Muslim, Jewish and Christian leaders jointly signed Monday an accord in Alexandria condemning violence in the Middle East. The text received the blessing of Israel’s Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leaser Yasser Arafat.
"According to our faith [and] traditions, killing innocents in the name of God is a desecration of His holy name, and defames religion in the world. The violence in the Holy Land is an evil which must be opposed by all people of good faith. We seek to live together as neighbors, respecting the integrity of each other's historical and religious inheritance. We call upon all to oppose incitement, hatred and the misrepresentation of the other."
This is the text of a declaration signed by Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders from Israel, the Palestinian Authority and Egypt, reported Haaretz.
The gathering, convened by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. George Carey, received the blessing of Sheikh Mohamed Sayed Tantawi, the head of Al- Azhar Islamic University in Cairo. "I hope (the declaration) may prove to be of historic significance," said Carey.
The Israeli delegation was headed jointly by Chief Sephardi Rabbi Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron and Rabbi Melchior.
The Palestinian delegation included Sheikh Taysir Tamimi, chief justice of the Sharia courts, Sheikh Talal Sider, Minister of State for the PA, and the muftis of Bethlehem and the PA police forces.
The Christian delegation included the Latin Patriarch, Michel Sabbah, the Melkite Archbishop, Boutros Mualem, the Anglican Bishop of Jerusalem, Rt. Rev. Riah Abu El-Assal, and representatives of the Greek and Armenian patriarchs.
Asked if the document committed the Palestinians to stop suicide attacks, Sheikh Sider said that Islam and other religions prohibited the killing of civilians. "We have nothing ... to say that this person who commits a suicidal act will go to heaven or hell," he replied later to a similar question. (Albawaba.com)
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
