Arts & Events
Press Release: Fayyad, Shalev, Kurtzer Kick Off J Street’s First National West Coast Summit
SAN FRANCISCO--In his first U.S. appearance since resigning a year ago, former Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad will join former Israeli Ambassador Gabriela Shalev and former U.S. Ambassador Daniel Kurtzer to discuss an insiders’ view of Mideast diplomacy.
The moderated conversation on Saturday, June 7th at 7PM will take place at Congregation Emanu-El (2 Lake St, San Francisco, CA 94118) and kick off J Street’s National Summit, the pro-Israel, pro-peace advocacy organization’s first national event on the West Coast. The day-and-a-half-long summit will bring together political and opinion leaders, community activists and students, demonstrating the scope of American support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The Sunday program will take place at the San Francisco JCC (3200 California St, San Francisco, CA 94118), beginning at 8:45AM. The entire Summit is open to the media and coverage is welcome. The full schedule and speaker bios are available here.
The Summit takes place just one month after the suspension of the most recent round of U.S.-led negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, providing a critical opportunity for the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement to assess its strategy and chart its course forward. The program will feature plenaries, discussions and workshops on policy, politics and organizing.
A gala dinner, capping off the Summit, will be held on the evening of Sunday, June 8th at the Hotel Intercontinental (888 Howard St, San Francisco, CA 94103). Representative Jackie Speier (D-CA), Member of Knesset Merav Michaeli (Labor) and Rabbi Sharon Brous will keynote the evening. J Street Board member Dr. Carol Winograd will be honored with the organization’s annual Tzedek v’Shalom (Justice and Peace) Award in recognition of her visionary leadership. Press coverage of the gala is welcome, but RSVP is required.
J Street has around 180,000 supporters nationwide fighting to preserve Israel’s Jewish and democratic future through the achievement of a two-state solution. Through a lobby, community education and mobilization, and the country’s largest pro-Israel PAC, J Street works to fix the broken politics around Israel in America in order to create the political space and support necessary for elected officials to work for a two-state solution.
Polls consistently show that American Jews strongly support both a two-state solution and U.S. diplomatic leadership to achieve it. A survey conducted by J Street in November 2012 found that 81 percent believes both that a two-state solution is necessary to strengthen Israel’s security and ensure its Jewish democratic character, and that it is an important national security interest for the United States.
To RSVP to the Gala, or for further information about the National Summit, please contact Jessica Rosenblum, Jessica@jstreet.org
