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Interfaith delegation to Middle East arrives in Jordan
Episcopal News Service
Issue:
Section:
2003-018-1
Posted: Wednesday, January 29, 2003
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Seventeen U.S. citizens departed January 25 for two weeks in Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel/Palestine as part of Fellowship of Reconciliation's Interfaith Peace-Builders fact-finding delegation, sponsored by the Episcopal Peace Fellowship (EPF), The Witness, and Fellowship of Reconciliation.
Terry Rogers, EPF member and public health nurse in New York City, is one of two co-leaders of the group. The other is Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Both co-leaders have extensive experience in the Middle East.
During their stay in the region, delegates are scheduled to meet with peace and human rights activists and organizations, humanitarian assistance workers, community and religious leaders, refugees, settlers, educators, and government representatives from across the political spectrum. The purpose of their visit is to gain deeper insight into the issues surrounding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, to examine the effects of United States foreign policy in the region, and express support for Israelis, Palestinians, and others who are working for a nonviolent, just, and sustainable peace.
Rogers, a lifelong Episcopalian and longtime member of EPF, first went to the area in 1989. After the Gulf War in 1991 she became a volunteer nurse in an Anglican hospital in Nablus. In 1996 she served as a World Council of Churches election observer for the Palestinian elections. In the spring of 2002 Rogers returned to the region with a Christian Peacemaker Team delegation.
Other Episcopalians in the delegation include Chris Pottle of Maine, another longtime EPF member and current EPF treasurer; Elisha Harig-Blaine of Boston, Massachusetts, recipient of the EPF 'Young Adult Scholarship' for the delegation; and Pete Churchill of Massachusetts, EPF member and longtime peace activist.
Representatives for The Witness magazine include Ethan Flad, website editor, who will serve as reporter for the magazine during and after the visit; the Rev. Winnie Varghese, Episcopal chaplain at Columbia University in New York and co-chair of the Peace and Justice Commission; and the Rev. Michael Battle, assistant professor of spiritual and moral theology at the School of Theology, Duke University.
Upon their return to the United States on February 8, delegates are committed to sharing their experiences with the public and their political representatives. The delegation will be sending back regular reports during their trip, which can be found on the FOR website at www.forusa.org, or email Joe Groves at middleeast@forusa.org.
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