Join us for a screening and discussion of Encounter Point, a poignant documentary about a former Israeli settler, a Palestinian ex-prisoner, a bereaved Israeli mother, and a wounded Palestinian bereaved brother who risk their lives and public standing to promote a nonviolent end to the conflict. Their journeys lead them to the unlikeliest places to confront hatred within their communities. The film explores what drives them and thousands of other like-minded civilians to overcome anger and grief to work for grassroots solutions in the face of government inaction. It is a film about the everyday leaders in our midst.
A post-screening discussion will explore a future of coexistence and Arab-Jewish relations in Israel/Palestine as well as here in the U.S.
This discussion will feature:
- Yotam Amit, a coordinator for the Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace
- Leena Odeh, youth organizer and community leader
- Rabbi Brant Rosen, Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation (moderator)
- Dr. Dahlia Wasfi, physician and peace activist
This program is free and open to the public. For more information, call 312.422.5580
About the panelists
Yotam Amit is a coordinator for the Arab Jewish Partnership for Peace (AJP). He was a member of the Interfaith Peace-Builders Delegation to Israel Palestine in 2008. An Israeli born American Jew, Yotam moved to the United States as a young child. Even when the prospects for peace seem farther than ever, Yotam draws his optimism from the strong bonds formed within AJP between Jews, Arabs, and other Americans.
Leena Odeh is an organizer around Palestinian issues and other progressive issues. Her family is based in Chicago and she has worked closely with the Southwest Youth Collaborative doing leadership and political education with Black, Latino and Arab youth.
Rabbi Brant Rosen is the Rabbi of the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Illinois. He is a long-time activist for peace, social justice, and human rights, and he has traveled on delegations to such countries as Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Russia, and most recently on an interfaith peace delegation to Iran. He serves on numerous national and local organizational boards, including Brit Tzedek v’Shalom, Rabbis for Human Rights – North America, and Hands of Peace. In 2008, Rabbi Rosen was honored by Newsweek magazine as one of the Top 25 Pulpit Rabbis in America.
Dr. Dahlia Wasfi was born in 1971 to a Jewish-American mother and a Muslim-Iraqi father. She spent her early childhood in Iraq, which was then under Saddam Hussein. In 1977 she returned with her family to the United States. Dr. Wasfi graduated from Swarthmore College in 1993 with a B.A. in Biology and, in 1997, graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. In February/March of 2004, after years of separation, Wasfi visited Iraq to see her family in Basrah and Baghdad. She journeyed to Iraq again for a three-month visit in 2006. Based on her experiences, she is speaking out against the negative impact of the U.S. invasion on the Iraqi people and the need to end the occupation.
The screening and discussions are part of the special events series for "The Arab-Israeli Cookbook," presented by Theatre Mir in association with Chicago DCA Theater, March 5 – April 5, at Chicago DCA Storefront Theater. In "The Arab-Israeli Cookbook," Arab and Israeli voices come together in the stories of ordinary people living in a rich yet divided world in Israel and the West Bank.
The Encounter Point screening and panel discussion is sponsored by Chicago DCA Theater, Theatre Mir, and The Public Square.
For more information, call 312-742-TIXS (8497).