SPONSORED BY KANSAS CITY BRIT TZEDEK V’SHALOM

January 30, 2007
Combatants for Peace
Columbia, MO
12 noon, Stotler Lounge, Memorial Union, University of Missouri-Columbia
Sponsor: Kansas City Chapter of Brit Tzdek v'Shalom
Local Sponsors: Boone Tikkun, University of Missouri-Columbia Peace Studies Department, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, GRO, Fellowship of Reconciliation
For more information on this event, contact Carol Greenspan by email or (573) 874-5077. For more information on the Combatants for Peace Tour, including bios of the speakers and a description of Combatants for Peace, please visit our tour page.


January 30, 2007
Combatants for Peace
Overland Park, KS
7:00pm, Jewish Community Campus, 5801 West 115th St
Sponsor: Kansas City Chapter of Brit Tzdek v'Shalom
For more information, contact Allan Abrams by email February 12, 2006
LIFE IN A JAR: THE IRENA SENDLER PROJECT - 4:00 pm, Community Christian Church, 4601 Main Street. Four students from Uniontown, Kansas, that started with a National History Day research project in 1999 helped re-discover Irena, who saved 2,500 children from the Warsaw Ghetto in 1942-43. This stage performance, the result of the research, tells her amazing story. For more information, go to www.irenasendler.org. There is no charge for the event, but donations will be collected.

January 22, 2006
SECOND ANNUAL SALAAM ? SHALOM CELEBRATION 5:30-8:30 pm, Alpine Lodge at Leawood?s Ironwoods Park, 147th Street just east of Mission Road. Once again we will be hosting this gathering of individuals who believe quite simply that the long-lasting road to peace is built by developing relationships and understanding between different cultures. For many years, Samir, a Christian Arab, along with his son, Fouad and “brother” David Leichman – a Jew from Kibbutz Gezer – have co-hosted a similar party in Israel blending Jews, Muslims, and Christians. Samir, who owns a restaurant in Ramla, is known for his extraordinary middle-eastern cuisine. More than a thousand Kansas Citians have enjoyed Samir’s specialties. Dinner options include Halal, meat purchased from Irv’s and, if requested in advance, certified Kosher dinners. For tickets ($25 per person) call Kim Curran (913/339-6700 x159 in Leawood’s city offices). Be a “Friend” of Salaam Shalom by buying a $100 ticket (you’ll also get to attend a special reception). Spread the word to your peace-loving friends who might want to attend, volunteer, or help. And share with other organizations for posting on their websites, or printing for members, friends and supporters. We believe in the simple power of this great idea, Samir’s outstanding cooking, and the commitment of Kansas Citizens to work towards peace.

January 26, 2006
ALLAN ABRAMS AND AHMED EL-SHARIF PRESENT: “ELECTIONS IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE: The political parties in both Israel and Palestine are undergoing significant realignment. What does this mean for the peace process post-Sharon?” - 7:00 pm, Westport Coffee House, 4010 Pennsylvania.

October 31, 2005
Viewing of Land of the Settlers: Chaim Yavin is Israel?s Walter Cronkite (in his heyday). Yavin?s highly provocative documentary which created quite a brouhaha, was recently allowed to be shown on Israel TV for the first time. I’ve seen the documentary’s first disk and it lives up to its billing. If you join us this Halloween (no costume necessary), you’ll alternatively be as angry, frustrated, and, most importantly, as hopeful as I was.

September 12, 2005
Israeli Storyteller, Noa Baum, in “A Land Twice Promised” American Heartland Theatre (Crown Center) 2450 Grand, Kansas City, MO. View Flyer

June 6, 2005
Hayley Urkevich, Kansas State University student body president discussed her and other universities’ student body presidents experiences with Israeli and Palestinian high school students who had participated in Seeds of Peace camps in the United States. The university’s student body presidents were in Israel under the auspices of the American Jewish Committee’s Project Interchange.

May 19-21, 2005
Robi Damelin and Nadwa Sarandah, two women from the Parents Circle (see: www.theparentscircle.com, Israeli and Palestinian Bereaved Families for Peace), presented "Two Women, One Vision: Supporting Peace, Tolerance, & Reconciliation." The Parents Circle is a group of 500 Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost loved ones to violence in the current conflict. Instead of harboring revenge and anger, grieving members work to promote reconciliation and understanding that seek ways to foster a peaceful end to the conflict.

May 15, 2005
Senator Brownback’s Peace: “Should Congress declare Jerusalem to be the ’Undivided Capital of Israel’.”

May 2, 2005
We showed and discussed the very moving film My Terrorist, winner of a Special Jury Prize at the Jerusalem International Film Festival, nominated for Silver Wolf Award at the International Film Festival, and was shown at the 2004 Kansas City Jewish Film Festival. The documentary is a true story: Fahad Mihyi, a member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Yulie Cohen, a sixth generation Israeli, first met in August 1978, when Mihyi pointed a machine gun at the El Al flight attendant in a terrorist attack. Twenty-three years later, in an effort to help break the cycle of violence, Yulie considers writing a letter in support of Mihyi’s parole, thus thrusting herself into the turbulent world of Middle East politics.

