JERUSALEM – December 3, 2005 – MIFTAH urgently calls for the release of the four Christian Peacemaker Team members who were kidnapped by an unknown group in Baghdad on November 26th, 2005.

Christian Peacemaker Teams have worked tirelessly since the start of the US invasion of Iraq to oppose the invasion and to offer support to the Iraqi people. They have consistently promoted peace with justice through solidarity with the people of Iraq, and are people who have always exhibited deep respect for the Islamic faith and for the right of Iraqis to self-determination. In addition to their courageous work in Iraq, Christian Peacemaker Teams have also worked for years in Palestine, and in particular, in Hebron, to help Palestinian residents there resist peacefully the daily violence committed on them by Israeli soldiers.

MIFTAH opposes all forms of violence, and is particularly saddened that those people who work hardest and who risk their lives daily to bring peace to Iraq and to Palestine are themselves most vulnerable to it. MIFTAH urges members of the Arabic and English language press, members of all religious groups, and human rights organizations, to join forces to secure the release of these four brothers-in-peace.

The Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy, MIFTAH, is a non-governmental, non-partisan Jerusalem-based institution dedicated to fostering democracy and good governance within Palestinian society through promoting public accountability, transparency, the free flow of information and ideas and the challenging of stereotyping at home and abroad.