New Catholic Times

 Fr Miguel DEscoto, president of the UN 63rd General Assembly 

"Gaza is ablaze. It has been turned into a burning hell. The violations of international law inherent in the Gaza assault have been well documented: collective punishment; disproportionate military force; attacks on civilian targets, including homes, mosques, universities, schools.".

Desmond Tutu on Gaza

Johannesburg - South African Nobel laureate and Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu 'In the context of total aerial supremacy, in which one side in the conflict deploys lethal aircraft against opponents with no means of defending themselves, the bombardment bears all the hallmarks of war crimes,' Tutu said in a statement. The attacks would not contribute to the security of Israel, said the anti-apartheid icon who won the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1984. 'It is a blight not only on the Middle East, but on the entire world - and particularly world leaders who have consistently failed the people of Palestine and Israel over the past 60 years,' Tutu added.

The Vatican on Gaza

Cardinal Renato Martino, a veteran Vatican diplomat with years of experience as the Pope's delegate to the United Nations, told an interviewer for L'Avvenire, the daily paper of the Italian bishops, that "nobody" in the Israel-Hamas dispute "sees the interests of the other, but only their own". He continued: "But the consequences of egoism are hatred for the other, poverty and injustice. The ones who pay are always the defenceless populations. Look at the conditions in Gaza: more and more it resembles a big concentration camp."

US Rabbis Urge Obama to Push for Immediate Gaza Truce

A group of rabbis and other religious leaders bought advertising space in the New York Times this week to call for U.S. president-elect Barack Obama to push for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.
The ad, placed by the Network of Spiritual Progressives and claiming to represent more than 2,800 other religious, cultural and community leaders, urges Obama to convene an international Middle East peace conference to "facilitate a lasting and just settlement for all parties."
Rabbi Michael Lerner, editor of Tikkun magazine, who convened the group, said the group had to buy the advertising space because the national newspapers would not make room for their perspective.
"They feel that AIPAC's choice is overwhelming, and there's no space left for empathy or objective coverage - the media, according to the group, simply ignored the voice of the Jewish opposition to war in Gaza," Rabbi Lerner said.
Eleven prominent British Jews, including Baroness Julia Neuberger, published a letter in The Observer newspaper last weekend expressing their "horror" at the Gaza conflict and calling on Israel to stop its military campaign.
Israel has been waging an offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip since December 27. The operation, launched in order to halt cross-border rocket fire, has come under heavy criticism for the high number of civilian casualties.
Natasha Mozgavaya and Haaretz Staff

 Jews against Zionism

Once again, we find ourselves reading horrifying headlines regarding the unrest in the Middle East. In one long chain of tragedies and civilian bloodshed, residential neighborhoods have been transformed into war zones, the daily lives of civilians distorted by ever-present shadows of terror and fright.

The Zionist ideology is antithetical to the Torah. Obviously, the State of Israel has absolutely no connection with either Jews or Judaism. Furthermore, Torah-true Jews did not participate in the founding of the State, and for decades, we have announced our disapproval and disassociation from the State of Israel at every opportunity.

The Zionists are neither our representatives nor our spokesmen. They have absolutely no right to speak in the name of world Jewry. It is a terrible mistake to confuse Jews with Zionism, or to blame Jews for Zionist actions. We truly wish to live in peace with every nation in the world. We pray for our Jewish brethren as well as for the non-Jews in the Middle East, that they may be saved from danger and peril.

http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/

It's Time for a Sustained Focus on a Lasting Middle East Peace

by Jim Wallis

I can't help commenting on the tragic situation in Gaza after a week like this. There have been many calls for a ceasefire which, of course, I support as necessary and important. But we have had so many failed ceasefires in the Middle East, so many shattered dreams of peace, so many shattered lives. What we continue to lack is the kind of real political solution to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict that could finally make a "ceasefire" endure. That political solution has been neglected, ignored, or postponed for far too long. And until we find that solution there will be no lasting ceasefires, and both sides will continue to make their historic grievances and arguments for continued violence known to the world.

It is time for a just, fair, and viable two-state political solution which would finally make it possible for the Israelis and Palestinians to both live in peace and security. It is time for a new administration in Washington to commit to finding that solution. And it is time for the religious leaders of the world-Christian, Jewish, and Muslim-to commit ourselves to a real and lasting political solution as well, and to seriously focus our energies on finding it together. Enough of the violence, the bloodshed, the justifications, and the anger. It's time to focus, and stay focused, until we find the political solution that will make a real ceasefire finally possible.