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Beyond the Olive Branch

(posted at the request of Peggy Rafferty of the CUCC Sunday Morning Bible Study Group)

The Peace and Social Concerns Committee of the Durham Friends Meeting

and the Coalition for Peace with Justice invite you to join them for

Beyond the Olive Branch:
Working for Peace and Justice in Palestine and Israel

Samir Moukaddam
American Friends Service Committee

and

Richard Wark
Jewish Voice for Peace

Sunday, May 20, 2007
4:00-6:00PM

Durham Friends Meetinghouse
404 Alexander Avenue

Bottles of Palestinian Olive Oil will be available for purchase at the reception.

Samir Moukaddam is director of the Middle East Peace Education Program (MEPEP) of the American Friends Service Committee's Southeast Regional Office (AFSC-SERO). He is also the co-chair of Unitarian Universalists for Justice in the Middle East. Samir will describe the AFSC programs that support the non-violent efforts of both Palestinian and Israeli peace activists to end the occupation of Palestinian territory and bring a just peace to the region. He will also share information about Ziyarat az Zeitoun (Arabic for Visiting the Olives), an educational and advocacy project of the AFSC Middle East Peace Education Program. The program highlights Palestinian culture and current realities on the ground in the West Bank and Gaza Strip through focusing on the Palestinian olive harvest.


Richard Wark, a member of last fall's Health and Human Rights Delegation to Israel/Palestine sponsored by Jewish Voice for Peace, will discuss his experiences working in the Olive Harvest along with Palestinians, Israelis, and other internationals. He will also report on a meeting of international peace activists chaired by Jeff Halper, nominated by the AFSC last year for the Nobel Peace Prize, at the Beit Arabiya Peace Center in Anata, ouside of Jerusalem .


The American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization that includes people of various faiths who are committed to social justice, peace and humanitarian service. Its work is based on the belief in the worth of every person and faith in the power of love to overcome violence and injustice.

Through grassroots organizing, education, advocacy, and media, Jewish Voice for Peace works to achieve a lasting peace that recognizes the rights of both Israelis and Palestinians for security and self-determination.