart. Like Mr Melchior, Mr Sader plays a dual role as a senior cleric and a member of the governing administration, ensuring that the talks between religious leaders have an impact on the political process. Mr Sader could not be reached for comment yesterday. In an indication of the seriousness of the process, Mr Melchior said that both sides have the backing of their political leaders, Ariel Sharon and Mr Arafat. "During the first years, we didn't go through the politicians. But now I have to have my back covered," he said. His immediate boss, the foreign minister, Shimon Peres, had given a green light and Mr Sharon "has also accepted that this is the right thing to do - that this is a chance to get out of the stalemate". The participants have not shied away from some of the thorniest problems in the conflict. According to Mr Melchior, the rabbis and sheikhs had all but agreed a shared position on the hotly disputed patch of Jerusalem revered by Jews as the Temple Mount and by Muslims as Haram al-Sharif. That issue proved a major obstacle in last year's Camp David talks between Israelis and Palestinians. Both sides boast a top-drawer line-up, with represen tatives drawn from the orthodox mainstream of both faiths. The Danish-born Mr Melchior is a former chief rabbi of Norway, while his prime backer in the secret talks is the chief rabbi of Israel's North African, or Sephardi, Jews, Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron. The latter has nominated several rabbinic colleagues to attend the talks, while Jewish religious leaders from America and France have also taken part in meetings. A frequent participant on the opposite side of the table was the late Faisel Husseini, scion of one of Jerusalem's most eminent Muslim families. But others are reluctant to be identified, said Rabbi Melchior: "They're very afraid of being exposed." It is understood that the Palestinian participants are chiefly from the occupied territories, including several with backgrounds in the Islamic militant organisation Hamas. Some of the international meetings have included Muslim clerics from Egypt, Algeria and even Iran. That is quite deliberate, according to Rabbi Melchior. Rather than hold a dialogue between sympathetic moderates, the group brings together representatives of the most hardline communities on both sides. "Otherwise there would be no point," said the minister. He admitted that some of his Muslim counterparts have publicly praised Palestinian suicide bombers. "That's part of the game," he said. "They have to keep their legitimacy." There are other obstacles. Several government heads across the Middle East regard the effort with suspicion. The former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak was said to be sceptical, as is the Egyptian president, Hosni Mubarak. "I think they were afraid of it because it's out of their control," said Mr Melchior. He is under no illusions as to the enormity of the task, but said the clerics had reached some crucial understandings which could one day form part of a settlement. "We will come to it eventually. I'm not sure how much bloodshed will have to happen first."

Re: Clerics in secret Middle East talks
Saleema
07/06/01 at 04:06:57
He admitted that some of his Muslim counterparts have publicly praised Palestinian suicide bombers. "That's part of the game," he said. "They have to keep their legitimacy." I would trust no such "Imam" that lies to its own people but will reveal their faces to Rabbis. War is deception the Prophet said, and these "Imams" are being deceitful to their own people. Just exactly how can they bring peace to Palestine and Israel? The report didnt mention a set of actions to be executed in the future. The set of actions that were agreed upon in the Oslo agreement were printed in the newspapers and broadcast on television and made availble to the public once the talks were final. What are these "Imams" and Rabbis going to do to bring peace? Pray and sprinkle "holy water" on the lands of Palestine and Israel? How absurd and foolish for these "Imams" and the Rabbis to encourage their respective people with hate filled speeches encouraging the killing of each other and then having secret talks to try to solve "the cycle of violence," to use the phrase that the Media keeps repeating. [wlm] Saleema

Re: Clerics in secret Middle East talks
BroHanif
07/06/01 at 20:40:41
A.W.W. All I was trying to do is just raise peoples awareness that this cloak and dagger stuff goes on, nothing more. The only solution to the crisis is religion and breaking down the barries of apparthied. Another question do yo think the Palestinians are fighting for nationalism(fighting for a state) or for Islam. ? Salaams Hanif

Re: Clerics in secret Middle East talks
Saleema
07/06/01 at 22:27:27
[slm] Another question do yo think the Palestinians are fighting for nationalism(fighting for a state) or for Islam. ? To say that all Plestinians are fighting for nationalism or that all palestinains are fighting for Islam would be generalizing. Remember there are Palestinian Christians as well. Differet people are fighting with differnet intentions. [wlm] Saleema
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