How Many More Innocents Shall We Sacrifice on the Altar of "Justified" War? These are profoundly divisive times, when hope for negotiations has given way to despair and bombs, and the slow and painful work of building civil society is crumbling before those who choose the language of brutality and hate. How many more innocents shall we sacrifice on the altar of "justified" war? We mourn for the newest victims of violence in the Middle East. Close to 500 civilians now lie in fresh graves in Lebanon, Israel, and Gaza. Twenty percent of Lebanese have become refugees, $4 billion in infrastructure has been destroyed in Lebanon, and the population of northern Israel is residing in bomb shelters. In this time of escalating violence, the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR) calls on our government to work for an immediate cease-fire. Nothing good can be accomplished by authorizing the relentless progress of death. We also call on our interfaith partners to consider the way in which each tradition may either support the forces of peacemaking or aggravate the forces of violence through the use of the language of prejudice. And we reflect on the futility, cruelty, self-destructiveness, and deep irreligion of disproportionate response. In war, an entire people is objectified as "the enemy" and thus permission is given to engage in acts which would otherwise be considered atrocities. Those of us residing in North America must do all we can to prevent the rise of ugly words and actions toward and among Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Let us bring our communities together to regard the peacemaking aspects of our traditions. And instead of arguing over ownership of land, let us begin to consider what we owe the earth. The past 50 years have taught us that war, military occupation, suicide bombing, targeted assassinations, kidnapping and hostage-taking, home demolitions, the daily humiliation of checkpoints, the crippling of communal infrastructures, and the widespread use of torture by governments of all sides has done nothing to make populations more secure. Rather, the instruments of brutality have acted as a prod to the forces of extremism. As people of faith, we must find another way. We believe it is time to end U.S. military funding of all regimes, everywhere. And we should start by drastically cutting the military budget at home. We commit ourselves to resist the logic of war. Let us struggle to find our way toward justice and peace through nonviolence alone, for the sake of our children and our children's children. There can be no more equivocation. There is no more time to wait. Speak out now for an immediate cease-fire. Read the latest Interfaith Peace-Builders delegation report from Israel/Palestine. Contact: Ethan Vesely-Flad, Fellowship editor 845-358-4601 ext. 42, editor@forusa.org Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb, FOR National Council member, rabbilynn@earthlink.net ©2004 Fellowship of Reconciliation