Dr. Lafayette’s activities in Israel are co-sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. /Ben Ammi Institute for a New HumanityMarnina Davis
KNN-Dimona
Eighteen months ago distinguished scholar-in residence at the University of Rhode Island Dr. Bernard LaFayette, Jr. on a visit to Israel forecasted that peace could possibly come to the region within five years. Few people believed him. This week the nonviolence disciple of Dr. Martin L. King, Jr. is back and working to make his vision a reality. He will be facilitating a series of seminars, workshops and lectures highlighting the use of Dr. King’s principles and strategies as a pathway to peace in this region.
Dr. LaFayette’s series of seminars and workshops will be held in Bethlehem for a collective of Palestinian youth, as well as a consortium of Israeli and Palestinians in the Negev town of Dimona at the Hebrew Israelite Village of Peace. Dr. Lafayette’s activities in Israel are co-sponsored by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. /Ben Ammi Institute for a New Humanity (INH) which is a cooperative venture between Dr. King’s long time civil rights organization Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the African Hebrew Israelites of Jerusalem and BSI, Int’l. Dr. Lafayette is also a member of SCLC’s Executive board and its international Ambassador.
This lecture series is entitled Kingian Nonviolence-Preparing for the Future. “We are preparing for a new paradigm in this region of peace and reconciliation”. Dr. LaFayette stated when asked what is the purpose of his visit, “The only way one can receive a future filed with new and different options is to prepare for that future. We are planting the seeds for a new Middle-East because a new paradigm for the Middle-East means a new paradigm for the world.”
The Institute for a New Humanity is preparing to launch an initiative in Israeli and Palestinian schools to address the internal conflict on both sides of the equation. Dr. LaFayette stated that, “our desire is to train trainers and provide new skills to help create a new people-to-people ecology and an environment for peace and reconciliation at a grassroots level”.
Dr. LaFayette and members of the INH were involved in the First Palestinian Conference on Nonviolence held in Bethlehem in December of 2005. Since then Dr. LaFayette has returned to Israel several times and trained Palestinian youth groups and Israelis in Ramala, Bethlehem, Jerusalem and Dimona respectively. He has also lectured in Tel Aviv, as well as in Jerusalem at the Van Leer Institute. Dr. LaFayette will be accompanied this time by Captain Charles Alphin Sr., senior trainer in nonviolence and former educational trainer at the King Center in Atlanta, Ga.
On September 5, 2007 there will be a graduation for students of Kingian Nonviolence in Bethlehem. On September 6, 2007, an open conference, in Dimona in which Dr. LaFayette will do a comprehensive one-day workshop and lecture on holistic and Kingian Nonviolence, considered the pathway to Peace in preparation for the “Beloved Community” as espoused by Dr. King.
For more information and to register (RSVP) @ director@instituteforanewhumanity.org or please call 054 313 0967 or 054 642 5436. A registration fee of $25/100NIS is required to attend the sessions in Dimona.
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