J Street Conference Sessions

SUNDAY,
OCTOBER 25

Join J Street and Theater J for an exciting pre-conference event at the DCJCC, "Arts and Activism in Troubled Times: Can Culture Effect Change?"

5:00pm – Registration Opens

7:00pm – PLENARY
SESSION: Israel and 21st Century
American Jewry
Speakers:
Jeremy Ben-Ami, Executive
Director, J Street
Daniel Sokatch, CEO, New
Israel Fund
Respondents:
Ronit Avni, Founder and
Executive Director, Just Vision
Rabbi Andy Bachman, Rabbi,
Congregation Beth Elohim, Brooklyn, NY
Jim Gerstein,
Principal, Gerstein Agne Strategic Communications
Rabbi Melissa
Weintraub, Co-Founder and Co-Executive Director, Encounter

9:00pm
- Dessert Reception

 

MONDAY,
OCTOBER 26

8:00am – Briefing
for Hill Team Leaders

9:00am to 10:30am – BREAKOUT SESSIONS

  1. AMERICANS FOR PEACE NOW PRESENTS:
    West Bank Settlements: Obstacles on the Road to Peace – A View From the Ground
    and From the Diplomatic Arena 
    Akiva Eldar, Chief Political Columnist and Editorial Writer, Ha’aretz
    Scott Lasensky, Senior
    Research Associate, Center for Conflict Analysis and Prevention, United States
    Institute of Peace
    Hagit Ofran, Director,
    Settlement Watch, a project of Peace Now
    Moderator: Ori Nir, Spokesman, Americans For Peace
    Now
  2. The Maze: Navigating Foreign and
    National Security Policy Through the Knesset
    Ami Ayalon, Former Member
    of Knesset; Former Head of the Shin Bet
    Shlomo Molla, Member of
    Knesset (Kadima)
    Yuli Tamir, Deputy Speaker
    of the Knesset (Labor); Former Minister of Immigrant Absorption
    Moderator: Colette Avital, Former Israeli Consul
    General in New York; Former Member of Knesset (Labor)
  3. The Need for a Regional
    Comprehensive Approach to the Israeli Palestinian Conflict
    Prince Zeid Ra’ad
    Al-Hussein, Ambassador of Jordan 

    Shlomo Ben Ami, Former Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs and Public
    Security
    Alvaro de Soto, Former Chief Middle East Envoy, United Nations
    Moderator: Ambassador Phillip Wilcox, President, Foundation for Middle East Peace; former U.S.
    Consul General in Jerusalem
  4. Examining the Jewish Social
    Justice/Israel Divide 
    Alana
    Alpert, Rabbinical student, Hebrew College; Former Recipient, 2008 AJWS Dvar Tzedek Torah Commentary: Lisa
    Goldberg Memorial Writers’ Fellowship
    Elissa Barrett, Executive
    Director, Progressive Jewish Alliance
    Jacob Feinspan, Executive
    Director, Jews United for Justice
    Moderator: Rabbi Jennie Rosenn, Program Director, The
    Nathan Cummings Foundation
  5. THEATER J AND J STREET PRESENT:
    Culture as a Tool For Change – Theater
    Ari Roth, Artistic Director, Theater J
    Actors from Theater J 

