Washington, D.C., February 13, 2006 - CHRISTIANS FOR FAIR WITNESS ON THE MIDDLE EAST and a coalition of Christian groups will appear at the National Press Club on the morning of Feb. 17, 2006 to warn churches not to embrace the anti-Israel message promoted by the Palestine Solidarity Movement (PSM).  The PSM is hosting a Divestment Conference at Georgetown University this weekend.

"The Palestinian Solidarity Movement is not working toward a just peace in the Middle East; it seeks to delegitimize the State of Israel," says Sr. Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq.  "We want to warn Christians about PSM's efforts to portray the Arab/Israeli conflict in a manner that blames the Jewish State as the sole source of the conflict. Our goal is not to stifle debate, but to insist that it be based on facts, not anti-Jewish rhetoric."
 
PRESS CONFERENCE DETAILS
When:        Friday, February 17, 2006
Time:         9:30 AM
Where:      National Press Club
                   Lisagor Room
Location:   529 14th Street NW
                  Washington DC 20045
Continental Breakfast Will Be Served

Speakers:
DEXTER VAN ZILE, United Church of Christ Layman, and Director of the Judeo-Christian Alliance, will moderate the conference.

Sr. Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq. is the National Director of Fair Witness and a practicing attorney in New York.

Sr. Ruth will put the Arab/Israeli conflict into historical context.

Simon Deng Kak is an escaped Christian Sudanese slave and a Human Rights Activist.

Mr. Deng will discuss the realities of both slavery and African apartheid and discuss the fallacies of any analogy to the modern State of Israel.

Rev. Currie Burris is the Pastor of the Silver Spring Presbyterian Church (USA), Silver Spring, Maryland.

Rev. Burris will discuss why his denomination's recent decision to engage in selective phase divestment was an error.

Rev. Suzanne E. Wagner is Associate Pastor of the First Congregational Church (U.C.C.) in Fairfield, Connecticut.

Rev. Wagner will discuss the dangers of divestment and the ways in which the divestment controversy has adversely affected her own and other denominations.


For further information contact Sr. Ruth Lautt, O.P., Esq.
(516) 870-0335 x 3