Top Muslims to meet pope: Groundbreaking Vatican talks to promote interfaith dialogue.

(ANSA) - Rome, November 3 - Leading Muslim scholars arrived in Rome on Monday ahead of groundbreaking talks with top Catholic officials. Nearly 60 delegates will gather in the Vatican on Tuesday morning for two days of meetings aimed at forging closer ties between the two faiths.

On Thursday, the two delegations will discuss their ideas during an audience with Pope Benedict XVI and a final declaration will be released in the afternoon.

Led respectively by the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Mustafa Ceric, and the head of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue, Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, the delegations will discuss ways to improve relations between the world’s two largest religions. The meeting is the fruit of an interfaith initiative by a broad coalition of influential Muslim clerics and scholars, the Common Word group.

***

Set up to bridge the growing gap between Islam and Christianity, in October 2007 the group sent an open letter to Pope Benedict, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and 25 other Christian leaders calling for interfaith collaboration.

Originally signed by 138 figures, the number of high-profile Sunni and Shiite Muslims adhering to the letter’s principles has since doubled and includes the religious heads of 43 countries, among which Saudi Arabia and Iran.

***

The Vatican meeting comes just two weeks after a similar round of talks in the UK with the Archbishop of Canterbury.

***

A precise agenda for the Vatican event has not been published although each side is expected to raise a range of initiatives aimed at promoting peace and mutual understanding.

Cardinal Tauran emphasized the importance of discussing religious freedom.

”If Muslims have places of worship in Europe then it is normal that the reverse should be true in societies where Muslims are the majority,” he said in an interview with French Catholic daily La Croix.

However, he said reciprocity was not a precondition for the talks, which he said offered ”real glimmers of hope”.

***

The discussions had to look at ways to convert such dialogue with the elite into a connection with the masses, he added.

The Secretary of the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Religious Dialogue, Pier Luigi Celata, said the talks should try to identify the real reason for continuing tension between Christianity and Islam.

”It would be interesting to see whether these tensions are shaped by social, economic, ideological, political and exploitative factors on both sides, rather than by actual religious differences,” he said.

Pope Benedict has made inter-religious dialogue a priority of his papacy and has worked hard to mend relations with Islam since he upset Muslims around the world with his comments on the prophet Mohammed in 2005.

The pontiff sparked anger after citing a medieval emperor who said Islam was a ‘violent’ religion at a lecture in Regensburg, Germany.

In an effort to demonstrate his commitment to fostering goodwill among religions he re-established the Council for Inter-Religious Dialogue in 2007 after having merged it with the Council for Culture at the start of his pontificate.

________________________________________________________________
This and all “other news” issues can be found at http://www.other-net.info/index.php

 

Presents

What the United Nations Does on the Holiest Day
of the Jewish Calendar, Yom Kippur:

Provides a global platform to encourage hatred and violence against the Jewish State

October 9, 2008

Geneva, the Durban II “anti-racism” conference Preparatory Committee

Watch video here.
Durban II: A Conference to demonize Israel
October 9, 2008: The planning committee of an “anti-racism” conference listens politely to the racism coming from the Syrian Arab Republic, and BADIL, a Palestinian NGO

EYEontheUN videos are produced by Anne Bayefsky and Lana Zizic.

Antisemitism at the UN under the guise of “combating racism”

Iran - a Vice-President of the Durban II PrepCom - thinks the antisemitism expressed by the Iranian President is not relevant

October 10, 2008

Geneva, the Durban II “anti-racism” conference Preparatory Committee

Watch video here.
More attempts to silence NGOs

October 6, 2008: Anne Bayefsky (Joint Statement of the Hudson Institute, the Touro Institute on Human Rights and the Holocaust, and the International Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists)

EYEontheUN videos are produced by Anne Bayefsky and Lana Zizic.

Full Asian text:  http://blog.unwatch.org/wp-content/uploa…
CONTRIBUTION OF THE ASIAN REGION TO THE DURBAN REVIEW CONFERENCE, 8 OCT 2008

Selections:

From preamble:

Recalling the 2001 Tehran Declaration and Programme of Action by the Asian Preparatory Meeting… [This text contained the most vitriolic language against Israel.]

