The Words of the Walsh Family

UPF Offers Solidarity to People of Jordan Following Bombings

Thomas Walsh
November 19, 2005
Secretary General IIFWP/UPF
Amman, Jordan

We arrived in Amman about 2:00 AM, direct from Istanbul, where we were welcomed by Ambassador For Peace General Mansour Mustafa Abu Rashid, Chairman of the Amman Center for Peace and Development, who expedited our entry.

The Ambassadors for Peace, and of course all our volunteers in Jordan were at first very deeply disappointed in learning that Dr. and Mrs. Moon could not come to Amman. They had worked hard and had such high hopes. However, after a series of meetings and discussions, there was a significant breakthrough in their understanding and a cheerful willingness to make the best of the situation. The Jordan event was further strengthened by the presence of an excellent group of 120 Ambassadors for Peace and IIFWP volunteers from the USA. Led by Dr. Chang Shik Yang and Dr. Michael Jenkins they had traveled to Israel and Jordan both to participate in the tour in the Middle East and to offer condolences and solidarity with the people of Jordan in the wake of the November 9 suicide bombings.

Dr. Yang and Dr. Jenkins, with David Fraser Harris from IIFWP in Syria organized a peace walk to each of the three hotels prior to the main event. It was solemn, dignified, and warmhearted. The group that had come from the USA was a high level and exemplary group of Ambassadors for Peace, including many new faces. At each of the three hotels, the group, coordinated by Dr. Jenkins, would stop for prayer and reflection, featuring at different times a diverse group of spiritual leaders including Christian ministers, Muslim Imams and Jewish rabbis.

The main event was a beautiful evening, a banquet for about 700, in a large ballroom at the Royal Hotel. General Mansour and Dr. Murad, two very active and key Jordanian Ambassadors for Peace who had invested themselves fully for the success of the event, each gave remarks. Former US Ambassador to Bahrain, Sam Zakhem, himself of Lebanese descent, spoke in perfect Arabic, followed by Rev. Dr. Walter Fauntroy, the noted civil rights leader and six-term former congressman from Washington DC.

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