The Middle East and North Africa, the region of the world stretching from Mauritania on the west to Iran on the east and from Turkey on the north to Somalia on the south, holds a special place in the hearts and minds of United Methodists. The Methodist presence in the region dates back to 1887 when the Methodist Church in France answered a request for an organized Protestant church to be engaged in mission in North Africa. The Methodist Church responded by establishing a mission station in the Mountains of Kabylia in North Algeria. The mission station provided evangelistic, medical, educational and technical programs for the whole population. Methodist mission work later spread to other parts of Algeria and Tunisia.
The United Methodist connection to the region dates back to 1924 when United Methodists jointed other Protestants in forming the International Missionary Council in North Africa. The Methodist Church in North Africa was also a founding member of the Near East Christian council (NECC) in 1956. The United Methodist Church maintained its membership in the NECC when it became the Middle East Council of Churches in 1974. Following the 1948 War and the establishment of the state of Israel, The United Methodist Church began responding to the critical needs of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees as well as the other human needs in the region caused by wars, invasions, liberation struggles, natural disasters and devastating economic and social conditions.
United Methodist engagement in mission in the Middle East and North Africa has challenged our understanding of the theological foundations for our presence there. For several quadrennia, the General Conference of The United Methodist Church has encouraged United Methodist members, local churches and agencies to pray for peace and become actively involved in justice and peacemaking efforts in the Middle East. The United Methodist Church has given special attention to the Arab-Israel conflict and the homelessness of the Palestinian people, with the hope that the
resolution of these long-standing conflicts would create the conditions for resolving other crises in the region.
Throughout our history of involvement in the Middle East and North Africa, we have gained a deeper understanding of the region in its full human and spiritual context. We join our Jewish and Muslim brothers and sisters in feeling a deep sense of rootedness to the land where our three religious traditions were born. We also celebrate the diversity of religious customs and traditions in the Middle East and North Africa which provide United Methodists with the opportunity to strengthen our understanding of and commitment to interfaith encounters and explorations. This challenge includes not only Islam and Judaism but the variety of Christian traditions indigenous to the region as well. Our United Methodist presence is primarily through our relationship with the Middle East Council of Churches (MECC). The MECC is an inclusive fellowship of churches from four Christian families: the Eastern Orthodox, the Oriental Orthodox, the Catholic and the Protestant.
Over the past four years, the Middle East and North Africa has experienced dramatic and profound political, civil, social, economic and religious developments. The strategic location of the region, its natural resources, ethnic richness and religious passions attract a variety of powerful influences and interests from around the world. The result has too often brought exploitation, violence and death to the peoples there. As we reflect upon these developments, in light of our Christian vocation, we are challenged to re-examine and reaffirm our United Methodist commitment to service and witness there.
Sustainable Development
The Middle East and North Africa is diverse in its topography, climate, physical and social environments, and covers an area approximately equal in size to the United States. The area is defined by a variety of independent states with diverse political systems, ethnic groups, languages, custom and traditions. These definitions join factors such as rapid population growth, increasing urbanization, scarcity of land, water and other economic resources, and limits on women's social and economic autonomy in playing a critical role in questions of sustainable development there.
Since the Gulf War of 1990, the social, economic and political situation has deteriorated drastically. Many countries are facing a major economic crisis which is rapidly getting worse. The struggles of people throughout the region are similar: an extremely high unemployment rate especially among the young population, falling per capita consumption, shortages of basic food commodities, no access to basic social services, high levels of illiteracy, an absence of accountable government, and governmental corruption.
Against this backdrop of deteriorating social, economic and political conditions, the region suffers from environmental degradation. Concentrations of air pollutants such as sulfur dioxide and lead are well above levels considered safe. The quality and productivity of agricultural land is threatened by salination. This limits the amount of land available for cultivation which is already threatened by dwindling sources of fresh water. The water needs of giant and overcrowded cities compete with agricultural methods demanding large amounts of water resulting in a water shortage of major proportions. Much of the water that is available is highly contaminated from industrial wastes, agricultural pesticides and other chemicals. While water shortage is a global problem, the political implications are most vulnerable in the Middle East and North Africa where a number of conflicts between states are rooted in disagreements over gaining unrestricted access to sources of water. The results of this environmental crisis are poor health, inferior housing, and poor sanitation for both rural and urban populations, especially those who are marginalised.
As people begin to demand more equitable access to jobs, schooling, housing and health care, it becomes clear that questions of population and development must be framed within a context of equity. Governments will continue to be unsuccessful in their efforts to slow rates of population growth until policies designed to protect the lifestyles of wealthy elites while ignoring the basic needs of the majority population undergo drastic changes. Family planning strategies must become more holistic to include factors that influence women's reproductive choices such as women's other health needs, their education, job opportunities and overall status and the role that men play in reproductive behavior.
Human Rights Concerns
Over the past decade, the human rights movement in the Middle East and North Africa has expanded rapidly. We applaud the commitment and determination of thousands of individuals and groups dedicated to documenting and publishing information about human rights abuses in their countries. These efforts have enabled people in the West to gain a better understanding of human rights violations. Their work has also helped to challenge stereotypes about Middle Eastern and North African societies.
