ISNA MEETS CONDOLEEZZA RICE TO URGE GREATER SUPPORT FOR MIDDLE EAST PEACE

Washington, DC 01/29/07 - A delegation of Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders met Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the State Department today to support increased U.S. engagement in achieving peace in the Middle East.

Leaders who attended the meeting include: Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, former Archbishop of Washington; Dr. Sayyid M. Syeed, National Director, Islamic Society of North America; Bishop Mark Hanson, Presiding Bishop, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Bishop Katherine Jefferts Schori, Presiding Bishop, Episcopal Church; Rev Leighton Ford, President, Leighton Ford Ministries; Rabbi Paul Menitoff, Executive Vice President Emeritus, Central Conference of American Rabbis and Rabbi Amy Small, Past President, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association.

The meeting with Secretary Rice followed the release of a statement, Arab-Israeli-Palestinian Peace: From Crisis to Hope, which was signed last month by thirty-five Jewish, Christian and Muslim religious leaders.

The statement from this National Inter-religious Leadership Initiative affirms peace as "an essential of faith" in all three religious traditions and asserts that the United States has "an inescapable responsibility and an indispensable role to provide creative, determined leadership for building a just peace in the Middle East." The full statement is available at www.isna.net

“The meeting with Secretary Rice was very encouraging and the discussion was very substantive and honest. But the real measure of the success of our meeting can only be taken in the coming weeks and months as actions and events unfold,” said Dr. Syeed.

The faith leaders discussed the urgent need for U.S leadership to restart and successfully conclude the negotiations for a lasting and just peace in the Middle East.