April 2009

Religions for Peace Japan Holds Symposium on Reconciliation Efforts in Israel and Palestine

On April 21, the Japanese Committee of the World Conference of Religions for Peace (Religions for Peace Japan) held a symposium titled "Reconciliation Efforts in Israel and Palestine: Searching the Ways of Contribution by People of Faiths," at Taisei Hall in Rissho Kosei-kai's Tokyo headquarters complex. Some 90 religionists took part.

Dr. Jeff Halper, director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), and the Rev. Dr. Naim Stifan Ateek, canon of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East and director of the Sabeel Ecumenical Liberation Theology Center in Jerusalem, and made keynote addresses.

Dr. Halper described the current situation in Palestine, explaining that since the Suez Crisis of 1956, the Israeli army has demolished some 24,000 houses of Palestinian residents. He added that about 78 percent of the land that used to be called Palestine before the establishment of the state of Israel is now under Israeli control. He said the hope for the peaceful coexistence of Jews and Palestinians has been challenged by the continuing occupation policy of the Israeli government, which, while promoting Jewish settlement, aims to confine the Palestinians behind the separation wall. He called for people of religion to protest against the Israeli government's occupation policy.

Dr. Ateek touched on his childhood experience of the population of his entire Palestinian village being forced to become refugees. He said that Zionism, formerly a Jewish political and secular movement, has become a form of religious belief and that religion has been exploited by politics and become one of the causes of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Saying that conflict arises from misguided interpretation of the teachings of Judaism and Christianity, he reported on a course at Sabeel for Palestinians in Bible studies and liberation theology. Referring to religious leaders' role in promoting peace, he declared that they should speak out on social issues, and all the more loudly when the issues are difficult and deep-rooted.

A panel discussion followed, with four panelists: Ms. Yoshiko Tanaka, director of the Campaign for the Children of Palestine; Ms. Rika Fujiya, a program coordinator for Japan International Volunteer Center in Jerusalem; Rev. Hiromi Yano, executive director and senior researcher of the Oomoto Peace Institute for Israel and Palestine; and Rev. Waichi Hoshina, general secretary of the Donate-a-Meal Fund for Peace of Rissho Kosei-kai. The moderator was Dr. Yoshiaki Sanada, director of the Peace Research Institute of Religions for Peace Japan. The panelists exchanged views on how to achieve reconciliation between Palestinians and Jews.

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