Christian communities in the Holy Land have sent an open letter to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell, stressing the urgent need for resolving the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis.

Those signing the letter included Bob May, a United Methodist missionary, and the Rev. Mary Lawrence, a United Methodist pastor working with the Christian Peacemaker Team. Predominantly American, the signers were members of English-speaking Christian communities and have been living in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories for periods ranging from six months to 20 years.

Powell is scheduled to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Jerusalem on April 12 and with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat on April 13.

"All members of our Christian communities unequivocally condemn and reject terrorism and violence as a means of advancing the political cause of the Palestinians and fully recognize the right of the Israeli people to live in peace and security in their own state," the letter said. "Our experience here also helps us understand why, in their desperation, some young Palestinians see no other options available to them and nothing for them to live for."

The letter urged neither a military or terrorist solution to the conflict but one already expressed by Powell, President Bush, Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and various resolutions of the United Nations.

"The U.S. government has been a proponent of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," it continued. "Now is the time for the U.S. government to operate within the rubric of the United Nations and finalize a settlement to this conflict in accordance with Resolutions 242, 338 and 1397."

In an April 9 e-mail message, the Rev. Alex Awad, a United Methodist missionary, pointed out that the continuing conflict could drive out the dwindling number of Christians in the Holy Land, particularly after the destruction in Bethlehem and the siege at the Church of the Nativity there. The Christian population already has shrunk from 17 percent of Palestinians in 1948 to an estimated 2 percent today.

"Christian families who never thought of leaving the country will now seek a way out, thus endangering the very presence of Christianity in the city that witnessed the birth of Christ," he wrote.

Awad, who lives in Beit Safafa but serves as dean of students at Bethlehem Bible College, said he found it hard to describe the physical damage to Bethlehem.

"Two years ago, European governments contributed millions of dollars to renovate Bethlehem and prepare it for the millennium celebrations," he noted. "Now, Israeli tanks have razed homes, traffic lights, cars and anything else that stood in their way. A Palestinian couple was in their car when a tank went over it."

In his e-mail, Awad asked friends and prayer partners to call for a peaceful end to the stalemate in Bethlehem and to work diligently for peace and justice in the region. "If we don?t do our task," he wrote, "the Herods and the suicide bombers will do theirs."