NORTH AMERICA SPEAKING TOUR
NOVEMBER 13-29, 2013
Dear Friends
and colleagues
In November 2013 I am planning another speaking tour
across the United States and Canada. I am planning to be in North America from
November 13 – 29.
My book FREEING GILAD: The
Secret Back Channel
about the
secret negotiations between Israel and Hamas that I conducted will be out in
both English and Hebrew. (Hebrew in two weeks and English in October)
My portfolio
of speaking topics will include the following:
1.
The Secret Conduit to Freedom – the story of
the secret negotiations between Israel and Hamas that I conducted.
2.
Is Israeli-Palestinian peace still
viable? Is the two-states for two-peoples option
still alive?
3.
What can we learn from the failed
Israeli-Palestinian peace process? Lessons learned and their broader
relevance to this and other conflict zones.
For information on fees and scheduling please
contact me directly at gershonbaskin@gmail.com
FEEDBACK FROM THE
AUDIENCES
GERSHON BASKIN'S SPEAKING EVENTS
Dear Gershon,
Now that we are back from the
whirlwind of our Israeli trip, I wanted to thank you again for meeting with our
students. They were absolutely riveted by your story and your assessment
of the current situation. One student told me that after a decade of
studying the conflict and four different classes in college and law school, he
felt for the first time that he had a coherent understanding after hearing from
you. I look forward to bringing you more groups in the future!
All the best, Andrea
Professor Andrea Kupfer Schneider
Director, Dispute
Resolution Program
Marquette
University Law School
1215 W. Michigan
St.
Milwaukee, WI 53233
---------------------------------------------------
February 24, 2013
Dear Gershon,
First of all, I am still getting wonderful responses one week
later, by phone, email, and in person, including last night at our
congregation’s Purim celebration. The attendance at your event was
approximately 130, a very large number given that it was a holiday
weekend. While many outsiders were invited through personal invitation,
the audience consisted mostly of congregants, which I think speaks to the hunger
that many have for information from and about Israel that isn’t focused on
either feel-good jingoistic advocacy or on relentlessly withering criticism.
People have thanked me endlessly for having made your visit
possible. On the one hand is the internal factor: many of them know how
many roadblocks were placed in the path, and they are grateful that I didn’t
back down and instead pushed forward. That is our own story, but I
mention it because it is still a valid barometer of the sorry state of affairs
in which Israel can no longer be rationally discussed in many congregational
communities, and because it might be of interest to other congregations to know
that it is sometimes possible to resolve situations in which a vocal minority
attempt to foist their views and their fears on everybody, and then have the hutzpah
to claim that those are “the congregation’s” opinions.
On the other hand, and of more direct relevance to you:
People tell me they were spellbound, and that your presentation was overall
excellent, fascinating, and enlightening. They were in awe of what you
had accomplished, and many noted in particular that they left the event with a
feeling of greater optimism about Israel’s future than they have felt for a
long time. They were taken with the idea that back-channels even exist,
and that many seemingly intractable issues can potentially be solved this way;
they credit you for bringing decades of knowledge and experience to those
back-channels, helping to account for their success. They commented on
the extent to which your observations did not fit neatly into a single
ideological box, and they found this very refreshing. You may recall that
many of them simply thanked you at the end of the presentation, and didn’t even
have questions or comments. “I could have sat there listening forever,”
has been said to me frequently, and some of the most positive comments came
from people who weren’t even in attendance, but heard from their friends what
they had missed! Lastly and somewhat curiously, a number of people expressed
relief that you talked “only” about the Schalit story,
and not about current political issues in Israel – I guess the connections have
not occurred to them.
Thanks again. When your book comes out, I will be happy to
help you promote it among our members.
Sherry Rosen
Princeton
February 17, 2013
---------------------------------------------------
I really enjoyed speaking with
Gershon. It was one of the most profound discussions I've had on the subject of
Israel-Palestine relations in nearly seven years of radio broadcasting. This
master negotiator, who orchestrated the release of Gilad Schalit, an IDF
soldier kidnapped by Hamas and held for seven years, favors ceasefire over
blood-letting. The clear-eyed pragmatist imparts as hopeful a message as I've
heard in a long time. Can his approach change the algebra of the region?
Here's link for interview with
Gershon:
http://kruufm.com/node/15134
James Edward Moore
Tell Somebody
A weekly public affairs program on KKFI-FM 90.1,
Kansas City community radio
---------------------------------------------------
Hi Gershon,
I just wanted to thank you again
for coming to Muhlenberg on Thursday. Not only are you a fascinating man and a
wonderful speaker but your presence on campus has truly begun to open a
discussion on campus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I can only wait to
see what is going to happen next!
