WCC Central Committee has adopted documents on public issues
8.02.2001 · English, Архив 2001
WCC CENTRAL COMMITTEE HAS ADOPTED DOCUMENTS ON PUBLIC ISSUES
The World Council of Church Central Committee meeting, which ended its work on February 6 at Potsdam, Germany, has adopted documents on public issues. Among them are a statement on Sudan and resolutions on the Middle East, Colombia, Cyprus and Indonesia.
The committee expressed its deep sadness and grave concern “at the new escalation of violence in the Palestinian autonomous and occupied territories as well as Israel over the last four months”. The discrimination towards Palestinians suffering from the restriction of movement was noted. The participants pointed to “the disproportionate use of military force by Israel, the denial of access to timely medical assistance, the destruction of property” and expressed concern at the practice of special permissions required of Palestinians to enter areas under Israeli jurisdiction as it leads to “cantonization” of the Palestinian lands being separated from one another. The Central Committee calls upon the WCC general secretary and staff to support the efforts for a negotiated peace in the Middle East, based on international law. At the same time, it was proposed to give special attention to the future status to Jerusalem, the right of return of Palestinian refugees and measures to enforce all relevant United Nations resolutions, including those regarding the withdrawal of troops from all occupied territories including Golan Hights and Shebaa.
The WCC Central Committee shared the position of the Latin American Council of Church which denounced in January “Plan Colombia” providing for the United States’ military assistance to the Colombian government for struggle with the rebels. The committee stated that “military aid does not help the cause of peace” and called the sides of the conflict to negotiations. An appeal was made to achieve a just peace in Cyprus and to the reunification of this country. The WCC Central Committee reassured the people of Cyprus of its prayers for a settlement of the long-standing conflict through negotiations so that “this last wall of separation in Europe finally be brought down”.
The committee adopted earlier a message on the occasion of the launch of the Decade to Overcome Violence declared by the WCC. The massage points to the dramatic aspects which developed in the world policy and economy in the 20th century, such as colonialism, occupation of others’ lands, genocide, local religious wars, and the emergence of the weapons of mass destruction. According to the document, the last century was marked with “the growth and institutionalization of global systems of trade, finance, and production that concentrate power and wealth… widen the gap between rich and poor… undermine the willingness and capacity of many national governments to defend the basic economic, social and cultural rights of their inhabitants”. In the 20th century, the message says, there has been a growth of global media that promote “the consumption of violence” as a form of entertainment, while the consumerist culture intensifies the exploitation of people and nature. The WCC Central Committee called upon churches and inter-Christian organizations to analyze the diverse forms of violence and their interconnection, to work together for peace and justice, to support creative approaches to peacemaking in various Christian traditions, local communities, secular movements and non-Christian religions.
Full English texts of the documents are available at
http://wcc-coe.org/wcc/who/cc2001/documents-e.html
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