The October 7 massacre and hostage-taking, the devastating war in Gaza, and intensified land conflicts in the West Bank… the past year has brought intense suffering for both Israelis and Palestinians. Here in the U.S., this suffering has too often been met with polarized rhetoric and defensiveness rather than compassion and a search for common ground. Yet it doesn’t have to be this way.

Join Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib in conversation with Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin to envision how our two diaspora communities can support each other in working for a just, secure peace for both Palestinians and Israelis.

Speakers:

Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib is an American writer and analyst who grew up in Gaza City, having left in 2005 as a teenage exchange student to the United States. He writes extensively on Gaza’s political and humanitarian affairs and has been an outspoken critic of Hamas and a promoter of coexistence and peace as the only path forward between Palestinians and Israelis. Alkhatib is a nonresident senior fellow with the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Middle East Programs. He has a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in intelligence and national security studies.

Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin is Senior Rabbi at Temple Sinai, the oldest Jewish congregation in the East Bay. As the first Chinese-American Rabbi, she has lectured broadly on the changing nature of the American Jewish community and how established Jewish institutions can become more inclusive. She is actively engaged in the general East Bay community through interfaith and other organizational work. Nationally, Rabbi Mates-Muchin served on the Ethics Review taskforce of the Central Conference of America Rabbis, served on the Board of the Union for Reform Judaism, and served as a delegate of the Reform Movement at the World Zionist Congress. 

Co-Sponsored by Congregation Beth El. For information, contact templesinai@oaklandsinai.org.

This event will not be livestreamed.