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SV Vicar of Church of the Redeemer in Amman, Archdeacon Eliya Khoury sitting with newspaper in front of him
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SV Archdeacon Khoury speaking in English
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KHOURY: "An open letter to President Jimmy Carter: 'Dear President Carter' We are impressed by your obvious sincerity in working to bring a just and lasting peace to the Middle East. But we are reminded ever so dramatically that no just and lasting peace will ever come to the Holy Land unless the Palestinian people are able to exercise their right to national self-determination in full freedom in their own land of Palestine. I must remind you that you are not in the Middle East this week to prod, or pressure, or cajole different people into accepting vague new phrases within a vague general framework for peace. However, if you feel you framework is sufficient to act as an overall superstructure within which the Palestinian people can aspire to 'autonomy' under the guns of the Israeli army of occupation that is sustained by the economic generosity of the nation you lead, I assure you that I, and the overwhelming majority of the Palestinians and the Arab people, do not share your feelings."



Archdeacon Khoury said he was deported into Jordan without having been formally accused or tried. Before his deportation, he had spent several years as Vicar of St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Ramallah.




Initials KM/1710



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: In Jordan, an Episcopalian clergyman of Arab descent has warned President Carter there can be no lasting peace in the Middle East unless the Palestinians have their own homeland. Archdeacon Eliya Khoury gave the warning in an open letter to the President, printed in the Jordan Times of Amman last weekend (March 11-12). The Archdeacon is Vicar of the Church of the Redeemer in Amman.

SYNOPSIS: The Archdeacon, a native of Jerusalem and Ramallah, was arrested by Israeli occupation authorities ten years ago, and deported across the River Jordan. On Monday (12 March), he read extracts from his open letter for a Visnews cameraman.