The Middle East is once again in flames and the use of violence on each side only causes more violence.  There clearly is no military solution.  It is understandable that Israel would want to protect their people from missile attacks but the killings of civilians in Lebanon will not serve the cause of peace.  

The National Council of Churches USA - which last year sent a delegation to the region - has issued a statement condemning violence on all sides:

"As he came near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, `If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace!'" (Luke 19: 41-42a, NRSV)

Jesus' lament echoes over the landscape of the Middle East, and in the hearts of men and women everywhere, as we witness the senseless violence engulfing the region. Is there ever to be an end to violence in the land we call holy?

What has violence solved these last 60 years? What has violence solved these past weeks?

Any hope for peace, itself a miracle in the midst of occupation, was stifled with Israel's missile strike on Gaza and the death of innocent Palestinians. Any chance of reconciliation was hindered by the retributive attacks and kidnapping of an Israeli soldier by Hamas. Any call for restraint was ignored with disproportionate retaliations by Israel. Any plea for reason was cast aside with the capture of two more Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah. Any prayer for an end to this escalation of hostilities was silenced with the Israeli incursions into Lebanon, the subsequent shelling of Haifa and Beirut, and the death of more and more civilians.

We hear Jesus' lament in the cries of the Israelis, Palestinians, and Lebanese, the Christians, Jews, Muslims, and others whose lives are threatened by this unending violence. Where can this cycle of vengeance, retribution and violence lead?

When will all Israeli leaders see that aggression only breeds more aggression, and that security cannot be achieved through the oppression and humiliation of others? When will all Palestinian leaders understand that calls for justice demand the doing of justice, and that suffering injustice does not confer moral license to respond with violence? When will the United States see that being an honest, effective broker for peace requires fairness in our dealings with both the Israelis and the Palestinians, and now the Lebanese, and that doing nothing to end the violence costs us dearly in spirit, blood, treasure, and moral integrity?

The National Council of Churches USA and Church World Service:

Call upon our own government and all governments, recognizing the success of former peace initiatives, to encourage aggrieved parties to engage in earnest negotiation, and through the United Nations to work with all concerned parties to address immediate humanitarian needs and to resolve the long-term issues underlying the continued violence;

Call upon all parties in the Middle East to end the current hostilities, to develop non-violent strategies for engagement, and to work toward a just and sustainable settlement of the issues that plague the region;

Call upon the religious communities of the region to pray, teach and lead their people in the ways of peace, and upon religious communities throughout the world to walk with them in solidarity until peace is achieved; and,

Call upon its member communions to pray for all those who have suffered and died as a result of this violence, and their families and communities, and to engage in humanitarian and advocacy actions for peace.

We issue this statement remembering the words of Jesus Christ: "Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword" (Matthew 26:52, NRSV).

The World Council of Churches has issued a similar statement:

One day of new violence in northern Israel and in Lebanon, added to three weeks of on-going attacks in the Gaza Strip, gives cause for increasing alarm around the world. The use of force and the harsh rhetoric of war are driving the new government of Israel and its neighbouring states deeper into a chasm of killings and destruction, and farther away from the prospect of peace.

The World Council of Churches strongly urges all parties to immediately stop and reverse the escalation of the conflict and all use of the rhetoric of war.

We insist fully and firmly on the need for all parties to protect civilians -- Lebanese, Israeli and Palestinian -- in accordance with international law. We call for an end to violent actions, condemning these actions including the destruction of roads, bridges and airport runways and the blockade by sea of Lebanon as is already the case in Gaza.

Implementation of international law including international humanitarian law and of UN resolutions concerning Israel, the occupied Palestinian territories and Lebanon, is the essential alternative to the cycle of incursions, occupations, violent counter-attacks and international inaction that now looms over the Middle East again.

The WCC called two weeks ago for the international community to take new action to uphold law and end violence over Gaza, releasing those detained by both sides, and two months ago for Israel to base its security on equitable negotiations with neighbouring peoples within the framework of international laws and related guarantees. Events in Lebanon show the high costs of inaction by the international community.

This new word of warning comes with our urgent prayers for action by all parties committed to achieving peace with justice.

Rev. Dr. Samuel Kobia
General Secretary

Pleas keep all the people of the Middle East - Jewish, Christian and Muslim - in your prayers.  Pray for peace.