<       Summer Delegates Bring Experience home                    

As IFPB's 32nd Delegation Begins their Journey, Participants from our 31st Delegation Continue to Reach and Teach Others

October 24, 2009 - Interfaith Peace-Builders' 32nd delegation will embark next week on their IFPB delegation. Here at home, however, it is the previous group of delegation participants that has made the impact.

Members of the Interfaith Peace-Builders and US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation summer delegation have committed themselves fully to the important tasks of outreach and education.

Delegates have spoken to their local media outlets, presented in their local communities, and engaged in innovative organizing projects for the long term.

Below is a partial list of delegates' appearances in the media and speaking events. As delegates continue their efforts, Interfaith Peace-Builders will work to support their activism and provide further resources for civic engagement and advocacy.

You can join our efforts by sending your contribution today. IFPB receives very limited foundation support and is dependent upon individual contributions to sustain our work. Click here to donate to help support Interfaith Peace-Builders.

Your support makes all the difference in our work for peace and a just resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Delegates in Action:


Katherine Fuchs has traveled around the nation in the months since the delegation, organizing and presenting on issues featured on the trip. She organized and presented at the National Conference of the US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation and has played a leading role in student divestment conferences on several campuses.

Katherine's media work has also stretched across the country. Her interview "Katherine Fuchs - Ending Israeli Occupation" was published by WireTap Magazine and she was featured on KWMR Radio in Marin County, California.


In Lee's Summit, Missouri, Cindy Howard wasted little time in reaching out to her local media and her church community. In addition to this appearance on Bill Tammeus' Faith Matters blog, Cindy was interviewed for a feature article in the Lee's Summit Journal entitled "A Life Changing Experience - Local Priest Travels to Israel, Palestine".

More important than the articles, are the relationships Cindy has begun to craft with the Editors of the Lee's Summit Journal and the Kansas City Star Tribune. Her work with the editors positions her as a resource on the Middle East and faith issues.

Cindy has also presented seven different times in the Kansas City area since August and has taken on an important role as Missioner with the American Friends of the Diocese of Jerusalem (Episcopal).


Out in Portland, Oregon, Jeff Kipelman went straight to the airwaves and recorded an interview on KBOO Radio's "Positively Revolting Radio" with Ani Haines. Jeff is also working on a news feature to run on KBOO. Jeff also printed a hard-hitting Letter to the Editor, "End Apartheid in Israel", at Oregon Live, the online outlet of The Oregonian newspaper.


Jen Lauda
has done impressive outreach in Washington DC and Northern Virginia, where the Alexandria Times published an article on her delegation entitled "A Towering Conflict Seen from the Ground". Jen was also featured in this article in the online newsletter of the American University School of International Service as well as this article in the alumni magazine of her alma-mater, the University of Central Florida. In addition, Jen was interviewed on WPFW Radio News on August 20, 2009.


Kristen Loken, has found an audience with her local West Virginia media. The Martinsburg Journal profiled her trip in an article entitled "Local woman tours Israel and Palestine" which was also republished on the website of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. Kris has also begun to make a series of public presentations, her first of which was in Potomac, Maryland where she was hosted by the Democratic Women's Club.


In Cincinnati, Nancy Paraskevopoulos has made a big splash through a weekly column she writes for the University of Cincinnati News Record. Her columns: "Expansion Abroad Similar to 3CDC3"; "Israeli settlements disrupt Hebron"; and "Action warrants Nobel Peace Prize"; have stimulated a local debate on the issue which has resonated outside of the local community and which Nancy has followed closely on her blog.

Nancy has also used her experience to strengthen her campus organizing through the Campus Action Network and other groups. Check the News Record website for more of her weekly columns.


In Washington, DC, Emily and Laurie Siegel's trip was featured in The Voice of the Hill newspaper. Emily was also profiled for this article on the website of the American University School of International Service. Emily and fellow delegate Jenn Lauda were interviewed for a second article also posted online at the American University School of International Service website.



Jerry Stinson, has presented several times on panels and in his Sunday sermons in Long Beach, California. His talks have reached hundreds in his community.

Many other delegates have invested similar efforts in media, speaking and organizing initiatives in their communities. Interfaith Peace-Builders is proud of the incredible efforts of our delegation participants and is honored to have played a role in their activism.



WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT

In addition to these media appearances, IFPB staff are working with delegates to support speaking events in their home communities, adding to thousands of education and advocacy events since 2001.

All of this work is an extension of the transformative experience of an IFPB delegation. We need your help to support these grassroots efforts to educate and advocate for peace with justice. We need your support to keep delegations going to Israel/Palestine and continue the crucial follow-up work here in North America.

Please support our continued efforts. Give generously today to add your voice to those working for peace and justice. Click here to donate online.



JOIN IFPB DELEGATES IN MAKING A DIFFERENCE!

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