As a way to help the church understand the “breadth and depth of Palestinian and Israeli spectrum of perspectives,” the Middle East Monitoring Group (MEMG) has issued an open invitation for narratives that reflect that spectrum.
In keeping with their mandate from the 219th General Assembly (2010) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), the MEMG will select a total of eight narratives, “four arising from the range of authentically Palestinian perspectives (including both Christian and Muslim), and four arising from the range of authentically Israeli perspectives.”
The assembly also specified that the narratives are to be “above all authentically pro-justice and pro-peace.”
The narratives are to be 3-5 pages in length. They can be submitted to oga.communications@pcusa.org.
The deadline for submissions is August 1, 2011.
“Although we are limited by the General Assembly to accept only four from each perspective, we hope that we might be able to publish additional submissions,” said Laurie Anderson, an elder at Southminster Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village, Kan., and chairperson of the MEMG.
The assembly has also asked the MEMG to produce “an annotated bibliography for additional understanding.”