In October 2004, the Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) Advisory Committee on Social Wellness Policy toured the Middle East in order to listen to local Christians, ecumenical partners, and political leaders in Lebanon, the Palestinian National Authority, Israel, Egypt and Jordan.
Ronald H. Stone, John Witherspoon Professor of Christian Ethics at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, attracted negative media attention during the tour after being quoted as saying, "We treasure the precious words of Hezbollah and your expression of goodwill toward the American people.
"[1] A member of the delegation, Reverend Nile Harper, stated that "The occupation by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza must end because it is oppressive and destructive for the Palestinian people".
The Louisville Courier-Journal, in an article dated November 12, 2004, reported that[5] "Two high-level Presbyterian Church (USA) employees have been fired in the aftermath of their taking part in a controversial meeting with a representative of Hezbollah...Kathy Leuckert, Deputy Executive Associate Director of the General Assembly Council, and Peter Sulyok, Coordinator of the Advisory Committee on Social Witness Policy, were notified that they were no longer employed by the Presbyterian Church (USA) according to a memo released Thursday morning by John Detterick, the executive director of the General Assembly Council."
Nuhad Tomeh's "work as the associate general secretary of Middle East Conference of Churches in Beirut is profiled on a PC(USA) Web page.