[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 56 (Friday, March 30, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E716-E717]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ANNOUNCEMENT OF NEW MIDDLE EAST INITIATIVE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, March 29, 2007

  Mr. WOLF. Madam Speaker, I would like to share with our colleagues 
additional information on the new initiative for the Middle East that I 
announced at a press conference on March 22. I submit for the Record 
the remarks of former Ambassador David Abshire, who in his capacity at 
the Center for the Study of the Presidency will be administering this 
initiative. I also submit observations on the Middle East from Dr. 
Robert Cooley, President Emeritus of Gordon-Conwell Theological 
Seminary.

    Remarks From Dr. David Abshire Before the March 22, 2007 Press 
                Conference on New Middle East Initiative

       We are grateful to Congressman Wolf for his leadership, and 
     encouragement of this initiative facilitated by the non-
     partisan Center for the Study of the Presidency. This 
     initiative on Israel and Palestine is based on 
     recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, which Congressman 
     Wolf also helped launch: ``The United States will not be able 
     to achieve its goals in the Middle East unless the United 
     States deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict.'' The 
     Secretary of State, when in Ramallah, said ``I have heard a 
     clear call for deeper American engagement, and we are 
     absolutely committed.''
       The current effort that we are announcing today, which 
     Secretary Rice supports, observes this recommendation, and we 
     are honored that our Center, which examines the American 
     Presidency, has been asked to contribute to such an important 
     initiative. Eleven U.S. Presidents have had to deal with this 
     challenge. We are therefore delighted that Ambassador Dennis 
     Ross of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy will 
     serve as a Senior Advisor at the Center, and bring his 
     extensive experience to this endeavor.
       In terms of exchanges, health is essential to the economy, 
     well-being, national security, and future of the Middle East 
     region. The goal of this part of the initiative is to foster 
     collaboration and facilitate interactions between medical and 
     scientific experts in Israel and Palestine to improve health. 
     Our Center has the advantage of the leadership and experience 
     of Senior Advisor, Rear Admiral Susan Blumenthal, M.D., who 
     is an expert on a broad range of public health and medical 
     issues. She served as Assistant Surgeon General in the US 
     Department of Health and Human Services, where her work in 
     global health included fostering a Middle East health 
     initiative with Israel, Palestine, Egypt and Jordan.
       We also will encourage more academic and scientific 
     exchange and cooperative efforts in the model of the Israeli-
     Palestinian Science Organization--a non-political, nonprofit 
     organization which is dedicated to nurturing and supporting 
     cooperation between Israeli and Palestinian scientists and 
     scholars in joint research ventures. In doing so, IPSO brings 
     about dialogue between the two sides, even in these highly 
     explosive times.
       On a separate track, we enthusiastically welcome the 
     leadership of former Democratic Congressman Tony Hall, also 
     former Ambassador to the UN Agencies for Food and 
     Agriculture. Tony has written a truly remarkable book on his 
     experiences here--Changing the Face of Hunger. Ambassador 
     Hall and his team of diverse lay and religious leaders will 
     seek to build better understanding between religious leaders. 
     The Holy Land is common to the three religions that find 
     their beginning in Abraham, and this initiative is indeed 
     appropriate at the time when we seek peace and understanding 
     throughout the Middle East.

Remarks on the Middle East From Dr. Robert Cooley, President Emeritus, 
                  Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

       First, a little background on my experience in the Land and 
     at home, as well. My doctoral studies were in the fields of 
     the Ancient and Modern Near East with special interest in 
     Hebrew Studies and Syro-Palestinian Archaeology. I have 
     excavated at five buried sites in the three countries of 
     Jordan, Egypt and Israel. During these past 48 years, I have 
     had the privilege of working with Palestinian Moslems, 
     Palestinian Christians and Israelis in a variety of roles, 
     most notably as the director of 75 study tours and as an 
     archaeologist. Further, I have served as the Annual 
     Professor, William Foxwell Albright Institute of Archaeology 
     and Visiting Professor at the Jerusalem University College. 
     Many of the citizens of the Land have become personal friends 
     over these many years

[[Page E717]]

     and we continue to communicate and visit with each other. In 
     all of these associations, I have sustained an apolitical 
     stance, having personal values and feelings for all of the 
     people based upon my own faith commitment and understanding 
     of their own aspirations and vision.
       In the USA, I have been a professor at Wheaton College, 
     Evangel University, Dropsie University, Missouri State 
     University where I served as the Director of the Center for 
     Archaeological Research. Most recently, I served as president 
     of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary until my retirement in 
     1997.
       I join Congressman Wolf in underscoring the strategic role 
     that people of faith have in creating the mood for meaningful 
     dialog toward a lasting peace. It is time that such persons 
     have a voice in framing the peace conversation and the 
     solution that will allow all to have lives of dignity, 
     freedom and tranquility. The roots of religion run very deep 
     into the region's antiquity and cannot be separated from 
     matters that we in the West would call secular or merely 
     political. After all, the three major groups in the Land are 
     Sons of Abraham and share a common understood relationship 
     that serves as a basis for living together in harmony today. 
     The past 50 years of failed politics have undermined communal 
     harmony and allowed outside forces to enter and to modify 
     relationships. Now, differences in a culture of hatred are 
     about to fragment the greater society and turn the region 
     into a quagmire of despair. An approach that takes seriously 
     the Abrahamic factor can bring the parties back to his tent 
     for conversation and where participants can look each in the 
     eye and see each other's humanity and aspirations. The God of 
     Abraham unifies through His promises and mercy.
       It is true that religion can divide a society. This is no 
     more true than in the Holy Land and the Middle East. 
     Religious differences are sharp and numerous. The majority of 
     the people are Muslims. But, within Islam, there are at least 
     72 sects with the Sunni and the Shi'a being the most 
     populated. Christians tend to be identified along four lines: 
     Eastern Orthodox Churches, Oriental Churches, Roman 
     Catholics, and Protestants. Judaism has its own deep 
     divides--Orthodox, Conservative and Reformed, along with 
     other lesser groups. Of course, there are several other 
     religious groups, due to the history of the region and they 
     represent a variety of mixtures, such as, The Druzes, The 
     Yazidis, The Sabeans and The Bahais. Superimposed over these 
     religious groups are the interests of politics and geo-
     economics.
       One cannot speak about peace on the political level without 
     taking into account the religious roots of the people. The 
     veneration of holy sites and places is fundamental to 
     identities, and they are multiple. The only solution is an 
     open and free society that must be the goal of peace.

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