Canon White and Former Archbishop of

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TEL AVIV 001777 SIPDIS STATE FOR NEA/IPA, NEA/RA, NEA/PPD MQUINN, DBENZE STATE INFO FOR IIP, ECA JERUSALEM PASS ICD DANIELS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL KMPI PHUM KPAO IS GOI EXTERNAL ISRAELI SOCIETY ISRAELI PALESTINIAN AFFAIRS SUBJECT: Canon White and Former Archbishop of Canterbury Share Views with Ambassador Kurtzer on Role of Alexandria Process in Reducing Violence REF: A) Jerusalem 124 B) 03 Tel Aviv 6792 C) 03 Tel Aviv 5696 ¶1. Summary: Lord Carey of Clifton (Former Archbishop of Canterbury) and Canon Andrew White met with Ambassador March 19 to seek his views on ways they could move forward the Alexandria Process Israeli- Palestinian religious dialogue in a manner that would best support the political track of the peace process. Lord Carey noted that his main goal in staying engaged in the religious dialogue after leaving his post as Archbishop of Canterbury was to keep working to get religious leaders here to take a stand against the suicide bombings and violence and for peace. Ambassador Kurtzer encouraged Lord Carey and Canon White and all who accompanied him to keep up that effort, which he said was of vital importance to the peace process. End summary. ¶2. Lord Carey of Clifton (former Archbishop of Canterbury),accompanied by Lady Carey, Canon Andrew White, and a delegation of mostly American evangelical Christian leaders, called on Ambassador Kurtzer March 19, in a meeting organized by Canon Andrew White and his International Centre for Reconciliation (ICR) at Coventry Cathedral. Poloff and PDoff also participated in the meeting. Lord and Lady Carey and their group were on a five-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority March 17-21 at the ICR's initiative for meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials as well as western diplomats. The goal of the visit, and of their call on Ambassador Kurtzer, was to learn how those involved promoting, executing, or funding high- level interfaith dialogue efforts in the Israeli- Palestinian context could best support the goals of reducing incitement and violence and advancing the peace process. ¶3. Lord Carey informed the Ambassador that he has remained actively engaged in Alexandria Declaration implementation ("the Alexandria Process") even after leaving his post as Archbishop of Canterbury. Since the "First Alexandria Declaration of the Religious Leaders of the Holy Land" was signed in Egypt by top Jewish, Muslim and Christian religious leaders back in January 2002, the primary purpose of the follow-on "Alexandria Process" has been to get the religious leader signatories to live up to their commitments, especially to get them to "speak out against suicide bombings and violence, and to take an active stand for peace," in Lord Carey's words. ¶4. The Ambassador encouraged Canon White and Lord Carey and their delegation to keep working toward that important goal, even if it means adding new recruits one by one to the ranks of those who were "on message." Efforts such as those being undertaken through the Alexandria Process to get religious leaders to condemn and rein in the violence are one of the most important of all the auxiliary efforts being carried out by non- government actors in support of the peace process, the Ambassador noted. He added that the success of such efforts is made even more crucial by the fact that there is an increasing danger that the Israeli/Palestinian conflict could be moving from being a primarily territorial and political conflict, as it has traditionally been, to a religious and existential conflict - which would be that much harder for diplomats and statesmen to resolve. ¶5. Canon White briefly summarized the talks held in Cairo in January 2004, in which Rabbi Melchior and a second Israeli Jewish leader also participated. He asked for the Ambassador's advice on what he and others involved in promoting religious dialogue in the Alexandria Process should focus on next, to best support the USG's efforts to promote the Roadmap and the political track of the peace process. Ambassador Kurtzer said the most important role they could play would be to continue to expand the circle of religious leaders in the region -- not only senior figures but also those at the grassroots level -- who sign up to the Alexandria Declaration and support its principles of rejecting incitement and violence. (Text of Declaration in Ref C and also on line at http://www.wcrp.org/RforP/Press%20Releases/Al exandriaDe claration.html.) ¶6. Note: Ref B (dated December 1, 2003) was a joint Consulate General Jerusalem /Embassy Tel Aviv recommendation for NEA Multilateral funding for projects that would expand Arab and Israeli interaction. At the top of our joint list was an ICR grant proposal to advance implementation of the Alexandria Declaration. End note. KURTZER