Ariela Weinberger
Muhlenberg College 2013
---------------------------------------------------
February 15, 2013
Dr.
Baskin,
Cannot
begin to describe how much I enjoyed your presentation in Houston on Wednesday
evening. My only regret is that many people who should have been there were
not. I have forwarded your y-tube site to a number of friends.
Alan Livingston
World Affairs Council, Houston
---------------------------------------------------
February 15, 2013
Dear Dr. Baskin,
I wanted to share with you a response
to the comment made at dinner where you were told you were "very
optimistic." A few weeks ago, in a class that the Institute for
Jewish Christian Understanding here at Muhlenberg is offering along with the
Shalom Hartman Institute in Israel, we read and discussed the Proclamation
of Independence of the State of Israel. This is such a powerful document;
anyone who holds the State of Israel as their beloved homeland can't help but
feel optimistic and full of pride when reading this Proclamation. A few
weeks ago, I might have agreed with my colleague that your optimism is
perplexing, but not now. As my pastor would say, "It's in the DNA of
your beliefs."
This morning I ran across this
statement in a book I'm reading:
"Peacemakers [are] sustained by
a willingness to suffer if necessary, to endure abuse without retaliation, to
overcome hatred of the enemy, and to keep hope and patience alive during a long
period of struggle." You demonstrated the last portion of this
statement so well in last night's talk. Thank you so much for giving us
American peaceniks a demonstration of the endurance necessary to achieve
peaceful, thoughtful, practical approaches that honor life. I feel I've
been given a great gift and I'm honored and somewhat fearful of it.
Nevertheless, I hope our paths cross again.
Sheila Clever
Dept. Biology of Muhlenberg
College, and
Peace
and Justice Team of First Presbyterian Church in Allentown
---------------------------------------------------
February 15, 2013
Dr. Baskin,
You are
indeed a hero for many of us! Thank you
for all you do. I put myself at your
service if you ever ask me to work on behalf of your work in the future.
Nick Cooper,
Klezmer Musicians Against the Wall
---------------------------------------------------
Dear Gershon,
It's great to hear from you!
Thank you for the note, and much more importantly for your powerful words, your
wonderful presentations, and for the boost you've given J Street's work in
Sarasota, Austin and Houston. In all three cities, your visit inspired new
people, reinvigorated longtime activists, and we're capitalizing on the
momentum across the board.
Hopefully, you'll see strong
Austin, Houston and Sarasota delegations at the next J Street conference.
All the best,
Rachel Streitfeld, J Street,
South Regional Director
---------------------------------------------------
Gershon:
What a memorable and moving
presentation I had the privilege to attend this afternoon at Rodef Shalom. Yashar Koach! It was also a pleasure to meet you (I sat
directly across the table from you at lunch). Please accept my deep
admiration, appreciation and gratitude for your heroic efforts in fulfilling
this great mitzvah of Pidyon Shuyim.
You are a Rodef Shalom.
Shabbat Shalom,
Mark
Rabbi Mark Joel Mahler
Temple Emanuel of South Hills
Pittsburgh, PA
---------------------------------------------------
Dear
Gershon,
It was
a pleasure working with you, and if I didn’t say it before, I’ll say now that
you were the absolute best speaker we’ve had to date!
Take
care,
Leslie
Cheron Garrison
Executive
Assistant – Rabbinic Office
Rodef Shalom Congregation
Pittsburgh,
PA
---------------------------------------------------
For information on fees and scheduling please contact me directly at gershonbaskin@gmail.com
Last speaking tour:
Friday February 1, 2013
Pittsburgh
Time: 8:00 am
Location (address) of the event: 1425 Wightman Street
Title of the event: Breakfast
with Gershon Baskin
Contact person (name): Nancy Bernstein
Contact info (tel and email): 412-805-5069, moon.bern@verizon.net
Closed event
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Friday, February 1, 2013
Pittsburgh
Time: 12:00 – 2:00 pm
Location: Rodef Shalom Congregation, 4905 Fifth
Avenue, Pittsburgh
Title of the Event: The Conduit to Freedom for Gilad Schalit, Milton E. Harris Interfaith Institute Annual Interfaith Luncheon
and Lecture
Contact person (name): Rabbi Amy Hertz
Contact info: 412-621-6566 x 130; hertz@rodefshalom.org
Open to everyone
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Sunday, February 3, 2013
Sarasota, Florida
Time:
starts at 3:00 pm.
