We are particularly pained when as a result of the closure people are denied access to their holy sites and places of worship, and their places of employment, education and health care. Sustaining a conducive climate for no negotiations toward peace is the common response ability of Israelis and Palestinians. Human rights violations and acts of indignity and humiliation undermine the confidence necessary to progress toward a resolution of the disputes , which hold all of Jerusalem's residents hostage to fear and hostility. In this regard we strongly urge the Israeli government not to confiscate land, build and expand settlements, demolish Palestinian homes or revoke Palestinian Jerusalemites' residency rights. Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem are under threat .
Confidence building requires that the Palestinian infrastructure be maintained.
We urge our leaders to take immediate steps of confidence building in Jerusalem so that our peoples will not be frustrated but will retain their hope for peace. We encourage our two people, Israelis and Palestinians, and the three faith communities to develop a strategy of peace education that is based on justice and reconciliation. Such education should engender respect for the identity, religious tradition and culture of the other. Peace education is effective when it is backed up by acts of concrete peace-making. Not only the formal education system, but also families, politicians, mass media, synagogues, churches and mosques should give this task of peace education a high priority so that animosity dividing people in Jerusalem will be overcome and the two peoples may live in reconciled security.