Perhaps the most destructive of these stereotypes is the notion that political absolutism is generic to the region. There is a pervasive sense that the problem in the region is an absence of "civil society"--networks of non-governmental institutions and civic culture to which the state is accountable. However, in fact there are vibrant and diverse communities and nongovernmental organizations knowledgeable about and critical of structures of power in and among their own societies.
The commitment to reforming the political and economic problems of the region has been threatening to authoritarian governments bent on maintaining power in the Middle East and North Africa. Many states throughout the region have implemented restrictions on basic civil and political participation, including freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association. Corrupt justice systems allow politically motivated killings, arbitrary arrest, torture and denial of fair public trials. The rights of minorities, such as the freedom of religious and ethnic groups to express their culture, practice their religion and even use their own language are restricted and denied in many states. Fundamentalist religious groups, intolerant of those who disagree with their vision of society, have used violence to challenge and destabilize existing political orders. The struggle for women's rights has also been long and hard in the region. Women in many countries suffer from restrictions on their movements, activities and personal freedoms from both the state and religious fundamentalist groups. Immigrant women working in the Middle East are especially vulnerable to human rights violations with little if any access to redress their oppression.
Peace and Justice Concerns
In recent years, The United Methodist Church has become more active in justice and peacemaking efforts in the Middle East and North Africa. The church has worked with ecumenical and interfaith bodies advocating self-determination for Palestinians, affirming Israel's right to exist within secure borders, calling for region-wide disarmament and urging the United States government to initiate a US embargo on arms to the entire region.
United Methodists are committed to the objective of a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace agreement which would bring recognition and security to Israel and national and human rights to the Palestinians. We commend those who have actively worked to end the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza, Southern Lebanon and the Golan Heights, while seeking the revocation of those articles in the PLO covenant that call for the destruction of Israel. We are hopeful that the signing of the Israel-Palestinian Authority Interim Agreement will begin the long-awaited withdrawal of Israeli forces from the West Bank in partial compliance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 242, the release of Palestinian political prisoners and the initiation of democratic political rights for Palestinians. The most important issues have not been resolved: Israel's claim to exclusive sovereignty over all of Jerusalem, the presence of existing Israeli settlements and the construction of new ones, the future of the Palestinian refugees in the diaspora, and Palestinian national rights. Israelis and Palestinians, the peoples of the three Abrahamic religions, should shape the future status of Jerusalem.
In the aftermath of the Gulf War, we deeply grieve for the Iraqi people. Massive declines in levels of education, health, water purification, and sanitation have hit women, children, and the elderly particularly hard. The imposition of economic sanctions on Iraq following the devastating war compounded by the Iraqi government's abusive and divisive social and political policies have resulted in massive cases of malnutrition, illness and death.
We uplift those groups and individuals who have worked tirelessly to bring human dignity, reconciliation, justice and peace to the region. We are especially mindful of those committed to resolving the conflicts and injustices suffered by people in Algeria, Cyprus, Egypt, Iraq, Kurdistan, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan and the Western Sahara. We know that the interests of our governments, including the massive exportation of military weapons and technical assistance to the region, play a critical role in these conflicts. As citizens our responsibility is to stand with those laboring to redress all injustices in the Middle East and North Africa.
Call to Action
We call upon United Methodists individually, in their local churches, and through their boards and agencies to take the following actions:
1) to pray for all people in the region;
2) to continue United Methodist support, through the General Boards of Church and Society and Global Ministries, working with the people of the region to address their needs;
3) to strengthen our relationship with the Middle East Council of Churches and other indigenous partners in the region;
4) to seek a deeper understanding of the region and its peoples. We ask that leaders of Holy Land "pilgrimages" and volunteer in mission visits contact United Methodist missionaries, representatives of the Middle East Council of Churches, and other partner organizations in the region in planning their itineraries;
5) to urge governments to stop military assistance and arms exports to the region and to support sustainable development initiatives;
6) to urge the United States government to lead the United Nations Security Council in calling for a relaxation of UN economic sanctions against Iraq in order to end the cruel and devastating affect they are having on the Iraqi people, especially on the elderly, women and children;
7) to urge the Iraqi government to cease its abusive and divisive social and political policies and to encourage it to bring human dignity and justice to its people;
8) to provide a forum in United Methodist churches for voices of women, especially from Algeria, Egypt, Palestine, Tunisia, and the Western Sahara;
9) to support nongovernmental organizations dedicated to working for peace and justice, reconciliation, and human dignity in the Middle East and North Africa;
10) to urge the United States and other governments to support the internationalization of Jerusalem;
11) to urge the United States and other governments to encourage strongly the state of Israel to cease the confiscation of Palestinian lands; to cease the building of new, or the development of existing, settlements in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem; to lift all closures of Jerusalem to Palestinians; and to release Palestinian political prisoners;
12) to urge the United States and other governments to encourage strongly the Palestinian National Authority to cease human rights violations including extra-judicial punishment, abduction and torture, and call upon the Palestine National Authority to establish a civil and independent judiciary in the West Bank and Gaza;
13) to organize educational events and community prayers for peace in the Middle East, in order to bring together in each community Jews, Muslims, and Christians.
General Conference Webmaster: Susan Brumbaugh
PETS Creator: John Brawn
Petition Text: 21360-GM-NonDis-O
1996 United Methodist General Conference