Peace conference slated for Columbia

    The North American arm of an international organization of Palestinian Christians, called the Friends of Sabeel will hold their annual Southeastern conference in Columbia on April 11 and 12 at the Shandon Presbyterian Church. Sponsored by the Carolina Peace Resource Center and other South Carolina groups, the conference will feature world-renowned academics, activists and politicians. 
    Among close to a dozen speakers, ranging from journalists to policy experts, are PLO Ambassador to the U.S. Afif Safieh who was instrumental in the Stockholm negotiations with the U.S. which paved the way for the Oslo Accord between Israel and Palestine; Dr. Jeff Halper, a Nobel Peace Prize nominee who began the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions; and Dr. Don Wagener, a scholar on Christian Zionism and director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at North Park University in Chicago. 
    Michael Berg, an organizer of the event, says the main purposes of the conference are twofold: simply to provide information about the reality of life on the ground in the Holy Land and to get people to talk about ways in which Americans and others can make a positive difference in promoting a peaceful resolution to the conflict there.
    Take Bethlehem, he says. We think of the little town of Bethlehem at Christmas but aren’t always aware of what is happening in Bethlehem (in the Palestinian West Bank) today. 
    “Bethlehem is strangled,” Berg says. “The people in Bethlehem are going hungry because they go two or three miles without going through checkpoints.”  
    But why should Columbians care what goes on in Israel and does it have an effect on life here in the States? 
    “Absolutely,” Berg says. “What we do as a country, as far as our foreign policy is concerned, has a large effect. American support of Israel has a large effect on what happens there. The injustices there are a large part of the grievances felt by many Muslims toward the United States. Those grievances are then exploited by people like Bin Laden. ...And as long as the U.S. continues to take just one side in this conflict the anger’s going to be directed by proxy at us.”
    Aside from lively panel discussions and presentations, the conference will also feature workshops on topics like Palestinian refugees and the role of the media in the conflict. Filmmaker Ed Gaffney will screen his documentary “Holy Land: Common Ground” on Friday evening.
    If you plan to go:
    Admission is $55 for both Friday and Saturday, $35 for Friday only and $40 for Saturday only, though no one, they say, will be turned away for lack of funds. The conference is free to college students with I.D. Donations are greatly appreciated.  Contact the CPRC directly to register at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or call 803-215-3263 for more information.

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