Palestine is on the Other Side of the Wall

This coming sunday we are hosting a new-comer, Sandy Westin. She's going to share a perspective from Palestine. As an introduction to her presentation, she wrote:

"In June of this year I was privileged to be part of the annual meeting of the global staff and board of the URI organization, this year held in Amman, Jordan. At the end of that trip, I joined 20 others of the group in touring a few of the many holy sites of Jordan, Palestine and Jerusalem, lead by one of their board members who is a Palestinian peace activist. I came home from that experience with insights about the Middle East I would like to share.

Western media has shown us pictures of the barrier Israel has erected between what it considers to be their land and that of its neighbor and rival for that land, Palestine. A concrete wall some 30 feet high with barbed concertina wire running along the top, this line of demarcation appears stark and intimidating from the Israeli side. The incredible mixture of pain and beauty, hatred and peace that lies on the other side of that wall was a surprise to me, and may be to others as well. Sunday I will share with the class some of my observations, a few photos and true stories from “The Other Side of the Wall”. This different perspective can expand our understanding about the nature of a conflict we are only witness to some 6,500 miles away."

A bit about Sandy:

"I have a life-long commitment to building a more peaceful world has lead her to be part of producing and documenting two Soviet-American Citizen Diplomacy Summits in the 1980’s, serve as Managing Director of the Voices of the Earth eco-spirituality conference at the University of Colorado in 1995, and currently serve as North American Regional Coordinator of the global interfaith organization, United Religions Initiative. In the past two years, my work has taken her to India and the Middle East. My husband, Paul, and I recently moved to Johnson City where I am beginning work on a Masters in Storytelling at ETSU so I can move anecdotes of transformational moments in peacebuilding into stories that can be told and retold worldwide. "

For more background on the United Religions International, click the link: http://www.uri.org/

Please join us for what promises to be a fascinating presentation. We'll be very glad to see you and and remember, excellent childcare is provided.