A Road Trip in Palestine/Israel; Things Travel Brochures Don’t Tell You, by Lea Koesterer.

July 9, 2023 | 11:15am – 12:15pm Heritage Room & Zoom

Lea Koesterer has been committed to advocating for the poor and oppressed for years. After starting Second Sunday Sandwiches to feed the hungry, she decided to focus on Palestinian liberation issues. “The vast majority of Americans have no idea of the true nature of the Palestine occupation nor the genesis of the conditions,” she observes.

Because of this, she founded St. Louis Friends of Bethlehem. Their goal is to enlighten people about the beauty and value of the culture of Palestine, and the reality of the deprivation inflicted by military occupation. Lea also produces documentary films to depict the plight of the people who live in the Holy Land under a military occupation; a new and provocative perspective, which in some respects is consistent with the 2021 UCC General Synod Resolution decrying the oppression of the Palestinian people as a matter of faith.

In response, the American Jewish Committee panned the UCC resolution, saying it “demonizes Israel, fails to offer a credible path to Israeli-Palestinian peace and undermines advances in Christian-Jewish relations.” Won’t you come to this Speakers Series program and make up your own mind.