Location of the event: Temple Sinai. It is on a short street
Lockwood - However there are dead ends on Lockwood So
put Proctor and Lockwood in your navigator
Title of the event: "The Secret Conduit of
Freedom"
Contact person: Jack. Braverman
Contact info: 203-803-9301 cell. Bravermangroup@yahoo.com
Open to the public
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Monday, February 4, 2013
UC Irvine, California
Time: 5:00 – 7:00 pm
Location: Social and Behavioral Sciences Gateway, Room 1517
Title of the event: “20 Years After the Oslo Peace Accords:
What Happened to Peace in the Middle East?”
Contact
Person: Daniel Wehrenfennig, Executive Director, Olive Tree Initiative, Phone:
949-824-9062 wehrenfennig@gmail.com
Open to the Public
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Tuesday, February 5, 2013
UC-Irvine
Time: 9:30 – 10:30 am
Talk to Students
Title of Event: Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and specifically Israel-Hamas
negotiations
Contact Person: Daniel Wehrenfennig, Executive Director, Olive Tree Initiative,
Phone: 949-824-9062 wehrenfennig@gmail.com
Closed to the Public
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
UC-Irvine
Time:
2:00 – 3:00 pm
Title of Event: The role/influence of religion in
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict/negotiations
Contact Person: Daniel Wehrenfennig, Executive Director, Olive Tree Initiative,
Phone: 949-824-9062 wehrenfennig@gmail.com
Closed to the Public
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday,
February 5, 2013
UC Los Angeles
Time: 5-7pm Talk
Title of
Event: The Secret Conduit to Freedom: The story of the secret
negotiations between Israel & Hamas
Location:
Humanities Building UCLA Room 135
Contact Person: Joey Blatt, Internal President, Olive Tree Initiative UCLA,
Phone: 214-717-8126
Open to the Public
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Tuesday,
February 5, 2013
UC Los Angeles
Time: 7:30pm Dinner at Hillel UCLA
Location: Hillel at UCLA (574 Hilgard Avenue, Los
Angeles, CA 90024)
Contact: Phone: 310-208-3081 (main Hillel office/reception)
Closed to the Public
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
City of Event: Charlotte,
North Carolina
Date of
event: February 6, 2013
Time: 7:30 pm
Location of the event: Temple Beth El
Title of the event: The Failed Israeli/Palestinian
Peace Process
Contact
person: Harry Chernotsky
Contact info: hicherno@uncc.edu
704-687-4312|
Open to the public
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Thursday, February 7, 2013
City of Event: Charlotte,
North Carolina
Time: 12:30pm
Location of the event: University of North Carolina at Charlotte
Title of the event: The Failed Israeli/Palestinian
Peace Process
Contact
person: Harry Chernotsky
Contact info: hicherno@uncc.edu
704-687-4312
Open to the public
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Saturday, February 9, 2013
Kansas City, Missouri
Time: 7:00 PM
Location
of the event: Avila Univ., Whitfield Center 11901 Wornall Rd, Kansas City, Mo
Title of the event: Peace
In The Midst Of Conflict
Contact person : Jim Fleming
Contact info: Tel: 816-213-1885;
Open To the Public
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Tuesday, February 12th
Austin, TX
Time: 7:30 PM
Location of the event: Austin JCC, 7300 Hart Lane Austin, TX
Title of the event: Is Israeli-Palestinian Peace
Still Possible? Post-Elections Reflections from an Israeli Insider
Contact
person: Charlotte McCann, J Street Austin
Contact info: CharMcCann@gmail.com / (512) 826-4578
Open to the public, RSVP online at jstreet.org/Austin
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Wednesday,
February 13th
Houston, TX
Time: 7:30 PM
Location of the event: Evelyn Rubenstein JCC Kaplan Theatre, 5601 S. Braeswood Houston, TX
Title of the event: J Street Houston and the ERJCC
Present: Dr. Gershon Baskin – The Secret Conduit to Freedom
Contact person: Maida Asofsky, J Street Houston
Contact info: Maida.Asofsky@sbcglobal.net / (713) 664-2658
Open to the public, RSVP online at jstreet.org/Baskin
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Thursday, February 14, 2013
Allentown, PA
Time:
7:30
Location of the event: Miller Forum Muhlenberg College
Title of the event: TBD
Contact
person: Ariela Weinberger
Contact info: 610.716.2978 arielarose@gmail.com
Open to the public
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Saturday,
February, 16, 2013
Princeton, NJ
Time:
12 noon to 3 p.m. (Kiddush luncheon at noon, presentation from 1 – 3 p.m.)
