Posted by Jim Catone on Nov 17, 2021 |
A Potpourri While twelve Rotarians and our guest speaker were enjoying an Asian-style lunch, Eddie captured the attention of President Tony to report that volunteerism is alive and well at Barre Rotary. Tom and he, Caroline and Sandy and Joe Sadouri continue their duties weekly at Meals on Wheels. Kudos for all of the volunteers. Caroline recognized Tony, Bruce and Nicole for attending the Zoom district training session on Saturday. She also announced that RYLAward has been renamed Rotary Youth Leadership Academy, still RYLA. We can send five students at the cost of $375 per participant. It will take place in June at the University of Northern Vermont Lyndon campus. A committee will be formed to coordinate details and to ensure maximum student participation. Bob rose to propose a fine of one-and-nine on Tom for taking a dollar off the table in front of him. Tom defended by claiming that he was trying to be helpful to Bob by putting the dollar in the basket for him. He was not persuasive. Fine passed. Caroline’s Constitution lesson focused on the Bill of Rights. Since Last We Met On this day in history: 1869 The Suez Canal opens. 1968 TV viewers became outraged as the football game was cut off to air Heidi. The Palestinian/Israeli Conflict Doug Bullett introduced our guest speaker, Travis Morris, PhD. Barre Rotary is honored to welcome Professor Travis Morris, Director of Norwich University's Peace & War Center, to our meeting today. Professor Morris will provide us with context to the Palestinian/Israeli conflict from multiple perspectives, an overview of the peace process, challenges to the process and some future thoughts. Travis began with some context consisting of vital statistics (population distributions, GNP, trade, etc.) relative to Israel, Gaza and the West Bank. He went on to present a chart of major conflicts in the Middle East from 1920 to the present including those groups and countries involved and numbers killed and wounded. To show how the area has changed boundaries, Travis presented a map of the Roman Empire followed by photographs and maps showing these changes and Jewish diaspora taking us on an historical journey to the Ottoman Empire and up to the 20th Century. One of the slides of British Palestine showed the Arab population twice that of the Jews in 1919, but by 1947 the Jewish population was increasing and the Arabs felt that they were losing control. Travis continued with a history of the region with several maps and highlighting major conflicts and events such as the Palestine Arab Revolt in the late thirties, the Suez Crisis and the Six Day War. He presented both the Palestine Arab and Jewish perspectives regarding the situation as well as the peace process. There have been numerous attempts over the years, but so far lasting peace has not been illusive. Travis offered a ray of hope when he introduced us to the Peacebuilding Leadership Seminar (PLS) whose participants are students and represent youth. On a regular basis, even during times of conflict, they engage in conversations on the historical roots of the conflict, the current situation and future possibilities for peace. A youthful perspective may just be what is needed to bring peace to the region. On this upbeat note, he concluded his presentation and received a warm round of applause from an interested and appreciative audience of Rotarians. Until next time, that's all folks,,,, |