Forum Draws Forty People Our forum, “Seven Years of Synagogue Vigils: Why We Still Do It,” played to a receptive audience this week. Approximately forty people, including a strong showing from the Unitarian Universalists and Dearborn communities, witnessed five presentations, followed by a Q&A period. This writer attempted to explain the origin of the vigils, […]

  Vigils Debated in Arab American News Article Two weeks ago we reported that the Washtenaw Jewish News published, in their March edition, the opinion of Imam Dawud Walid that our vigils are “Un-Islamic”. Arab American News reporter Nick Meyer followed up with a short phone interview with this writer, and assembled an informative “dialogue” […]

  Heard on the Road Mazin Qumsiyeh, Professor at Bethlehem University, gave an excellent presentation this week on non-violent resistance in Palestine, and documented a full history of non-violent actions from 1939 onward. He noted that after the expulsion of Palestinians in 1948 (al-Nakba), that orders were given to shoot Palestinians attempting to return to […]

JWPF Invites City Council to Forum Vigiler S took to the podium last Monday to invite Ann Arbor City Council members to our Open Forum on March 29th. From Thursday’s Ann Arbor Chronicle we read: S told the council he’d been working a long time against the genocide of the Palestinian people, which he said […]

Uncomfortable Bedfellows Last fall we reported on a visit to Central Michigan University campus to hear Shirley Phelps-Roper speak about Westboro Baptist Church, and their reliance on the Constitution’s First Amendment to have their views heard. And though their issues and those of Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends are different, there is a commonality […]

The Angry Arab Visits UM Campus Speaking to a group of about 25 activists, Professor As’ad Abu Khalil (California State University, Stanislaus) gave a short talk about the recent democratic uprisings in Arab countries. His happiness was evident, and his humor shined throughout his talk. He underscored the tension rampant within the Jewish Israeli population, […]

Seven Years of Synagogue Vigils: Why We Still Do It The above headline will serve as forum title for Jewish Witnesses for Peace and Friends’ public presentation on March 29th. Our event moderator will begin the evening with a 10-minute update of Israel’s criminal history, followed by 10-minute personal presentations from each of our five […]