Church leaders gather in Ottawa to advocate for peace and justice

BY LEIGH ANNE WILLIAMS

On April 26, Ascension House hosted an ecumenical gathering of leaders from four churches as they prepared for meetings to urge the Canadian government to strengthen its advocacy for a just and lasting peace in Palestine and Israel.

Archbishop Linda Nicholls, Primate of the Anglican Church of Canada; the Rev. Susan Johnson, National Bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada; the Right Rev. Dr. Carmen Lansdowne, Moderator of The United Church of Canada; and the Rev. Dr. Dorcas Gordon, Principal Emerita, Knox College, of the Presbyterian Church in Canada met with members of Parliament to commend some actions the government has taken and to make several requests for further action regarding the treatment of Palestinian children and human rights abuses in the conflict, including;

• Appointing a special envoy to promote, monitor and report on the human rights of Palestinian children living in occupied Palestinian territories;

• Taking steps to promote greater respect for human rights and increase protection of Palestinian children

• Holding Israeli military authorities accountable under international human rights and humanitarian laws. The leaders encouraged the Canadian government to publicly condemn the Israeli government’s attack on Palestinian human rights and civil society organizations, including a partner of The United Church of Canada, the Defense for Children International-Palestine. Other policy requests involved agreement on the status of Jerusalem as a shared and open city for two peoples and three faiths, and to promote the right to selfdetermination for both Palestinians and Israelis. They also requested caucus members of each party sign an open letter on Palestinian child detainees, who have no right to a lawyer while being detained by the Israeli military.

On the evening of Apr. 27, the leaders participated in a panel discussion organized by the faculty of theology at St. Paul University, which also included Jonathan

Manotick (St. James), May 5 • Cursillo Re-imagining

Kuttab, executive director of the Friends of Sabeel North America; Jane Thirikwa, global partnerships coordinator of Kairos Canada; and professor Michaël Séguin from Saint Paul University together share their insights on “New developments in Israel-Palestine and the role of the churches.”