From operative section:

18. Recognize Jerusalem as a city of reverence and religious sanctity for three major religions of the world and call for an international effort to bring foreign occupation, together with all its racial practices, to an end, especially in holy shrines dear to the three religions;

19. Reaffirm that a foreign occupation founded on settlements, its laws based on racial discrimination with the aim of continuing domination of the occupied territory, as well as its practices, which consist of reinforcing a total military blockade, isolating towns, cities and villages under occupation from each other, totally contradict the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and constitute a serious violation of international human rights and humanitarian law, a new kind of apartheid, a crime against humanity, a form of genocide and a serious threat to international peace and security;

26. Express deep concern at the plight of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons who were forced to leave their homes because of war and racial policies of the occupying power and who are prevented from returning to their homes and properties because of a racially based law of return, and recognize the right of return of the Palestinian refugees as established by the General Assembly in its resolutions, particularly resolution 194 (III) of 11 December 1948, and call for their return to their homeland in accordance with and in implementation of this right;

27. Re-emphasize the responsibility of the international community to provide international protection for the Palestinian people under occupation against aggression, acts of racism, intimidation and denial of fundamental human rights, including the rights to life, liberty and self-determination;

68. Express deep regret the practices of racial discrimination against the Palestinians as well as other inhabitants of the Arab occupied territories which have an impact on all aspects of their daily existence such as to prevent the enjoyment of fundamental rights, express our deep concern about this situation and renew the call for the cessation of all the practices of racial discrimination to which the Palestinians and the other inhabitants of the Arab territories occupied by Israel are subjected;

69. Reiterate that the Palestinian people continue to be denied the fundamental right of self determination and urge member States to look at the situation of Palestinian people during the Durban Review Conference and implement the provisions of DDPA with a view to bring lasting peace in the Middle East;

***

THE UN WATCH asks  UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and rights commissioner Pillay  to denounce denounce now this vitriolic Asian text accusing Israel of “apartheid and genocide.”

Geneva, October 10, 2008 — To prevent the derailing of a world conference on racism, independent human rights group UN Watch today called on UN chief Ban Ki-moon and rights commissioner Navi Pillay to immediately denounce a submission by Asian states that accuses Israel of “racial practices” against Palestinians, “a new kind of apartheid, a crime against humanity, a form of genocide,” as well as “aggression, acts of racism, and intimidation.”  (See full text below.)

“The Asian submission for the Durban 2 declaration reproduces almost verbatim the vitriolic incitement and hateful rhetoric of demonization that was produced at the Tehran planning meeting at the 2001 lead-up to the original Durban debacle,” said Hillel Neuer, executive director of the Geneva-based UN Watch.

“This was the poison that with supreme diplomatic efforts was mostly removed from the final Durban declaration — only after European states showed their readiness to walk out — but was adopted by the non-governmental forum, in a text that High Commissioner Mary Robinson summarily refused to forward to the UN, and which was denounced again last week by High Commissioner Pillay as a betrayal of the anti-racism cause.”

“The key lesson learned from 2001 was that the UN’s highest officials cannot stay silent until the very end, but must rather act immediately to denounce the language of incitement and demonization as soon as it rears its ugly head,” said Neuer.

“The fingerprints of Iran’s Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who openly calls for the destruction of a UN member state, are all over this text. Governments and UN officials who want to safeguard the principles of human rights and the anti-racism cause must speak out forcefully, and fast,” said Neuer.

“French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the U.K., the Netherlands and other states have expressly warned that a repeat of the 2001 hateful rhetoric would force them to walk out of the April 2009 conference, and so the 53 Asian states who did this now bear full responsibility for the consequences of their provocation. Those who will suffer, however, will be the world’s millions of victims of racism and ethnic intolerance, from Darfur to Chechnya to Tibet.”

***

www.SustainabiliTank.info suggests humbly that during the time that Jerusalem was in Arab hands it was not a city equally accessible to all religions. Since the end of the British Mandate, it was only with the Israeli Government reclaiming its Capital of yore that the city is equaly accessible to all religions and the present circumstances in the Islamic world are no show of confidence that such freedom is possible under any other rule - be assured that also not if it were a UN city. 

