Jerusalem Women Speak: Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared City

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>From: finkel at SDI.COM
>Subject: [SLDRTY-L]: Upcoming speaking tour
>Date: Thu, 26 Jul 2001 12:45:14 -0500
>Reply-To: sldrty-l at igc.topica.com
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>
>JERUSALEM WOMEN SPEAK
>THREE WOMEN _ THREE FAITHS _ ONE SHARED CITY
>
>For More Information Call: For Immediate Release
>Jerri Bird 202-863-2951 W E-mail: pfp at igc.org (arranges speaking
>engagements)
>Peter Wirth 315-476-3396 W E-mail pwirth at ican.net (press coverage)
>
>Three women: Christian, Jewish and Muslim will tour six cities (Washington
>DC; Philadelphia, PA; Raleigh, NC; Chicago, IL; Indianapolis, IN; Boston,
>MA) to dialogue with the American public on their efforts to establish a
>lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
>
>... Rawan Damen: Muslim, Palestinian; Recent graduate with Honors, Birzeit
>University, BA in Media/Sociology
>... Michal Shohat: Jewish, Israeli, General Secretary of the Meretz Party, a
>political party in Israel.
>... Jean Zaru: Quaker, Palestinian, Presiding Clerk of the Friends Meeting
>in Palestine,
>
>Biographies follow...
>
>Schedule:
>
>September 12 - 13 Washington, DC
>September 14 - 15 Philadelphia, PA
>September 16 - 19 Raleigh, NC
>September 19 - 22 Chicago, IL
>September 22 - 26 Indianapolis, IN
>September 26 - 29 Boston, Ma
>
>Washington Schedule
>
>These women are wives, daughters, mothers and grandmothers, who are each
>working in their own unique way for peace and justice for all the people of
>Palestine and Israel. Partners for Peace, the sponsoring organization (a UN
>registered NGO) believes that hearing from a diversity of views from
>ordinary citizens who live in the region will help Americans have a better
>understanding of the reasons behind the violence taking place and what can
>be done to establish a lasting peace.
>
>They are available for interview and talk show appearances.
>
>Bio material:
>
>Rawan Damen: 22, Muslim, Palestinian * Recent graduate in Media/Sociology
>with Honors from Birzeit University * Author of three books: Palestinian
>Children Before 1948, Expulsion in the Memory of Children and Our Schools
>in the Court of Justice: The Students Ring the Bell * Author of numerous
>articles Family history in Palestine goes back to the 14th century on
>mother's side and 350 years on father's side * Mother's family lost their
>home in West Jerusalem in 1948 war * Spent month studying Hebrew at age 16
>(only adolescents, Muslims and Palestinians attending program) with Jewish
>adults at Ulpan Akiva Study Center in Netanya * Front line witness to the
>bombing of Ramallah as Israeli helicopters destroyed a Palestinian police
>station near her home.
>
>Michal Shohat: 48, Jewish, Israeli * Currently General Secretary of Meretz
>Party, a significant political party in Israel and previously elected
>member of the Municipal Council of Jerusalem * Son currently serving in
>paratroopers on active duty, daughter in reserves. * Married, three
>children, born on a kibbutz in 1953 * Served as an officer in the Israeli
>army as an aide to the Vice Chief of Staff in the 1970's during the
>invasion of Lebanon. * Her father escaped from a Romanian concentration
>camp, served in the underground and rescued fleeing Jews before he went to
>Israel in 1948. * Serves on managing board for Am Hofshi (Free Nation), an
>organization working for pluralism and against religious coercion in
>Israel. Also serves on board of directors of Boyer High School, a Jerusalem
>school which provides dormitory facilities for students from other cities
>in Israel who have high learning skills but who lack the economic means to
>reach their potential.
>
>Jean Zaru, 61, Quaker, Palestinian * Presiding Clerk of the Ramallah
>Friends Meeting in Palestine * Taught ethics and Christianity at Friends
>Boys School in Ramallah * Brother who graduated from Haverford College and
>Harvard University joined Palestinian struggle and was disappeared in
>Lebanon in 1976 * Relatives fled from their homes in 1948 war * Husband
>almost killed when Ramallah was bombed in 1967 war * A founding member of
>Sabeel, a Palestinian Liberation Theology Center * Spoken extensively to
>non-governmental organizations and church groups in Holland, England,
>Sweden, Norway, Geneva, Nairobi, Australia, South Africa, the United States
>and Canada.