10:45am to 12:15pm – BREAKOUT SESSIONS

  1. The American Left and Israel
    J.J. Goldberg, Editorial
    Director, The Forward
    Michelle Goldberg, Author, Kingdom Coming
    Ezra Klein, Staff Reporter,
    The Washington Post
    Moderator: Katrina vanden Heuvel, Editor, The
    Nation
  2. Where Has Israeli Peace Activism
    Gone?
    Dana Agmon, Director
    of Major Gifts, OneVoice
    Ronit Avni, Founder and
    Executive Director, Just Vision
    Hagit Ofran, Director,
    Settlement Watch, a project of Peace Now
    Moderator: Didi Remez, Senior
    Partner, BenOr Consulting
  3. Israel’s Social and Domestic Challenges – Yes,
    They Also Exist
    Nitzan
    Horowitz, Member of Knesset (New Movement – Meretz)
    Amir
    Peretz, Member of Knesset (Labor); Former Deputy
    Prime Minister and Minister of Defense
    Meir
    Sheetrit, Member of Knesset (Kadima); Former Finance Minister; Former Interior
    Minister
    Moderator: Avshalom Vilan, Former Member
    of Knesset (Meretz)
  4. How Jews, Christians and Muslims
    Can Work Together For Peace
    Greg
    Khalil, President and Co-Founder, The Kairos Project
    Salam Al-Marayati,
    Executive Director, Muslim Public Affairs Council
    Mark Pelavin, Associate
    Director, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism
    Maureen Shea, Former
    Director, Episcopal Church Office of Government Relations; Former Churches For
    Middle East Peace Chair
    Moderator: Ron Young, Co-Founder, National
    Interreligious Leadership Initiative for Peace
  5. NEW ISRAEL
    FUND PRESENTS: Setting the Stage for Peace: The Fight for Democratic Values
    Hagai El-Ad, Executive
    Director, The Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI)
    Akiva Eldar, Chief Political Columnist and Editorial Writer, Ha’aretz
    Rachel
    Liel, Executive Director, New Israel Fund Israel
    Moderator: Larry Garber, Former CEO, New Israel
    Fund
  6. THEATER J AND J STREET PRESENT:
    Culture as a Tool for Change – Popular Media
    John Marks, President and Founder, Search for
    Common Ground

12:30pm to 1:30pm – LUNCH

1:45pm to 3:15pm – PLENARY
SESSION: Jewish Community Town Hall
Jeremy Ben-Ami, Executive Director, J Street
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President, The Union for Reform Judaism
Moderator: Jane Eisner, Editor, The Forward

3:30pm to 4:45pm – BREAKOUT
SESSIONS

  1. Iran: Is Diplomacy Working?
    Hillary
    Mann Leverett, CEO, STRATEGA
    Trita Parsi, Founder and
    President, National Iranian American Council
    Brian Finlay, Senior Associate, The Henry L. Stimson Center
    Moderator: Toni G. Verstandig, Director of Middle
    East Programs, The Aspen Institute
  2. Human Rights in Israel
    Rabbi Arik Ascherman,
    Executive Director, Rabbis for Human Rights
    Oded Na’aman, Breaking the
    Silence
    Uri Zaki, USA Representative,
    B’tselem
    Professor David Kretzmer,
    Emeritus Professor of International Law, Hebrew University of Jerusalem;
    Co-Chair, Executive Board, B’Tselem, The
    Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories
    Moderator: Aaron Back, Director, Ford Israel Fund
  3. How We Stop Talking to Ourselves: Innovative
    Ways to Broaden the Conversation
    Ronit Avni, Founder and Executive Director,
    Just Vision
    Malka Fenyvesi, Director of Interfaith Programming/NewGround
    Co-Director, Progressive Jewish Alliance
    Rabbi Melissa Weintraub, Co-founder and
    Co-Executive Director, Encounter
    Moderator:
    Shawn Landres, Co-Founder and CEO, Jumpstart
  4. Israel on Campus
    Ralph
    Hexter, President, Hampshire College
    Aimee Mayer, Member, J
    Street U Student Board of Directors; President, University of Maryland J Street
    U
    David Shneer, Associate
    Professor of History; Director, Program in Jewish Studies, University of
    Colorado at Boulder
    Dr. Bernard Steinberg,
    President and Executive Director, Harvard Hillel
    Moderator: Chaya Rubin, Doctoral Candidate in
    Clinical Psychology, Yeshiva University
  5. Palestinian Economic Development:
    Path to Peace or Diversion?
    C. Ross Anthony, Ph.D., Senior Economist, RAND
    Corporation
    Bassim Khoury, Minister of National Economy, Palestinian Authority
    Ron Pundak, Director General, Peres Center for Peace
    Douglas
    Suisman, Principal Architect, Suisman Urban Design
    Moderator: Bernard
    Avishai, Business Consultant; Author
  6. THEATER J AND J STREET PRESENT:
    Culture as a Tool for Change     – Storytelling – A Land Twice Promised
    Noa Baum, Storyteller  