Location
of the event: The Jewish Center, Princeton (Conservative
congregation)
435
Nassau Street, Princeton, NJ 08540
Title of
the event: Adult Ed Special Presentation – “Secret Conduit to Freedom -- the Story of Negotiations between
Israel and Hamas to free Gilad Schalit”
Although
we are focusing the title on the Schalit negotiations, we fully expect Dr.
Baskin to discuss the peace process, lessons learned, and viability of the
two-states-two-peoples option as time permits.
Contact
person: Sherry Rosen
Contact
info: 609-921-8743 (h) 212-280-6170 (w) sherryrosen@verizon.net
Event closed to the general public
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Sunday
February 17, 2013
Aurora, IL
Temple B’nai Israel – Adult Education Committee
4:00pm
Temple B’nai Israel, 400 N. Edgelawn Avenue,
Aurora
Title of
the event: The story of the secret back channel
negotiations for Gilad Schalit
Contact:
Tel: 630-892-2450
Open to the Public
Gershon
Baskin, Ph.D., was the initiator
and the person responsible for the secret back channel between Israel and the
Hamas that successfully negotiated the release of Israeli abducted soldier
Gilad Schalit.
Dr. Baskin is the
Co-Chairman and founder of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and
Information (IPCRI) - a joint Israeli-Palestinian public policy think and
“do”-tank located in Jerusalem. Dr. Baskin initiated the founding of
IPCRI in 1988 following ten years of work in the field of Jewish-Arab relations
within Israel, in Interns for Peace, the Ministry of Education and as Executive
Director of the Institute for Education for Jewish-Arab Coexistence
(established by the Israeli Ministry of Education and the Prime Minister’s
Office).
During the Premiership of
the late Yitzhak Rabin, he served as an advisor on the Israeli-Palestinian
peace process to a secret team of intelligence officers established by Mr.
Rabin. Dr. Baskin was a member of the Jerusalem Experts Committee established
by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office during the Final Status Negotiations in
2000-2001. Dr. Baskin holds a Ph.D. in International Affairs from University of
Greenwich. His dissertation was on Sovereignty and Territory in the
Future of Jerusalem, parts of which were published as a book Jerusalem of
Peace. He is a member of the steering committee of the
Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum, a member of the Board of ALLMEP – the
Alliance for Middle East Peace, a member of the Editorial Board of the
Palestinian Israeli Journal. Dr. Baskin is also a member of the Israeli Council
for Peace and Security.
He was a founding chairman
of the progressive Synagogue Kehilat Kol Haneshama in Jerusalem where
he served as Chairman for three years. He has a regular column in the Jerusalem
Post Newspaper, a weekly radio show in Hebrew on All for Peace Radio. Dr.
Baskin has been awarded the Histadrut Prize for Peace
in 1996, the Turkish Foreign Policy Institute Peace Prize in 2004, the Tribute
of Honor and Courage from the World Movement for Democracy in 2004 and the
Search for Common Ground Journalist Award for Middle East Journalism in 2005
and 2007 as well as the Ordine Della Stella Della Solidarieta Italiana. Dr. Baskin
speaks Hebrew, English and Arabic.
Gershon Baskin - MidEast
Advisor Services
Added value in the distinctive ability to
provide our clients with comprehensive tools for understanding and shaping
their business and political surroundings. MidEast
Advisor's clients benefit from the extensive network established by Gershon
Baskin with current and former senior political and business
leaders, diplomats, as well as with other key international figures around the region and the world.
Capability to understand the complex and enigmatic
regional business arena where business, government, politics and media
interact. This allows us to serve our clients in overcoming challenges,
creating new links and building long lasting business relations.
Strategic Investments
Recognizes Israel's and Palestine's innovative,
state of the art, technologies and their abilities to not only promote
successful businesses globally, but also to advance solutions that would cope
with the most difficult challenges the world faces today. For these reasons,
Gershon Baskin is involved in various strategic endeavors in areas such as
water related projects, agriculture food security, and renewable energy.
Diplomatic Services
Organizing and arranging special educational tours, meetings and
briefings for visiting dignitaries
Preparing detailed written briefs on local and regional issues
Conference Organization
Subjects dealing with Middle East politics, economics and business,
peace process, Israeli and Palestinian societies, international relations and
the Middle East
Lecturing to groups in Hebrew and English on Israeli and Palestinian
affairs, water issues in the Middle East, regional strategic issues,
Israeli-Palestinian peace issues, Israeli and Palestinian society, Jerusalem
Business Consulting
Assistance in cross boundary Israeli Palestinian business and trade
facilitation
Political Advocacy - helping to put strategies into policy
reform and into action
email: gershonbaskin@gmail.com
Telephone: +972-52-2381715