NEWS RELEASE
Citizens For Justice In The Middle East
6100 W. 52nd Street,
Kansas City, Missouri
816-524-3905

Contact: Janet Baker
For: Immediate Release
913-649-9439

Area Holocaust survivor speaks on peace prospects for Israelis and Palestinians

Hedy Epstein, a Holocaust survivor from St. Louis, traveled to Israel/Palestine for two weeks in June and July. She will be in Kansas City on Sunday, July 25 to report conditions in the Palestinian Territories and discuss peace efforts. She will report on her recent trip at 2:00 p.m. at UMKC Royall Hall, Room 111 (Stack Auditorium).

Hedy Epstein traveled to the West Bank with a 13 women from a national group, Women of a Certain Age. During the group’s trip to Israel and Palestine they met with Gila Svirsky, an Israeli activist and a founding member of the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace, a grouping of eight Israeli and Palestinian women's peace organizations; Bishop Riah Abu El-Assal of the Holy Land Christian Ecumenical Foundation in Jerusalem; participated in actions opposing the Separation Wall in the Palestinian Territories; and talked to many other Israelis and Palestinians.

This event is free to the public and is sponsored by the Citizens for Justice in the Middle East.

> Where: Royall Hall, Room 111, University of Missouri—Kansas City, 5200 Rockhill Rd, Kansas City, Mo.
> When: Sunday, July 25, 2004, 2:00 p.m.
> More information on the event: call 913-649-9439 or visit http://www.cjme.org

Here is what Gail Miller, a retired public high school social worker, said about the Women of a Certain Age delegation’s trip to the Middle East:
- “We intend to utilize our voices, our spirit, and non-violent action to thwart the building of a wall and a society that belittles and demeans people in their own homeland. We have decided that more than words are needed to bring the issue of justice and peace for Palestinians into America’s living rooms.”

Here is what Hedy Epstein wrote in a St. Louis Post-Dispatch opinion piece after her December 2003 trip to the Middle East:
- “It is impossible to visit Israel these days without being aware of the constant threat posed by terrorists. Suicide bombs kill and maim innocent persons riding in buses or taking a meal in a restaurant. We Jews who survived the Shoah know all too well that the intentional targeting of civilians is illegal and immoral. So I grieve the loss of life in Jerusalem from the suicide bombs. But I also grieve the loss of life in Palestine, which occurs almost on a daily basis.”

Information about Citizens for Justice in the Middle East
Kansas City-based Citizens for Justice in the Middle East seeks to educate the American public about the issues involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to end U.S. support for the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories.

Composed of Kansas City area citizens concerned about the direction of U.S. policy in the Middle East, Citizens for Justice in the Middle East urges ordinary American citizens to speak out in favor of an even-handed U.S. policy in the Middle East that recognizes the rights and aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians. Only by respecting the need to provide both parties in the conflict with security and self-determination can a viable and just peace be assured.

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