U.S. must intervene in Middle East conflict, returning pastor says 
  
 Nov 26, 2002
General Board of Global Ministries/United Methodist Church
http://gbgm-umc.org/global_news/full_article.cfm?articleid=1273
The United Methodist pastor held in an Israeli prison after being involved in a confrontation between Palestinian villagers and Israeli soldiers believes it is imperative that the United States intervene in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 
I firmly believe that unless intervention occurs, Israelis will continue to be victimized by suicide bombs and Palestinians will continue to be threatened and jeopardized by Israelis, the Rev. Gordon Gordy Hutchins of Tieton, Wash., told United Methodist News Service in a Nov. 25 interview. Nobody wins. 
The 46-year-old pastor was one of 10 non-Palestinians arrested Nov. 15 when residents of Jayyous, in the West Bank, tried to stop Israeli bulldozers from clearing land for a security wall. He was held at Massyahu Prison in Ramle before being abruptly released the evening of Nov. 19. 
Hutchins said Israeli authorities never returned his passport or gave him an account of the charges against him. But with the help of the U.S. consulate, he was able to fly to Seattle on Nov. 21, where he spent the night before returning home to the Yakima Valley the next day. 
Hutchins is a member of the denomination’s Pacific Northwest Annual (Regional) Conference, which is led by Bishop Elias Galvan. The bishop himself had traveled to Israel-Palestine last February with three other bishops and two of the church’s top staff executives as part of a fact-finding mission to the Middle East and Pakistan. 
At that time, Galvan and Bishop Clifton Ives of West Virginia issued a statement stressing the importance of the Christian community in the United States and elsewhere to support Christians in the Middle East and to encourage the United States to protect the rights of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. 
I have encouraged people to visit Palestine, Galvan told United Methodist News Service. I encouraged Gordy to do that. I believe that we, as Christians, need to stand with our sisters and brothers in Palestine. They need to know we are concerned for their safety and their future. 
Galvan said he was distressed that the situation in the region had continued to deteriorate since his visit and added that he believes the current policies of the Israeli government will not lead to peace.