If the UNSG does not speak up on the Durban issue, this endangers not just the Jewish people, but the basic credibility of the UN itself - the international marshmallow when the topic is Human Rights versus the Power of Arab League Oil Money.
=================

News Resources - Israel and the Mideast:

• Gaza Tunnel Owners Register with Hamas, Get Electricity
  Owners of the scores of tunnels running under the Gaza-Egypt border have registered with the Hamas authorities, pledged to pay workers’ compensation and hooked up their operations to the electricity network. In one place, dozens of large tents, each marking a tunnel work site, were pitched just yards from an Egyptian watchtower beyond the border wall. Hamas inspectors are notified of each delivery and check it on site. Officials from the municipality of Rafah confirmed they supervise tunnel operations. (PMC-PA)
• Rise in Number of Israeli Arab IDF Recruits in 2008 - Yoav Stern
  The number of Israeli Arab Bedouin recruits to the IDF has increased dramatically in the first nine months of 2008. The number is estimated to have increased by 50 to 100 from the beginning of the year, bringing the total number of recruits in 2008 to some 300. The rate of non-Bedouin Arabs’ recruitment has also increased in recent years. The law exempts non-Druze Arab citizens from compulsory military service.
  Lt. Amir Juamis, 27, of Beit Zarzir, who commands a military team, was asked how he feels about fighting with his people on the other side of the border. He said: “A terrorist is a terrorist. Islam doesn’t say you have to kill. He comes to kill here and can kill a Jew or an Arab. It’s my duty to prevent that.” (Ha’aretz)
• Iranian Boy to Undergo Surgery in Israel - Nurit Felter
  A 12-year-old Iranian boy suffering from brain cancer is scheduled to arrive in Israel on Friday for emergency surgery. The boy, who already underwent surgery in Tehran, was later admitted to a Turkish hospital. The Turkish doctors suggested the family seek medical assistance in Israel, and so they did, through Israeli liaison Jacob Levin. “When a child’s life is at stake, religion and origin play no part,” said Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit. “If we can help, we are more than willing to do so.” (Ynet News)

Global Commentary and Think-Tank Analysis (Best of U.S., UK, and Israel):

• The President Who Will Deal with Iran - Michael Gerson
  Economic downturns are wrenching but cyclical. Nuclear proliferation is more difficult to reverse, creating the permanent prospect of massive miscalculation and tragedy. America’s next leader may be known to history as the president who had to deal with Iran. Former chief UN weapons inspector David Kay says the Iranian regime is about 80% of the way toward its nuclear goals - perhaps two to four years from “effective, deployable weapons.”
  Kay believes that by simply saying a nuclear Iran is unacceptable, America is set up for a choice between “suicide” (a disastrous military attack on Iran) and “humiliation” (a galling acceptance of the unacceptable). Instead, Kay calls for a new round of “skillful diplomacy” to persuade Iran to stop at what he calls “virtual capability” - a global recognition that it could produce nuclear weapons in short order, without all the drawbacks caused by actually producing those weapons.
  Kay seems resigned to a policy of containment - holding Iran directly responsible if it transfers nuclear weapons to terrorists, providing nuclear guarantees to our friends in the region so they don’t feel pressured to develop their own. The problem with this approach? Iran may be a different proliferation threat from any we have faced before. The regime cultivates ties to violent nonstate proxies in Lebanon, Iraq, Afghanistan and the Palestinian territories. Iran’s religious radicalism introduces an unpredictable element of irrationality. The writer, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, served as a policy adviser and chief speechwriter to President George W. Bush from 2000 to 2006. (Washington Post)
• Iran’s Political Motivation for Ridiculing the Holocaust Again - Richard L. Cravatts
  Iranian and Arab Holocaust denial has been growing in incidence, and particularly as part of Ahmadinejad’s strategy. The Muslim world has taken this revisionist effort to another level: accusing Zionism of creating and perpetuating the Holocaust lie for the express purpose of justifying Israel’s creation and the subsequent subjugation of the Palestinians.
  Muslims want the occurrence of the Holocaust to be proven false to eliminate the cataclysmic social and political event that led the world to accept and endorse the creation of the Jewish state. It is also politically expedient to position the Palestinians as the ultimate victims among victimized peoples, and this is much easier without the inexpressible evil of the Holocaust as core element of Israel’s tragic heritage. (History News Network)
• Islamic Leaders Seek to End Jewish Sovereignty in Israel - Ron Ben-Yishai
  An examination of the words uttered and written by the leaders of Iran, Hizbullah, Hamas, and even Syria, easily reveals their aspirations. Their strategy has a clear and defined long-term objective - bring about Israel’s end as a sovereign Jewish entity - as well as two intermediate objectives.
  The first midterm goal is to make Israeli society crumble on the inside, in a bid to prompt Jews to emigrate and undermine their motivation to defend themselves, to the point where one military blow (either nuclear or conventional) would suffice to achieve the final objective. The second midterm goal is to gradually minimize Israel’s territory, in a manner that would turn our population into a convenient and concentrated target for mortar shells, rockets, missiles, and terror attack, while making it difficult for the IDF to offer protection. This territorial objective also has a religious aspect: Liberating every centimeter of land, which in their view belongs to Muslims. (Ynet News)
• UK Prime Minister Lauds Israel as “Symbol of Hope” - Jonny Paul
  British Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to the tenacity and achievements of the Jewish people on Monday and said that Israel is “a symbol of hope from which all the world can learn.” Brown told the United Jewish Israel Appeal, “For 2,000 years, until 1948, the persistent call of the Jewish people was ‘next year in Jerusalem.’ For 2,000 years there was not one piece of land anywhere in the whole world that you could call your own.”
  “For 2,000 years you had history but not a home. For 2,000 years you lived in the artistic and cultural and intellectual and scientific and political realm of every continent but you had no home. For 2,000 years you endured pogroms in so many countries, then the horror of the Holocaust - which is the shame of mankind - because you had no home yet for 2,000 years, yet nothing - no prison cell, no forced migration, no violence, not even the Holocaust itself - could ever break the spirit of a people yearning to be free.”
  “What remarkable achievements Israel has achieved,” he said. “A history of ingenuity that is a lesson to the boundless capacity of mind and spirit. Eight citizens have already been awarded Nobel prizes. In Israel today, there are more hi-tech industries, more symphony orchestras, more universities and research institutions than countries that are 100 times the size of Israel. The language of the Bible made the living tongue again, so your story, the story of Israel, is the symbol I identify with as a symbol of hope from which all the world can learn.” (Jerusalem Post)
• The Financial Crisis and the Arab World - Jonathan Spyer
  The seven stock markets in the oil-rich Gulf states shed around $150 billion of their capitalization in the course of the past week. The Arab world may well prove particularly vulnerable to the world economic downturn since a disproportionately large amount of Arab wealth is invested in global stock markets. The Kuwait Investment Authority, for example, placed a $2b. investment in Merrill Lynch last year. Merrill Lynch, of course, no longer exists. Instead of investing in education and in industry, money has been gambled on the stock markets, or invested in glittering real-estate projects, built by foreign labor and using foreign know-how. The writer is a Senior Research Fellow at the Global Research in International Affairs Center, Herzliya. (Jerusalem Post)

