Our guest speaker is Rev. Dr. Gary Mason, a Methodist minister and founder and director of the Belfast-based "Rethinking Conflict” organization. Prior to this, he spent 27 years as a Methodist clergy person in parish ministry in Belfast. Gary played an integral role in the Northern Irish peace process, and was instrumental in facilitating negotiations with paramilitaries and government officials. In 2007, his contribution was formally recognised by Queen Elizabeth II. Mason has lectured throughout Europe, South Africa, the Middle East and USA, and advises the Biden Administration on implementing The Nita M. Lowey Middle East Partnership for Peace Act (MEPPA) of 2020, which focuses on strengthening civil society and developing grassroots peace building in the Israeli/Palestinian arena. Gary is also an affiliated expert and partner to the Negotiation Strategies Institute, a Harvard University program on negotiation for Israelis and Palestinians and international diplomats.
This program will feature discussions with persons familiar with on the ground realities. Presenters will include a Christian Palestinian, a Muslim Palestinian and a representative from Jewish Voices for Peace. These grassroots voices will provide unique perspectives for a fuller understanding of the current Israel-Gaza conflict.
Our guest speaker for this program is Daniel Maté, an acclaimed composer, lyricist, and playwright for musical theater based in Brooklyn, New York. Maté, whose great grandparents died at Auschwitz, has been prolific on social media since the war on Gaza began. He has 33.4K followers on Instagram, 10.3 subscribers on YouTube, and 2.2K followers on X (formerly Twitter). Outside of music, theater and activism, Maté runs the world’s only “mental chiropractic” service, Take A Walk With Daniel. His passion is to help people access their own innate crystal clarity and true intelligence by getting their minds aligned. With his father Dr. Gabor Maté, renowned expert on trauma, addiction and stress, Maté co-authored the New York Times bestseller The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture. Maté graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with an M.F.A. in Musical Theatre Writing. He also holds a B.A. in Psychology and Philosophy from McGill.
In this program, we welcome guest speaker Lara Friedman, President of the Foundation for Middle East Peace (FMEP). She is a leading authority on the Middle East, with particular expertise on U.S. foreign policy in the region, on Israel/Palestine, and on the way Middle East and Israel/Palestine-related issues play out in Congress and in U.S. domestic politics, policies, and legislation. Lara is a former officer in the U.S. Foreign Service, with diplomatic postings in Jerusalem, Washington, Tunis, and Beirut. She also served previously as the Director of Policy and Government Relations at Americans for Peace Now. In addition to her work with FMEP, Lara is a non-resident fellow at the U.S./Middle East Project (USMEP). She holds a B.A. from the University of Arizona and a Master’s degree from Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service; in addition to English, Lara speaks French, Arabic, Spanish, (weak) Italian, and muddles through in Hebrew.
Our guest speaker for this program is Rummana Hussain, an editorial board member and columnist at the Chicago Sun-Times. During her career at the newspaper, she also had stints as an assistant metro editor, criminal courts reporter, general assignment reporter and assistant to columnist Michael Sneed. Before the Sun-Times, Rummana covered education and criminal courts in Lake County for the Chicago Tribune and was assigned the crime, education and City Hall beats for the City News Bureau of Chicago. Rummana was named a Jefferson fellow by the East-West Center in 2006. She has also served on the board of the Chicago Headline Club and the local chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association.