Jewish, Muslim, and Christian peacemakers from Jerusalem, Nazareth, and Galilee will gather at Illinois State University to talk about what happens when the peace process stalls.
Eliyahu McLean, Ghassan Manasra, and Jiries Mansur will give a talk titled Multi-Faith Activism When the Political Peace Process Stalls: An Evening With International Peacemakers at 7 p.m. October 20, in the Prairie Room of the Bone Student Center. The event is free and open to the public.
The three are members of Abrahamic Reunion, a multi-faith group of peacemakers from Israel who seek to use religion as a force for peace. McLean is an Orthodox Jew from Jerusalem, co-founder of the Abrahamic Reunion, and director of the peace organization Jerusalem Peacemakers. Manasra is an ordained sheikh in the Qadiri Sufi Order of Islam, and director of the Peace Center in Nazareth. Mansur is a Christian Arab and deacon in the Greek Orthodox Church, and principal of a middle school in the Arab village of Kfar Rame in the Galilee.
“The Abrahamic Reunion represents something that is rarely seen when people think about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict–the cooperation and willingness to work for peace across faiths that occurs in Israel and Palestine,” said Associate Professor Michael Gizzi, who worked with McLean when he visited Jerusalem last winter to lay the foundation of a possible study abroad class. “Bringing the peacemakers to Illinois State University provides our students and the community with a great opportunity to learn about peacemaking in the Middle East.”
The talk is sponsored by Illinois State University Diversity Advocacy, Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution, Hillel Student Union, the Presbytery of Great Rivers, Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Moses Montefiore Temple, Illinois Wesleyan University’s Evelyn Chapel, the Harold K. Sage Fund, and the Illinois State University Foundation.
For additional information, contact the Dean of Students Office at (309) 438-2008. To set up an interview with Michael Gizzi, contact Media Relations at (309) 438-5744, or MediaRelations@IllinoisState.edu.