March 28, 2005
General Chapter Membership Meeting: There will be a viewing of video footage of the Brit Tzedek conference (including all three plenary sessions), as well as a presentation from chapter chairperson, Allan Abrams, who attended the conference. For more information, send an email.

November 17, 2004
Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights spoke on Wednesday, November 17 at Congregation Beth Torah, 7:30pm. This event was sponsored by the Kansas City Chapter of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom and Tikkun. This event was free and open to the public.

May 2004
Doron Neuburger, a former Israeli reservist, spoke on what motivates Refusniks. Neuburger served in the IDF in Gaza during in the late 1980s, during the First Intifada. Co-sponsored by Tikkun.

January 2004
The Kansas City Brit Tzedek chapter attended the play, “How His Bride Came to Abraham,” about an ill-fated romance between an IDF soldier and a Palestinian. There was a group discussion afterward with the actors and director.

December 2003
Joe Berman, a student who interned with Tikkun, spoke about being shot at by settlers while helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives. He also addressed methods of community organizing in the Brit Tzedek model.

• Kansas City Star
  August 11, 2008
  Letter to the Editor: Native Palestinian's plight
  Allan Abrams
  Recent articles about and by area resident Yaser Wishah demonstrate the suffering endured by Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza from Israel’s occupation. [Read More]


• Kansas City Star
  June 5, 2007
  Six Day War
  Allan Abrams
  In the Six-Day War 40 years ago (June 5-10, 1967), Israel overwhelmingly defeated the armies of Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, and then "occupied" huge swaths of new territory. Since then, hatred, fighting, and killing in the region has continued more or less unabated. [Read More]


• Kansas City Jewish Chronicle
  June 1, 2007
  Seek Peace
  Allan Abrams
  Forty years after the 1967 Six-Day War and the beginning of the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, Israelis still live in fear, and neither they nor Palestinians have been spared bloodshed, destruction and heartbreak. [Read More]


• Kansas City Star
  March 6, 2007
  AS I SEE IT: Criticism of Israel requires the proper context
  By Allan Abrams
  Andrea Whitmore's column ("Israel Wages a Policy of Deliberate Destruction," As I See It, 2/20/07) omitted context-adding perspective. First and foremost, without condoning Israeli actions that are considered by many to be excessive and counterproductive, Arab terrorism is the central factor permeating every aspect of Israel's security policy. This paramount fact in no way is negated by the additional fact that Arab anger, and hence terrorist acts, directed at Israel may be understandable. [Read More]
  
  
• Kansas City Star
  November 19, 2005
  Israel, Palestinians Must Focus on Peace
  With his recent remarks, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has given aid and comfort to those Muslims and Jews who believe that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict cannot be settled until the other side has been annihilated.


• Kansas City Jewish Chronicle
  August 26, 2005
  Don’t Let Gaza Fail
  Israel is disengaging. Settlers have departed from 21 Gaza and four West Bank settlements. Some of the infrastructure has already been dismantled. The withdrawal, after 38 years of settlement activity, has been a wrenching and disruptive event, exposing an ideological divide in Israeli society.


• Kansas City Jewish Chronicle
  August 12, 2005
  Local Man Joins Board of Jewish Peace Group
  Prairie Village resident Allan Abrams has been named to the board of directors of Brit Tzedek v’Shalom.


• Kansas City Star
  July 19, 2005
  Gaza First
  Achieving joint negotiated agreements with the Israelis, backed by nonviolent, grass-roots, popular mobilization, is the only way a lasting peace will be secured.


• Kansas City Jewish Chronicle
  May 27, 2005
  Fulfilling the Dream
  Just two weeks ago, Israel celebrated the 57th anniversary of its independence. As American Jews, we joined Israelis in celebrating the amazing achievements of this small but powerful country.


• Kansas City Jewish Chronicle
  May 13, 2005
  Virtual Political Tour of Jerusalem Sunday
  Kansas City's Brit Tzedek chapter presents the program “Senator Brownback’s Peace: Should Congress declare Jerusalem to be the 'Undivided Capital of Israel’?” at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 15, in the boardroom at the Jewish Community Campus.


• Kansas City Jewish Chronicle
  November 12, 2004
  Frontline Rabbi: Rabbis for Human Rights Director to Tell of Struggles during KC Visit
  By Rick Hellman
  Rabbi Arik Ascherman, executive director of Israel's Rabbis for Human Rights group, occupies a unique place in the Israeli-Arab conflict. “He is one of the few people who appears to be trusted by leaders on both sides of the conflict, and that’s to his credit,” said Allan Abrams, organizer of the local Brit Tzedek v’Shalom chapter that is sponsoring Rabbi Ascherman’s visit to the Kansas City area next week.