From:    news at religionandecology.org
Subject: August 2008 UNEP News Clippings
Date: September 9, 2008

THE FORUM ON RELIGION AND ECOLOGY (backed by UNEP).

August 2008 UNEP News Clippings.
August 6, 2008

Polluted Ganges must be cleaned, gurus demand

Rhys Blakely
Bombay
The Times Online

A coalition of gurus has issued an ultimatum to India’s fragile Government: purify the chronically polluted Ganges, the river revered by Hindus, or face protests and political ruin.

Ganga Raksha Manch, a newly formed alliance of celebrity holy men, is demanding urgent action to cleanse the holy waterway, which has become a noxious cocktail of human and industrial waste, before a general election that must be held before May.

For full story, visit:

 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo…

***

August 7, 2008

Pope says Catholic Church has undervalued environment

ROME: Pope Benedict XVI has told a meeting of priests that protection of the environment had been undervalued by the Catholic Church in the past, but said materialism was the biggest threat to the planet.

For full story, visit:

 http://www.terradaily.com/2007/080806185…

***

August 8, 2008

Jewish groups add voices to green concerns

Ed Stoddard
Reuters

DALLAS - Following a path blazed by other U.S. religious groups, a diverse coalition of Jewish organizations has outlined its concerns regarding the environment and called for action from Congress and the Administration.

Spearheaded by the Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, it calls among other things for an aggressive 80 percent cut in carbon reductions by 2050.

For full story, visit:

 http://blogs.reuters.com/environment/200…
***

August 13, 2008

Biofuels soon to be measured by international standards

By Jerome Grosse
Lausanne

300 experts and representatives of the public and private sector have come together in the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels, housed at the EPFL Energy Center, to develop global norms for the economic, social, and environmental impacts of biofuels.

