first fall forum!

on friday, september 26th at 7 pm, our guest, erin knowles*, of the Salvation Army's STOP-IT Initiative Against Human Trafficking, will be joining us to lead a discussion on what is clearly our modern-day slavery. According to The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, "severe forms of trafficking in persons" is defined as:

• "sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age;
• or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labor services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery."

the prevalance is outstanding. take a look at the basic facts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:

• There are 27 million slaves in the world today.
• Approximately 800,000 to 900,000 people are trafficked across international borders worldwide each year.
• Between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year.
• Roughly 80% of those considered trafficked are women and children.
• Every 40 seconds a child is found missing or abducted. 1 of 3 teens on the street will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.

we hope you will join us to learn more about the reality of human trafficking. please rsvp as a comment below. thank you.

*Erin Knowles is a social worker for The Salvation Army on an initiative against human trafficking in Chicago. A major role within this position is providing training to various professional and community groups about all aspects related to the trafficking of humans. Additionally, she provides direct outreach to potential victims of trafficking and organizations who may already be providing services to those victims. The end goal of this project is to find and help those who have been trafficked.

may 30th forum postponed!

Just a reminder that tonight's forum on human trafficking has been postponed for a date yet to be determined. We promise to keep you up to date as things develop! Our apologies for the cancellation.

intro & info on next forum

after our last forum on the israeli-palestinian conflict, many great thoughts and ideas have been traveling between us through the internet. to better facilitate the continuing conversation, we've elected to throw the whole thing online. in doing this, we hope to provide everyone with an opportunity to share thoughts, offer action ideas, and pose questions to the group at large. we hope you'll find this to be a useful outlet after an evening that's engaged your heart and your mind in new ways.

we're just beginning to set the blog up now, so we appreciate your patience as we navigate the settings, layout and posting issues. in the meantime, there is more news about the next forum:

on friday, may 30th at 7 pm, our guest, erin knowles*, of the Salvation Army's STOP-IT Initiative Against Human Trafficking, will be joining us to lead a discussion on what is clearly our modern-day slavery. According to The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000, "severe forms of trafficking in persons" is defined as:

• "sex trafficking in which a commercial sex act is induced by force, fraud, or coercion, or in which the person induced to perform such an act has not attained 18 years of age;


• or the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision or obtaining of a person for labor services, through the use of force, fraud or coercion for the purpose of subjection to involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery."

the prevalance is outstanding. take a look at the basic facts from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children:

• There are 27 million slaves in the world today.


• Approximately 800,000 to 900,000 people are trafficked across international borders worldwide each year.


• Between 14,500 and 17,500 people are trafficked into the United States each year.


• Roughly 80% of those considered trafficked are women and children.


• Every 40 seconds a child is found missing or abducted. 1 of 3 teens on the street will be lured into prostitution within 48 hours of leaving home.

we hope you will join us to learn more about the reality of human trafficking. please rsvp as a comment below. thank you.

*Erin Knowles is a social worker for The Salvation Army on an initiative against human trafficking in Chicago. A major role within this position is providing training to various professional and community groups about all aspects related to the trafficking of humans. Additionally, she provides direct outreach to potential victims of trafficking and organizations who may already be providing services to those victims. The end goal of this project is to find and help those who have been trafficked.

The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, Forum #1

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been one of most publicized and long-standing ethnic conflicts of the last century, and therefore one of the most misunderstood. Most Americans know that it represents something important, but few have the motivation to take time and energy to delve into its history and complexity. Yet, without a doubt, this one issue has more far reaching implications than any other problem in the Middle East today.

To understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is to understand what is happening in the Middle East, and why our government has such a keen interest in having influence in the region. Moreover, the treatment of Palestinians by the Israeli military represents one of the most grievous humanitarian catastrophes taking place today.

In our evening of sharing and discussion, we'll consider the following questions:

- What are the real roots of this conflict? Is it primarily a religious or cultural conflict, or are there other factors at work?

- Why and how did the U.S. becomes Israel's unflinching ally?

- What exactly were Israel's wars of 1948 and 1967 all about, and how have they set the chessboard for almost every major political problem in the Middle East today?

- How did the modern borders of Israel, the West Bank and Gaza come into existence?

- Why is the Israeli army demolishing thousands of Palestinian civilian homes? (see the lead story on Amnesty Intl.'s website: http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/feature-stories/israeli-army-destroys-palestinian-homes-20080214)

- Why is Israel building a separation wall between Israel and the West Bank? Why did Nelson Mandela compare modern day Israel to apartheid South Africa? (http://www.alinaam.org.za/library/mandela.htm)

As part of our discussion, we'll be watching a documentary called Occupation 101, a realistic look at what Palestinians are experiencing as the Israeli military continues its 40 year occupation of the West Bank. Discussion will precede and follow the film.