A Peace Diologue Event

A Peace Diologue Event
Please Join Us for
the
Documentary Movie
Gaza
Followed by discussion
led by
Elaine Strite, John Viste and Rick Scott
Thursday, May 30, 2024 at 6 pm
First United Methodist Church
903 Third Street
Wausau, WI
This unforgettable documentary film, Gaza, by Andrew McConnell and
Gary Keanu, takes us to a unique place beyond the reach of television
news reports to reveal a world rich with eloquent and resilient characters,
offering us a cinematic and enriching portrait of a people attempting to lead
meaningful lives against the rubble of perennial conflict. Throughout its
entire history, the Gaza Strip has been witness to conflict and upheaval and
has served as a pawn whose fate has rested in the hands of other powerful
nations. Please join us for an exceptional opportunity to view the film and
hear from experts who have lived and worked in the Palestinian and Israeli
region.
Our Hosts for the Evening
Elaine Strite spent nearly three decades in the Middle East, 15 in Egypt,
ten in the occupied Palestinian territory, and two in Lebanon. She taught
English as a second language, set up income-generating projects in the
Sinai, worked as a free-lance journalist, and managed US Government
funded education and scholarship project in West Bank and Gaza. In
Lebanon she worked as an independent consultant surveying international
development efforts and conditions in Lebanese schools. She also worked
in Washington, DC, on a faculty development program for Palestinian
universities and in Wausau as a business reporter for the Wausau Daily
Herald. She has a Master’s Degree in Near Eastern Studies from the
University of Michigan. She enjoys sharing Middle Eastern culture with the
local Wisconsin community.
John Viste spent his career working in education, economic development,
and humanitarian assistance, ten years in Washington DC, twenty-two
years in the Middle East (occupied Palestinian territory, Egypt, and
Lebanon), and one year in Eastern Europe (based in Hungary). He has also
worked for the Center for Cooperatives at UW/Madison and the Wisconsin
Institute for Public Policy and Service in Wausau.
He is actively involved in community service locally and at the state level.
He has a BA from George Washington University in International Relations
and an EdM from Harvard School of Education.
Rick Scott is a retired USAID Senior Foreign Service Officer who worked
in Morocco, Russia, West Bank/Gaza (Tel Aviv), Ethiopia, Liberia, Timor
Leste. Before joining USAID, he worked for UNICEF, CARE, and other
international organizations around the world. A graduate of Wausau East
High School, he holds a BA from Ripon College and two Master’s Degrees,
one from the University of Wisconsin in Forestry and one from the School
for International Training in Vermont in International Management.

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