Washington, D.C. -  Durham Rabbi John Friedman praised an effort by Congressmen David Price (D-NC) and Ray LaHood (R-IL) to encourage President Bush to work toward the stabilization of Gaza as the best way to move the Middle East peace process forward. 

The congressmen circulated a letter last week, signed by 50 of their colleagues, which expresses their “deep concern over the ongoing crisis in southern Israel and Gaza,” and they argue that the status quo of terror and violence promises to derail progress toward a negotiated settlement between the Israelis and Palestinians in the near future.

Friedman, who is the rabbi of Judea Reform Congregation in Durham and the national chair of the Rabbinic Cabinet of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, called the Price-Lahood letter “the first truly constructive initiative to emerge from Congress in response to the recent upsurge in violence in southern Israel and the Gaza Strip.”

>>Read Rabbi Friedman’s column