For full story, visit:

 http://actualites.epfl.ch/presseinfo-com…

***

August 18, 2008

“Toxic” Indian festivals poison waterways

By Nishika Patel

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Toxic chemicals from thousands of idols of Hindu gods immersed in rivers and lakes across India are causing pollution which is killing fish and contaminating food crops, experts and environmentalists said on Monday.

For full story, visit:

 http://www.reuters.com/article/environme…

***

August 25, 2008

Christians see climate change as moral issue

By Alister Doyle, Environment Correspondent

ACCRA (Reuters) - Morality should be a spur for stronger action to fight climate change, which threatens food and water supplies for the poorest in Africa, a group of Christian activists said on Saturday during U.N. climate talks.

For full story, visit:

 http://www.reuters.com/article/environme…

***

August 26, 2008

Church’s light relief to save the world

Martin Wainwright
The Guardian (UK)

The Church of England has gently modified God’s first injunction in a new green guide for members, which suggests: let there be a little less light.

Clergy and congregations are being encouraged to cut the increasingly popular floodlighting of ancient churches to reduce parish carbon emissions.

For full story, visit:

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/20…
***

August 28, 2008

CATHOLIC ONLINE

Dominican’s Siena Center Presents Year-long Series on Sustainability

River Forest, IL — Dominican University’s Siena Center will explore the topics of sustainability and stewardship of the earth from a number of perspectives during a series of lectures throughout the fall. The series, titled “Sustainability and the Christian Tradition,” will consider what our stewardship of the earth and care of creation demands of thoughtful Christians, and how this relates to the larger struggle for social justice in the world.

For full story, visit:

 http://www.catholic.org/prwire/headline….

–
If you would like to subscribe or unsubscribe from this email, please send an email to  news at religionandecology.org with the appropriate command in the subject line.

UNEP NEWS RELEASE - 2008/31

World Heritage Push for Garden of Eden: Italy Backs Bid to List Iraqi Marshlands Following Completion Of UNEP Restoration Project.

KYOTO/NAIROBI, 5 September 2008–A plan to list as a World Heritage Site an
area known as the Fertile Crescent, and thought by some to be the location
of the Biblical “Garden of Eden”, was unveiled today by the United Nations
Environment Programme (UNEP) in cooperation with the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The initiative, to be supported by funding from the Government of Italy,
aims to further the protection and conservation of a significant wetland of
global cultural, natural and environmental importance.

The Marshlands, spawning grounds for Gulf fisheries and home to species
like the Sacred Ibis, were almost totally drained and destroyed by the
former Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein during the 1990s and early 21st
century.

Dams upstream on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which feed the fabled
area, had also aggravated the decline. By 2002 the 9,000 square km of
permanent wetlands had dwindled to just 760 square km.

UNEP estimated then that these wetlands would be completely lost within
three to five years unless urgent action was taken.

The World Heritage management support plan, announced at the end of a
meeting in Kyoto, follows a four-year, $14 million UNEP project to restore
the ecological viability of the site, while bringing sustainable
livelihoods to the Marsh Arabs.

***

The Marsh Arabs, the 5,000 year-old heirs of the Babylonians and the
Sumerians, and their wetland home had been targeted by the former Iraqi
Government forcing an estimated 200,000 to 300,000 into exile or camps in
and outside Iraq.

With the collapse of the Saddam Hussein Government in mid-2003, local
residents began breaking the drainage embankments and opening the
floodgates to bring water back into the marshlands.,

The UNEP marshland management project, which commenced in 2004 with funding
from the UN Iraq Trust Fund, the Government of Japan and the Government of
Italy, has been working with the Iraqi Environment Ministry and local
communities to accelerate improvements.

These include environmentally-friendly methods that are providing safe
drinking water for up to 22,000 people, the planting of reed banks and beds
as natural pollution and sewage filters and the introduction of renewable
energies such as solar.

A Marshland Information Network has been established. Training in
satellite and field monitoring and wetland restoration and management has
also been part of project which today completed its final evaluation phase
at the Kyoto meeting.

During this meeting, the Iraqi Ministry of Environment also requested UNEP
to provide support for accession to multilateral environmental agreements
(MEAs) in order to take part in the international environmental challenges
but also opportunities facing the planet.

MEAs range from the Convention on Biological Diversity, the Montreal
Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer to the Convention of
Migratory Species and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

Narmin Othman, the Iraqi Environment Minister who is in Japan for the
event, said: “I am very happy that we are now going to work towards making
the Marshlands a National Park and a globally important World Heritage
Site.”

