Press: For Immediate Release
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(May 30, 2008, Temecula, California)  The arrival to Southern California of the two highest ranking religious leaders from the Holy Land went completely unnoticed last week, not only by national media outlets but by local news media as well.  Archbishop Ata Nasrallah is the most senior Christian leader of the Orthodox Church in the Holy Land and an icon to most Christians in the Middle East.  The Archbishop was accompanied by Sheik Tayseer Al Taimimi, the Grand Mufti of Palestine, equally an Icon to all Muslims.  They stood united with many Christian, Jewish, and Muslim organizations that protested what they termed “The brutal occupation of Palestine, the oppressive apartheid regime of Israel, and countless human rights violations against the Palestinians.” The two religious dignitaries supported the “right of return” of Palestinian refugees and called on the International community to implement all United Nations Security Council Resolutions against the occupation, already in place but vetoed by the United States. 

Many Jewish groups, which include Jews Against the Occupation (JATO) in New York, Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) in San Francisco, Orthodox Rabbis from Jewish group as Naturei Karta Jews United against Zionism, and even recently formed Jewish political parties such as J Street, have pleaded for peace and justice for the Palestinian people and expressed strong opposition to the Jewish State, which they say is oppressing Palestinians in their name.  Many called for an end to U.S. financial support to Israel, which has exceeded $133 billion since 1949. 


Muslim Bridges calls on the media to re-examine its coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and strive to provide adequate balance by showing the suffering of the Palestinian people especially with regards to the apartheid wall which Israel erected 6 miles into the West Bank, and the complete walling of Gaza and its strangulation from land, sea and air. Former President Jimmy Carter called Gaza blockade “a crime and an atrocity.”    

"The West is in turmoil of Islamophobia", said Gideon Levy, columnist and commentator with the Israeli Haaretz newspaper, “And Israel is perceived as the enemy of our enemy which means it is our friend." Levy added "You can see in the Western media, this connection between Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Hammas, the Palestinians, it is now all one entity in the eyes of the West, and all of a sudden, Israel looks with flying colors!"

MuslimBridges is providing a resource page to media professionals, offering reference on the conflict, possible solutions, access to book downloads and book reviews.  This page includes facts about financial contributions to elected politicians by pro-Zionist groups, historical facts, United Nation resolutions, and other useful information.

Page Link: http://www.muslimbridges.org/content/view/507/72/

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MuslimBridges.org is a non-profit faith-based California Corporation founded in December 2006, and run one-hundred percent by volunteers.  It was founded with the mission to help spread peace, and to build bridges between people of all faiths-Jews, Christians and Muslims.  The website launched on Jan 22, 2007, non-commercial, not-for-profit and does not accept donations.  For additional details on the organization and the programs please visit:  http://www.muslimbridges.org/. Press contact: This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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