On Sunday February 18th at 1pm come and hear Rabbi Michael M. Cohen present a dual narrative approach to the Arab-Israeli conflict, making use of the recent anniversaries of two documents, the 1917 Balfour Declaration and UN Resolution 242 of 1967. These two important documents are not very long, yet their impact on the conflict has been far-reaching. The Balfour Declaration set the diplomatic ball rolling, which would lead to the partition of Palestine through UN Resolution 181 of November 29, 1947, seventy years ago, and the subsequent creation of the modern State of Israel in May of 1948. Resolution 242 is the basis for the Egyptian-Israeli (1979) and the Jordanian-Israeli (1994) Peace treaties, as well as the ongoing Palestinian-Israeli talks since Oslo (1993). Within the dual narrative approach we follow the development of multiple narratives and understandings of the same events.

Rabbi Cohen, the Rabbi Emeritus of the Israel Congregation in Manchester Center, Vermont teaches conflict resolution classes at the Center for the Advancement of Public Action at Bennington College. Since 1996 he has also been involved as a founding faculty member of the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies on Kibbutz Ketura where young Israelis, Palestinians, and Jordanians are trained to become environmental leaders.