Two Clergy Reply

To Scottish Friends of Israel

Please be assured of my concern for the members of your armed forces held by Hezbollah and Hamas against international law and for all Israeli citizens threatened by acts of terrorism. Churches and other Christian groups have condemned such actions and continue to call for an end to violent conduct. Along with the other signatories expressing support for Mordecai Vanunu I am aware of the threat to Israel posed by radical Islamic groups, by neighbouring, non-democratic, despotic states and by instability in the region. I therefore understand why your organisation exists to support the state of Israel and to challenge anti-semitism. However I also believe that peace and stability will only be a reality for all the nations and peoples of the Middle East through dialogue, negotiation and the costly work of reconciliation. I will keep myself informed of your work through your website and ask that you contact me whenever there are issues which you wish to bring to my attention.

Yours sincerely,
Peter Macdonald

To Scottish Friends of Israel

Thank you for this. I stand firmly behind the upholding of human rights by all of humankind. I believe that bridges of trust, not walls of segregation and exclusion need to be built. I walked along the Wall last year and wept.

I believe in reconciliation, not hatred. I believe in showing mercy and forgiveness towards our neighbours not hatred an violence.

Micah 6:8 is a guiding force for my life: "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

I am a friend of both the Palestinian people and the Israeli people. I believe in the right of a democratic Israel to exist, and I believe in the right of the Palestinian people to also have a democratic state to live in that is viable economically, socially, and politically. Neither state, though, should be exclusive. This seems to me contrary to democratic pluralism in the 21st Century. They should be secular states, not defined in religious terms.

I believe the three Abrahamic faiths must live together in peace with justice.
I abhor the abuse of human rights and the denigration of ones humanity and dignity. Violence of any sort only brings about more violence and engenders hatred. Institutionalised violence encourages individual violent behaviour in response.

UN resolutions need to be respected and implemented. The continued expansion of the settlements in the occupied territories undermine any movement toward peace with justice in the region. Restricting the free movement of millions of civilians under a 'security' umbrella is only creating more anger across the world towards the Israeli government and IDF which enforces this through the incredibly humiliating barriers and check points throughout the occupied territories. I say 'humiliating' because I have experienced them personally, and I have never had my sense of human dignity undermined so thoroughly as I did whilst visiting Israel/Palestine for 9 weeks last year.

I plea for the respect of the Geneva Convention, for the respect of UN Resolutions, for the respect of rulings by the International Court of Justice.
I plea for respect for the common humanity of all people, of all faiths and none.
with kind good wishes,

Nancy Adams

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