Click here to read the article in the New York Times which explains the background to the letter
Friday, November 28, 2008
Mr. Dan Shapiro
Mr. Alan D. Solomont
Prof. Marshall Ganz
Ambassador Dennis Ross
Ambassador Dan Kurtzer
Dear Friends
The Inauguration Ceremony and the President’s address set the stage for presenting the grand vision of a great new President. President Elect Barack Obama has spread a sense of hope around the globe, touching people in every corner. His victory has ignited our spirits and has renewed our faith in the ability of the United States to be a peace maker in the world today.
We would like to propose that a group of 6 religious leaders from Jerusalem come to the Inauguration Ceremony on January 20, 2009 and give their blessing to the new President. Two Rabbis, two Muslim Sheikhs and two Christian Bishops from the Holy Land delivering a message of peace from the Holy City to the new President and to the American people would serve as a strong symbol for the renewed hope for peace in the world. It will also signal to the world the President’s belief that peace in the Middle East is possible and is high on his agenda.
Imagine the image of these 6 religious leaders from the Holy Land sitting together amongst the invited guests on the patio of the Capitol building. Imagine the attention and the attraction of this scene as President Obama refers to their presence in his Inaugural Address. Imagine these spiritual leaders offering the Prayer and Blessing at the Inauguration itself. This is exactly the kind of image that President Obama should wish to present as the eyes of billions of people around the world are focused on him.
The initiative for this delegation came from Rabbi Menechem Froman who has worked endlessly for reaching out to Muslims and Christians in a sincere search for understanding and peace and also worked very hard during the campaign on behalf of President-elect Obama and the campaign team particularly with the American Jewish Community. IPCRI – the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, one of the most veteran Israeli-Palestinian joint peace institutions in the Holy Land has gladly undertaken to advance this idea.
We have written some suggestions regarding potential participants. We have not approached any of them yet. If the idea is appealing to the Obama team working on the Inauguration, we would then work together to select the participants.
We hope that you will present this idea to President-elect Obama and have his transition team working on the Inauguration Ceremony planning make contact with us.
We thank you for your response.
Best wishes
Dr. Gershon Baskin and Hanna Siniora on behalf of IPCRI and Rabbi Menechem Froman
