International Ecumenical Peace Movement
schedules October Conference at Shiloh Baptist Church 


Shiloh Baptist Church, "one of Washington, D.C.'s flagship African American Churches," has been selected as the site of an Oct. 1-3, 2009 conference hosted by the Friends of Sabeel in North America (FOSNA).

FOSNA promotes awareness and understanding of the conflict between the Palestinians and the State of Israel through educational programs for North American Christians. It does this by engaging them and their churches in efforts to nurture relationships with the indigenous Palestinian Christians of Palestine whose existence is threatened by political conflict. FOSNA seeks reconciliation between peoples of the Holy Land in a vision of peace based on principles for a just peace as defined in the Jerusalem Sabeel Document,

The conference theme is “Pursue Justice, Seek Peace--Framing the Discourse--Mobilizing for Action." It is anticipated that the Sabeel Conference will "break new ground, moving beyond the polarization of 'pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian' agendas to capture a pro-justice, pro-peace message that unifies individuals and organizations across religious, ethnic and geographic boundaries."

Confirmed speakers include Rev. Naim Ateek, director of SABEEL; Rosemary Reuther, theologian and scholar; Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories; Jeff Halper, founder and Coordinator, Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; Bernard Lafayette, Civil Rights movement activist, co-founder of the Student Nonviolence Coordinating Committee, Distinguished Senior Scholar at Emory University; Nadia Hijab, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Palestine Studies; and George Rishmawl, Coordinator of the Center for Holy Land Studies.

Sabeel is an ecumenical peace movement initiated by Palestinian Christians in the Holy Land and based on the Gospel call to justice and peace through non-violence.The group believes the experience of African Americans in the civil rights movement can speak directly to the Palestinian experience.

For additional information and conference registration go to SABEEL’s website: fosna.org, or contact Lois Herrmann at herrmannlm@verizon. net.