5:00pm to 6:15pm – PLENARY
SESSION: View From the Hill: Congress and the US-Israel Relationship
Representative Charles Boustany (LA-07)
Representative Bob Filner (CA-51)
Representative Jan Schakowsky (IL-09)
Moderator: Bob Franken, Former CNN Correspondent

8:00pm -  Rocking the Status Quo Party
Featuring Music by Soulico
Open to all participants

8:00pm  – Reception in Celebration of Brit Tzedek v’
Shalom
Open to all participants

 

TUESDAY,
OCTOBER 27

8:00am to 9:00am – Briefing
for Hill Team Leaders

9:00am to 10:15am – BREAKOUT
SESSIONS

  1. An Israeli-Palestinian Peace Deal
    in 24 Months: How to Get it Done
    Gadi Batilansky, Director General, Geneva Initiative-Israel; Former
    Spokesperson for Prime Minister Ehud Barak
    Daniel Levy, Senior Fellow
    and Director, Middle East Task Force, New America Foundation; Former Israeli
    Negotiator
    Dr. Ron Pundak, Director General, The Peres Center for Peace
    Moderator: MJ Rosenberg, Senior
    Fellow on Foreign Policy, Media Matters Action Network
  2. What Does It Mean To Be
    Pro-Israel?
    Jonathan
    Chait, Senior Editor, The New Republic
    Matt Yglesias, Blogger, ThinkProgress.com
    Moderator    : J.J. Goldberg, Editorial
    Director, The Forward
  3. BRIT TZEDEK V’SHALOM PRESENTS:
    Organizing on the Ground – A Political Force for the Pro-Israel/Pro-Peace
    movement
    Carinne
    Luck, Organizer, Former Director of Grassroots and Chapter Development, Brit
    Tzedek v’Shalom, Former J Street Chief of Staff
    Laurie
    Moskowitz, Founding Partner and Director, FieldWorks
    Ari
    Wallach; Partner, StudioBenZion; Co-founder, The Great Schlep.com, JCER and
    JewsVote.org
    Moderator: Diane Balser, Former
    Executive Director, Brit Tzedek v’Shalom
  4. RABBIS FOR HUMAN RIGHTS OF NORTH
    AMERICA PRESENTS:  A Text Study:
    What’s Jewish about J Street?
    Rabbi Amy Eilberg, Co-Founder, Yedidya Center for Jewish Spiritual Direction
    Rabbi Edward Feld, Rabbi-in-Residence, The Rabbinical School, Jewish Theological
    Seminary; Former Education Director, Rabbis for Human Rights of North America
    Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Spiritual leader, Congregation
    Nevei Kodesh, Boulder, Colorado
  5. THEATER J AND J STREET PRESENT:
    Culture as a Tool for Change – Short Films presented by The Other Israel Film
    Festival
    6.5 Minutes in Tel Aviv (    Director: Mirey Brantz)
    Roads     (Director: Lior Geller)
    Shnaim
    (Director:
    Shimon Richik)
    Presenter: Isaac
    Zablocki; Executive Director, Other Israel Film Festival

10:30am to 11:45am – BREAKOUT
SESSIONS 

  1. BRIT TZEDEK RABBINIC CABINET PRESENTS: Dancing on the Head of a Pin: The Role of
    Rabbis in the Pro-Israel, Pro-Peace Movement

