Sharing Jerusalem is a grass-roots campaign that was launched in the Washington DC metro area in the spring of 2006 to educate, organize, and activate mainline churches in support of a solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict - specifically, a two-state solution that would include a Jerusalem that is "shared" both politically between Israel and Palestine and religiously among Jews, Muslims, and Christians.

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GIVE PEACE A CHANCE Campaign
September Prayer Service and Workshop
Focus: Separation Barrier / Wall

Sunday, September 21st
2 - 4 PM
Dumbarton United Methodist Church
3133 Dumbarton Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. (Georgetown)
Co-sponsored by WIAMEP (Washington Area Interfaith Alliance for Middle-East Peace)

Are you interested in learning more about what is happening in the Middle East peace process - particularly, those "conditions on the ground" that are standing in the way of a just and durable peace? Would you like to meet others who share your interest and learn what you can do together to help make peace possible? Through its Give Peace a Chance campaign, Sharing Jerusalem, together with WIAMEP, is sponsoring a year-long series of workshops focusing on impediments to the peace process and what we can do to help change them. Settlement expansion, suicide bombers, checkpoints, rockets fired into Israel, the siege of Gaza - all of these and many more "conditions on the ground" are obstacles to peace that must be changed.

Please join us on September 21st at Dumbarton United Methodist Church as we take an in-depth look at the Separation Barrier/Wall that Israel is building inside the green line. We will be discussing important facts such as the following:

·        Almost 498,000 Palestinians are affected by the Separation Barrier.  These residents must get Israeli-issued travel permits to pass through the Separation Barrier to go to work, tend their farms, visit family members, see doctors, etc. who are on the other side.

·        The Separation Barrier has enveloped the illegal settlements and made them part of Israel.  In addition, the “settlers’ only” roads that connect the illegal settlements within the wall to each other and to Jerusalem have made the West Bank a virtual piece of swiss cheese.

·        The Separation Barrier has enclosed Palestinian population centers, making them open air prisons, reminiscent of East European ghettos and South African Bantustans.

·        Palestinian farmers, who need special permits, can reach their fields only by going through a gate at limited times when an Israeli soldier may be there to open the gate.

·        School children must often wait at the gate for long periods of time in rural areas until an Israeli soldier shows up to open the gate.

·        At the request of the UN General Assembly, ,the International Court of Justice (IJC) presented its conclusions about the Separation Barrier on December 3, 2004, and ruled that the barrier located inside the West Bank is illegal and violates international human rights law.  They stated Israel must:

o       cease construction of “the wall”

o       dismantle the parts of the wall which were built inside the West Bank

o       revoke standing orders related to further construction of the wall within the West Bank

o       compensate Palestinians for their losses.

·       The ICJ also called on the international community to:

o       Refrain from assisting in maintaining the “unlawful” situation created by the wall

o       Take legal measures to cease Israel’s violations

o       Ensure enforcement of the Fourth Geneva Convention.

·        The US Congress voted overwhelmingly to reject the ICJ’s ruling and support Israel’s continued construction of the wall inside the West Bank.

The goal of the Give Peace a Chance campaign is to engage in activities that will help to create measurable and documented improvements in conditions on the ground in both Palestine and Israel so that a negotiated peace settlement can succeed. The campaign plan includes monthly prayer services followed by educational workshops, each of which will focus on understanding and improving a specific condition that is undermining support for peace by both Israelis and Palestinians. The services and workshops will be hosted by local churches, synagogues, and mosques. Click here for an overview of the campaign details.

The heart of our campaign is the year-long series of monthly prayer services and workshops. Is your church, mosque, or synagogue interested in hosting a prayer service and workshop? Click here to contact our Facilitator, Rev. Monroe Wright, and find out how to participate.