Our colleagues and friends at the [http://www.sivicouncil.org/index.html; Silicon Valley Interreligious Council] (SiVIC) issued an important and thoughtful statement regarding the Gaza Conflict.  With their permission, we share an excerpt here.  Go to the end of this article for a link to their website where you can read the full statement.

On the Gaza Conflict

Regardless of our individual stances, we share a recognition of our common humanity and a conviction that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must cease, that there is no violent solution to that conflict, that all human life is valued, and that all parties must cooperate to achieve a just and lasting peace on behalf of God’s children who reside in the land that many of us call holy.

We affirm these guiding principles, articulated during previous armed conflicts in Gaza:

• We acknowledge the long, complex, and painful history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict;
  
• We acknowledge the wide range of deeply-held beliefs, and intensely-felt narratives on all sides;
  
• We mourn the loss of innocent lives in Gaza and in Israel;
  
• We deplore any invocation of religion as a justification for violence, for the deprivation of people's dignity, or for the denial of human rights;
  
• We decry any use of inflammatory rhetoric that demonizes others, fostering hatred and disrespect; and
• We believe that just solutions to the conflict are better served by political and diplomatic means.

[http://www.sivicouncil.org/statements/gaza2014.htm; Click here] to read the statement in its entirety.  

Like those at SiVIC, we too are deeply grieved by the human cost and suffering caused by this conflict, and continue our commitment to work and pray for peace in this region, and around the world.