Palestinian Lutheran Bishop Munib Younan stressed the contributions that can be made by the three Abrahamic faiths in seeking a just peace and reconciliation in the Holy Land. In his Minneapolis/St.Paul visit, he also warned of the dangers of fundamentalist exclusivism in all three faiths and insisted on the need always to see God in "the other."
He noted that reconciliation to overcome hatred is as essential as fashioning a just peace. All three faiths must promote peace education, he stressed, which he noted is a priority for the five Palestinian Lutheran schools.
Bishop Younan reminded us that we should look to the root cause of the conflict, the 35-year-long occupation of one people by another. He repeatedly challenged us to work and pray for a just peace in the Middle East, and to keep alive the hope that two peoples with three faiths may have a future together as reconciled neighbors who respect one another. "We are not asking your country to be pro-Israeli or pro-Palestinian," he said. "We need you to be pro-justice and pro-truth."
Bishop Younan also urged visits to the region from the faith communities and pushed for advocacy to press our government toward a more balanced policy. ELCA presiding bishop Mark Hanson offered a moving response to Bishop Younan's call for solidarity with Palestinian people, calling him a prophet in the mode of Micah and pledging ELCA support in the struggle for a just peace. Charles Lutz

Folks in Europe are appalled to hear reports that Bush is planning a war with Iraq by this fall. Everyone I spoke with in Germany is concerned about the simplistic "good and evil" line, and also feel as if NATO and the European Union are being ignored by the US administration. They fear the US feels it should fight the wars and leave peacekeeping and development aid to others, the EU, NATO, the UN. It is the arrogance of this approach that turns them off. Bill Harman

LPF around the US