U.S. Delegation in Israel
By Tzippe Barrow
CBN News - Jerusalem Bureau
April 2, 2007
CBNNews.com - JERUSALEM, Israel - On Saturday, the first full day of a Middle East fact-finding tour that includes Israel, the Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Syria and Saudi Arabia, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her entourage toured some of the holy sites in Jerusalem's Old City.
Following a visit to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, considered by many Christians the place of Jesus' burial and resurrection, the group stopped by the Western Wall, Judaism's holiest site.
The U.S. delegation includes Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), the first Muslim member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who planned to visit the Temple Mount, which Islam calls the Noble Sanctuary.
On Monday, Ellison will meet with Muhammad Hussein, the mufti of Jerusalem, who heads the Wakf, the Muslim trust that administers the daily activities on the Temple Mount.
Ellison told the press that as a Muslim, he brings a message that "people can come together…and reconciliation is possible." His meetings with Hussein and other Muslim leaders in the region may challenge his thinking.
The group, which also includes Democratic Congressmen Henry Waxman and Tom Lantos from California, Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV), and Rep. David Hobson (R-OH), met with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who asked them to tell Syrian President Basher Assad that Israel wants peace with Syria, but only when they stop sponsoring terrorism.
On Sunday, during an address to Israeli members of Knesset (parliament), Pelosi compared acting President Dalia Itzak to former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir.
Itzak, in turn, praised the U.S. delegation's plan to visit Syria.
"Your decision to visit Syria has raised controversy in your country and ours, but I believe in your good intentions," said Itzak. "Maybe this step, which is seen as unpopular, will convince the Syrian people and their leaders to abandon the axis of evil and stop supporting the terrorists and giving shelter to their commanders and send a message that they need to make a strategic choice that will give hope to the people of Syria and citizens of the entire region," she said.
Time will tell if the U.S. congressmen's visit accomplishes any of its goals.
Sources: The Jerusalem Post, Ha'aretz
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