The Rev. Jesse Jackson said Friday that he would meet with Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres next week in an effort to bring peace to the Middle East.
Jackson said he and seven other religious leaders would arrive in Jerusalem on Saturday. The delegation also hopes to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, but the meeting has not been confirmed.
"War is a dead option," Jackson said. "We must do a more difficult thing than choose sides. We must reconcile sides." He said the delegation will travel to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Bethlehem and Gaza, speaking with peace advocates and families affected by the violence.
"I'm convinced the focus must be an appeal to break the cycle of violence," said Jackson, who early last month postponed a planned mission to the region following a deadly suicide bombing in Israel. "The peace activists and the victims of the war must develop some standing at the table," he said in a telephone interview with Reuters. "We must choose reconstruction and reconciliation."
He said the United States ought to do more to bring peace to the region, a destination for billions of dollars in U.S. foreign aid, saying, "We're not getting a return on our investment."
Jackson added he called Secretary of State Colin Powell on Friday to share the details of his mission. State Department spokesman Frederick Jones said Jackson is "free to travel as he chooses," as is any other American citizen. (Albawaba.com)
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