    Rabbi David J. Cooper, Kehilla Community Congregation, Piedmont, CA
    Rabbi Joshua
    Levine-Grater, Pasadena Jewish Temple and Center, Pasadena, CA
    Rabbi Julie Saxe-Taller, Congregation Sherith Israel, San
    Francisco, CA 
    Rabbi Toba Spitzer,
    Congregation Dorshei Tzedek, Newton, MA
    Moderator: Rabbi John
    Friedman, Judea Reform Congregation, Durham, North Carolina
  2. Palestinian Perspectives: Looking
    Forward
    Ziad Asali, President and Founder, American Task Force on Palestine
    Nadia Bilbassy, Correspondent, Middle East Broadcasting Center
    Bassim Khoury, Minister of National Economy, Palestinian Authority
    Moderator: Amjad Atallah, Co-Director,
    Middle East Task Force, New America Foundation
  3. What Next? Analysis and Advice for
    the President from Washington Insiders
    Jon Alterman, Director and Senior Fellow, Middle East Program, Center for Strategic and International Studies
    Lara Friedman, Director of
    Policy and Government Relations, Americans for Peace Now
    Robert Malley, Director,
    Middle East/North Africa Program, International Crisis Group
    Moderator: Morton H. Halperin, Member, J Street
    Board of Directors
  4. Shifting the Conversation: Jewish
    Community Dynamics and Israel
    Shula Bahat, Director,
    American Friends of Beit Hatfutzot; Former Associate Executive Director, American
    Jewish Committee
    Rabbi Peter Knobel, Beth Emet
    the Free Synagogue; Former President, Central Conference of American Rabbis
    Daniel Sokatch, CEO, New
    Israel Fund; Former Executive Director, Jewish Community Federation of San
    Francisco, The Peninsula, Marin and Sanoma Counties
    Moderator: Hannah Rosenthal, Corporate Vice
    President, Wisconsin Physicians Service; Former Director, Jewish Council for
    Public Affairs
  5. Messaging "Pro-Israel, Pro Peace"
    Matt Dorf, Managing
    Partner, Rabinowitz/Dorf Communications
    Jim Gerstein, Principal,
    Gerstein Agne Strategic Communications
    Dr. Calvin
    Goldscheider, Scholar in Residence, Center for Israel
    Studies, American University
    Moderator: Dahlia Scheindlin, Political Consultant and Public Opinion Analyst
  6. THEATER J AND J STREET PRESENT:
    Culture as a Tool for Change – Documentary – Excerpts of Budrus has a Hammer/2010 (working title)
    Julia
    Bacha, Media Director, Just Vision
    Ronit
    Avni, Executive Director and Founder, Just Vision

12:15pm to 1:00pm – LUNCH

1:00pm to 4:00pm – PLENARY
SESSION: Why Two States? Why Now?
Introduction and Response: Representative Robert Wexler (FL-19)
Keynote Speaker: General James L. Jones, United States National Security Advisor

Israeli Interests:
Bernard Avishai, Business
Consultant; Author
Ami Ayalon, Former Member
of Knesset (Labor); Former Head of the Shin Bet
Haim Ramon, Former Member
of Knesset (Kadima); Former Vice Prime Minister

American Interests:
Ambassador
Martin Indyk, Vice President and Director of the Foreign Policy Program,
The Brookings Institution; Former Ambassador of the Unites States to Israel
Mel Levine, Former Member of Congress (D-CA)

Moderator:
Richard Wolffe, Author, Renegade:
The Making of a President; Former Senior White House Correspondent, Newsweek

6:30pm – J Street Gala Dinner Reception
This is a ticketed event

7:30pm- J Street Gala Dinner Honoring Victor A. Kovner
This is a ticketed event
Keynote Address: Former Senator Chuck Hagel

 

WEDNESDAY,
OCTOBER 28

8:00am-9:00am – Hill Visit Briefing

9:15am to 9:45am – Busses to Capitol Hill

10:00am to 2:00pm – Appointments with Member offices