“Because of what Saddam Hussein did, the marshlands were in danger of
completely disappearing as was the centuries-old culture of the Marsh
Arabs. It had become an ecological but also a human tragedy”, she said.

“Now we have 50 to 60 per cent of the marshlands back we can look forward
to further improvements and putting them on the map as Iraq’s first mixed,
natural and cultural World Heritage Site as befits an area of global
significance”, added Minister Othman.

Achim Steiner, UN Under-Secretary-General and UNEP Executive Director,
said: “I would like to thank the Governments of Japan and Italy for their
support and congratulate the Iraqi people on these extraordinary
achievements.”

“The work in the Iraqi marshlands may have been unique and challenging for
a whole variety of reasons. But the lessons we have learnt go beyond
Iraq’s border. They provide a blue print for the restoration for the many
other damaged, degraded and economically-important wetland ecosystems
across the world”, he added.

***

Mr. Steiner said he looked forward to working with the Iraqi Government and
cooperating with UNESCO on developing a comprehensive management plan en
route to securing a World Heritage Site listing and thanked the Government
of Italy for its invaluable support.

Chizuru Aoki of UNEP’s International Environmental Technology Centre (IETC)
in Japan, which has been coordinating the project, said today that the
Italian funds would be used to draw up and implement a sustainable
preservation and management plan.

This will include pilot projects on community-wide ecosystem management and
cultural preservation as well as capacity building, jointly with UNESCO and
the Iraqi authorities.

According to UNESCO, the earliest that Iraq could envisage a submission to
the World Heritage Committee might be 2010 which, if approved could see the
Marshlands of Mesopotamia listed as World Heritage in 2011.

“It is essential that we continue to work with the Iraqi partners, UNESCO,
as well as other relevant organizations to help Iraq move towards this
goal”, Ms. Aoki said.

***

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:

The Iraqi Marshland Project:  http://marshlands.unep.or.jp/

UNEP’s Post-Conflict and Disaster Management Branch Iraq Reports:
 http://postconflict.unep.ch/publications…

Downloadable maps and images at www.unep.org?

For more information, please contact: Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson and
Head of Media, +41-79-596-5737 or +254-733-632755, or
 nick.nuttall at unep.org”,

Yukio Yoshii, Senior Liaison Officer, UNEP International Environmental
Technology Centre, +81-6-915-4591, or  yukio.yoshii at unep.or.jp

Habib El-Habr, Director and Regional Representative, UNEP Regional Office
for West Asia, +973-178-12-777, or  habib.elhabr at unep.org.bh.

***********************************
Jim Sniffen
Programme Officer
UN Environment Programme
New York
tel: +1-212-963-8094/8210
 info at nyo.unep.org
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God created an abundant world, filled with glorious creatures both large and small. As stewards of God’s Creation we are called to protect all life, to keep and care for the garden. The blessing of fruitfulness is given to all of Creation in Genesis, and it is our duty to ensure that all life is allowed the opportunity of fruitfulness. God blessed the Earth so that all living beings will prosper with great abundance and diversity.

The protection of biodiversity, or the diversity of all life, is an essential part of our roles as stewards of Creation.

Every year, October the 4th is recognized as St. Francis Day, and is often celebrated through a Blessing of the Animals Service.

The service recognizes the ideals of St. Francis of Assisi, who wrote a Canticle of the Creatures, an ode to God’s living things. “All praise to you, Oh Lord, for all these brother and sister creatures.” Christians everywhere celebrate the feast of St. Francis of Assisi on October 4 by blessing their pets in the spirit of this patron saint of animals and ecology.

In the Biblical story of Noah and the Ark, it is clear that God provided for the blessing of animals in the same way that God provided for people.

It is in that tradition that we pass God’s blessing onto other generations of animals, reminding ourselves that God is in covenant not just with us, but with all of Creation.

This St. Francis Day, we invite you to celebrate in two ways. First, by holding a Blessing of the Animals Service in your community. Click here to view an online resource, including basic how-to’s, along with worship and scriptural resources. Also, we encourage you to make the celebration of the biodiversity of God’s Creation an integral part of your church’s faith life, through our upcoming resource “Tending the Garden”. Click here to reserve your copy now, or check online for its availabilty in PDF form in the next 2 weeks.

