Adult Education
It’s Time to Talk Together
Palestine & Israel Dialogues & Differences
May 15 & 29, 2007 ? 7-9 PM
There are many kinds of Jews, Christians, Muslims, Secularists, Hindus and Buddhists. Some words are bitter, arrogant, kind, peacemaking and terrorist. Beginning on Tuesday evening, May 15 and continuing on Tuesday May 29, the Community Church of Sebastopol is beginning what may a long running series on dialogues and differences.
While the Community Church is beginning this series, it is inviting sponsors from all faith groups to join together in planning future events.
This first two-part series is on Palestine. On May 15 the Subject will be “A Brief History of Palestine/Israel”
This informative presentation takes you through the highlights of the history of Palestine/Israel. It starts with early Arab Nationalism and the Zionist movement and proceeds through the evolution of the State of Israel, through Israel's wars and subsequent occupation of Palestinian land. This presentation will lay a solid groundwork with which to understand the current situation and conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.
The presenter is Wendy Kaufmyn, a Jewish American from Detroit, Michigan. In 1979 she moved to California to do graduate work at UC Berkeley and for the past 25 years Wendy has been teaching engineering at City College of San Francisco. Since 2002 Wendy has spent the majority of her summers working in Palestine with various human rights organizations as well as children's summer camps in the village of Deir Ibzi’a in the West Bank. She is a co-founder of the Friends of Deir Ibzi'a, a non-profit agency that works to provide scholarships for students. She will be returning to Palestine this upcoming summer
On Tuesday, May 29, the topic will be “The Ordinary Life in the West Bank of Palestine”. This will be an audio-visual portrait of the routine, ordinary (and no so ordinary) life of the Palestinians in the West Bank - ranging from check points and roadblocks to family life, weddings and the rearing of children. Wendy will draw upon her experience working with families and children and her involvement with various Human Rights organization.
Both presentations are from 7-9 PM with time for a short break and discussion. There will be a $10 admission fee to cover costs and to provide resources for future programs.
While these programs are not intended to present a fully rounded picture of the Palestinian and Israeli, they are intended to provide a basis for discussion.
After each presentation, and prior to discussion at each evening, there will be sign up sheets for both groups and individuals to plan further programs and cover a variety of subjects and even some of the same subjects with a different slant. At the May 29th meeting those interested may stay after the discussion to plan a date and location for future discussions on what may well develop into a long-term series on dialogues and differences.
The goal of this undertaking is to bring people of differences together so that they might learn to talk with each other and seek out the common grounds that might lead our war torn world to peace. We hope you will join us.
The Community Church is located at 1000 Gravenstein Highway North in Sebastopol. The meetings will be held in the church sanctuary. The Community Church of Sebastopol is a member of the United Church of Christ, which has a long history in the peace and human rights movement in both this country and the world.
Children’s artwork and Palestinian embroidery will be on display. For more information: (510) 848-6786 or email friends@deiribzia.org or contact John Simmons at (707) 823-6517.
