Michael”s College, Colchester, VT – In the international peace community, the movement to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories through the use of boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) has been controversial. Our speakers will debate both the fairness and effectiveness of BDS as a method of resolving the conflict. Arguing in favor of the motion: Omar Barghouti, Palestinian researcher, commentator, and human rights activist. He is a founding member of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and a leader of the BDS campaign against Israel. Arguing against the motion: Dr. Steven Scheinberg, professor emeritus of History at Concordia College in Montreal and co-chair of Canadian Friends of Peace Now, a Zionist organization that works for peace between Israelis and Palestinians and monitors illegal settlement activity in the West Bank. Moderated by: Bill Wilson, Saint Michaels Emeritus Professor of Political Science. For more information, please contact Laurie Gagne at lgagne@smcvt.edu or 802.654.2205. Sponsored by the Peace and Social Justice Program at St. Michaels College, initiated and co-sponsored by Vermonters for a Just Peace in Palestine/Israel.