The reference link is: http://www.nccecojustice.org/animalbless…

 http://www.nccecojustice.org/adamah.htm

 http://www.nccecojustice.org/landhome.ht…

 http://www.nccecojustice.org/landantholo…

The National Religious Partnership for the Environment -  http://www.nrpe.org/

Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life, Protecting Creation, Generation to Generation. http://www.coejl.org/index.php

____________________________________________________________

From:

 http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display…

Call for pact to combat terrorism.
Web posted at: 7/19/2008
Source ::: AFP

The Secretary General of the Muslim World League Dr Abdullah bin Abdulmuhsin Al Turki during the World Conference on Dialogue in Madrid yesterday. (AFP)

MADRID • Islamic, Christian and Jewish leaders yesterday called for an international agreement to combat terrorism, at the end of a landmark Saudi-organised conference.

The representatives of the world’s great monotheistic religions also appealed for a special session of the UN General Assembly to promote dialogue and prevent “a clash of civilizations.”

“Terrorism is a universal phenomenon that requires unified international efforts to combat it in a serious, responsible and just way,” participants at the three-day World Conference on Dialogue said in a final communique.

“This demands an international agreement on defining terrorism, addressing its root causes and achieving justice and stability in the world.”

They called for more “ways of enhancing understanding and cooperation among people despite differences in their origins, colours and languages,” and a “rejection of extremism and terrorism.”

Around 200 participants attended the gathering in Madrid, organised by the Makkah-based Muslim World League from an initiative by the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia and aimed at bringing the world’s great monotheistic faiths closer together.

Among the representatives were the secretary general of the World Jewish Congress, Michael Schneider, and Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, who is in charge of the Vatican’s relations with Muslims. Tauran said Pope Benedict XVI had expressed “a great interest” in the conference. “His Holiness is convinced that dialogue based on love and truth is the best way to contribute to harmony, happiness and peace for the people of the earth,” he told the closing session.

The cardinal said the conference had “stressed the main convictions that we have in common.”

The secretary general of the Muslim World League, Abdullah bin Abdulmuhsin Al Turki, said more such conferences are planned, including possibly one in Japan. The event took place against a backdrop of tensions between the Islamic world and the West since the September 11, 2001, attacks in the United States.

They range from restrictions on the use of the veil by Muslim women in some European countries to cartoons regarded as blasphemous by Muslims and the unresolved Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Organisers had billed the conference as a chance for the different religions to “get to know each other.”

In that limited respect, observers said it had succeeded. It also demonstrated King Abdullah’s desire to restore the tarnished image of Islam in the West since 9/11.

“I expect some important Jewish leaders will be taking back positive reports about the opportunity to engage with Muslims,” said Walter Ruby, in charge of Muslim-Jewish relations at the New York-based Foundation for Ethnic Understanding.

He noted some prior resistance to the event among conservative Jewish elements in the US, “who are suspicious about Muslims and feel this is a PR thing… But I think it was a bold and important step. It was King Adbullah’s ‘Perestroika’ moment,” he said.

One leading Muslim participant reported a “very good feeling” during the three days of talks. “Nowadays, you have news about war everywhere, but there is no news about peace. At this conference, we sat down and had very good relations,” the secretary general of the Kuwait-based World Organisation of Pan-Islamic Jurisprudence, Al Seyed AbolGhasem Al Dibaji, said.

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Rabbi aims to improve Muslim-Jewish ties
By BEN SALES ,  Jul 11, 2008

 http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c…

Rabbi David Rosen, who has been invited to an interfaith conference in Madrid hosted by Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah next week, said Thursday that he expects to make significant progress in Muslim-Jewish relations while there.

Rabbi David Rosen

Rosen is the only Israeli rabbi to be invited to the conference, which will host 200 spiritual leaders from July 16-18, including representatives from Iran, Lebanon and Syria. Several American rabbis from varying streams have also been invited.

Born in England, Rosen moved to Israel in 1967 and now serves as the president of the International Jewish Committee for Interreligious Consultation, based in Jerusalem. While he acknowledges the controversy surrounding the conference, Rosen sees attendance as an opportunity to bridge cultural barriers and bring about political reconciliation.

{ what this article forgot to mention is that Rabbi Rosen has also a British Passport - so he was not invited as Israeli but as British. No Israelis were invited period! For even handedness perhapse, also no Palestinians were invited. }

“This is just a first step in breaking stereotypes and increasing communication between the Jewish and Muslim worlds, even the Israeli and Arab worlds, and decreasing the violent