Middle East Realities Forum #1

Realties of  Israel and Palestine in the context of the coming Israel elections

Leonard Grob, Ph.D. is Prof. Emeritus of Philosophy at Fairleigh Dickinson University. For the last three decades he has specialized in Holocaust Studies and the Israel-Palestinian Conflict. Dr. Grob is currently VP of Partners for Progressive Israel, Associate Director of the Jewish Peace Lobby, and a member of  U.S. think tank on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; his work in the think tank takes him to the UN where he visits ambassadors and deputies from a number of foreign missions, presenting ideas for conflict resolution. He is also a member of the Stony Point Center Advisory Board.

Professor Grob will describe his trip to Israel-Palestine this past November centering on the anguish of Occupation and the growing extremism by the Israeli right as well as the hope for a sustained and reinforced belief in a two-state solution to the conflict in the context of the coming Israel elections.

Mark C. Johnson, Ph.D. is retired Executive Director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation and currently Executive Director of The Center and Library for the Bible and Social Justice, an asset  of the Stony Point Conference Center’s Community of Living Traditions http://clbsj.org/?p=561

Mark will offer observations from Christian, Muslim and secular sources based on delegation work in Palestine/Israel and a community of practice that has been engaged in this conversation for decades including FOR, Inter-Faith Peace-Builders, ALLMEP. He will also share a reflection on the current visit of 37 Arab-Israeli Mayors to New York City and Washington, D.C. organized by Givat Haviva in relation to the up-coming elections in Israel and the role of the Palestinian minority in that election.

Introduction by Bennett Weiss  ;  Michael Sussman,  MC