Panel Discussion: Kids 4 peace presents “Voices of Hope from Jerusalem”
Date and Time
Oct 20, 2015 6:00 pm
Location
450K
450 K St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20001
Oct 20, 2015 6:00 pm
450K
Kids4Peace is the largest and most diverse interfaith youth movement in Jerusalem. More than 500 Jewish, Christian, & Muslim youth and parents are currently involved in a long-term program of dialogue, leadership development and social action. As violence and despair spread through Jerusalem, Kids4Peace is a powerful voice of hope.
“In a time of little hope---Kids4Peace provides the ultimate hope. What would be more pleasing to ourcreator than the belief that in the not-too distant future all of God’s children will walk hand in handmaking the holy land the land that G-d most wants it to be.†- Rabbi Steve Gutow
About the Panelists:
Dr. Yakir Englander is Vice-President of Kids4Peace International and formerly served as Director of Kids4Peace Jerusalem. Originally from the ultra-Orthodox community of Bnei Brak, Yakir earned a PhD from The Hebrew University in Jerusalem with a specialization in Jewish philosophy and gender studies. He has taught religion as a Fulbright scholar at Northwestern University and visiting scholar at Harvard Divinity School. Yakir is also a scholar with the Shalom Hartman Institute. In 2011, Yakir received the Berlinsky-Sheinfeld Award for Change in Israeli Society from The Israel Council of Higher Education, forhis work in Kids4Peace.In addition to his academic works, Yakir has been published in The Times of Israel, Huffington Post and Islamic Commentary on themes of interfaith relations, religion and violence, and nonviolent social change.
Meredith Rothbart is Director of Development for Kids4Peace. She focuses on external relations, communications, fundraising, and organizational development. Meredith holds an MA in Community Development from Hebrew University in Jerusalem and a BA in Politics, Philosophy and Economics from University of Pittsburgh. She has worked in the Israeli Ministry of Defense as well as with INGOs in the US, Israel and the Palestinian Authority including projects at the grassroots level as well as national and international initiatives. Meredith grew up in Pennsylvania where she attended an Orthodox Jewish Day School and participated extensively in Reform Jewish youth movement and summer camp. Now living in Jerusalem, she feels she found her religious balance within the Religious Zionist community. Meredith lives in East Talpiyot with her husband and daughter Shalva.
Montaser Amro, also known as "Mono", joined Kids4Peace in 2013 as a Muslim advisor and joined the Jerusalem staff as Community Engagement Coordinator in April 2015. He studied civil engineering at Palestine Polytechnic University and worked as a structural engineer in the West Bank. Growing upin a rural village called Dura, just outside of Hebron, Montaser excelled academically. This led to his participation in a cultural exchange program which landed him in Alabama for a year during high school. This experience opened Montaser's eyes to a broader reality and encouraged him to meet "the other' in his own society. A few years later, Montaser participated in a leadership training program for young Israelis and Palestinians. This interaction inspired him to put his engineering career on hold, and focus on building more metaphoric bridges as the Kids4PeaceCommunity Engagement Coordinator. He now lives in Ramallah, commuting daily through Kalandia checkpoint to the Kids4Peace office in East Jerusalem. He is looking to apply to graduate school in international development in the near future.
Fr. Josh Thomas is Executive Director of Kids4Peace International, a global movement of more than 1,800 youth, parents, educators and volunteers. Thomas is an Episcopal priest with more than a decade of experience in youth education, interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding. He directed a U.S. State Department Youth Leadership Program for a multi-ethnic group of high school students from Bosnia-Herzegovina before joining Kids4Peace as a dialogue facilitator in 2005.Since his appointment as Executive Director in 2010, Thomas has led Kids4Peace through a period of rapid growth in Jerusalem and at local chapters across North America. A graduate of Dartmouth College and Union Theological Seminary (NY), he has taught religious education, interfaith dialogue and peacebuilding at Emory University and Boston University School of Theology. He currently serves on the Board of the Alliance for Middle East Peace.
Free and open to all!
