2001 Statement – PC(USA), pp. 54-55
[The 213th General Assembly (2001) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.):]
- Affirms the call of Secretary of State Colin Powell, during his February 2001 visit to Jerusalem while standing with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, urging the implementation of United Nations Resolutions 242, 338, and others;
- Call[s] on both the Israelis and Palestinians to recognize that the continuing escalation of violence cannot lead to peace, and that self-restraint and a willingness to make fair and reasonable mutual compromises constitute the necessary first steps toward any acceptable negotiated settlement;
- Call[s] on Mr. Sharon’s government to desist from its policy of excessive military force, and to signal its commitment to peace negotiation by ending the occupation, which is itself a form of violence, and a continuing hindrance to the resumption of a peace process;
- Call[s] on Mr. Yasser Arafat to appeal to the different population groups of the Palestinian people to lay down their arms and stones, not as a sign of surrender to the continuing Israeli occupation, but as an expression of their unity in seeking to work out a just and an enduring peace for their people;
- Direct[s] the Stated Clerk to send a letter President George W. Bush, Vice-President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Colin Powell, the ambassador to the United Nations, and all members of Congress, asking that they urge and work with both the Israelis and the Palestinians to seek a just and lasting peace; urging the conversion of funds presently budgeted or allocated for military assistance for nations of the Middle East to support for humanitarian assistance and economic aid; and discouraging the private, direct or indirect, sale of military weaponry to Middle Eastern nations.