FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 11, 2007

Contact: Sr. Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq.
(212) 870-2320

Christians for Fair Witness on the Middle East is appalled by the recent statement issued by Sabeel on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the Six Day War.  The statement weaves a thoroughly dishonest narrative, ignoring any Palestinian culpability for violence.
   
Sabeel complains about the “occupation,” but ignores how it came about.  “Israel did not seek to occupy the West Bank,” reminds Sr. Ruth Lautt, National Director of Fair Witness.  In May 1967, the collective Arab armies lined up on the borders of Israel.  Knowing they faced imminent destruction, the Israelis launched a pre-emptive airstrike against Egypt.”
   
“Israel specifically appealed to King Hussein of Jordan to stay out of the conflict,” adds Sr. Ruth.  “When he refused, Israel acquired the West Bank in self-defense.”
   
Israel’s attempts to cede land for peace are likewise ignored by Sabeel.  “In the Camp David/Taba talks of 2000/2001, Israel agreed to give the Palestinians all of Gaza, 97% of contiguous West Bank territory,  East Jerusalem for a capital and 3/4 of the Old City,” says Rev. Suzanne Wagner of First Congregational Church in Fairfield, Connecticut.  “Sabeel does not mention this as they lament the result of a war that Israel neither sought nor started.  Nor do they mention the bloody Second Intifada which followed Yasser Arafat’s refusal to make peace with Israel in exchange for a Palestinian homeland.”
   
“Sabeel accuses Israel of brutally assaulting Gaza while ignoring the fact that after Israel withdrew from Gaza, instead of starting the process of nation building, Palestinians immediately began to smuggle weapons, dig infiltration tunnels and terrorize the entire town of Sderot with daily firing of Qassam rockets,” adds Sr. Ruth. “Is this not a ‘brutal assault?’”
   
Sabeel’s statement has an almost sinister ring to it where it refers to the “Nakba [disaster] of 1948" and “the Israeli government and its Zionist architects.”
   
“Referring to the creation of the Jewish state as a ‘disaster’ is deeply disturbing,” says Fr. James Loughran, S.A. “The Jewish people, like any other people, have the right to a homeland. Sabeel supports the creation of a Palestinian homeland, and rightly so. But why the denial of the same basic right when it comes to Jews?”