Join us for a special International Peace Day webinar, live from Montgomery, Alabama.
From September 14-21, a group of Americans and bereaved Israelis and Palestinians from the Parents Circle traveled on a Telos Group trip from New Orleans, to Jackson, to Selma and to Montgomery. The group discovered lessons of reconciliation in common to Israel, Palestine, and across American racial lines.
Join us to hear first hand from our bereaved Palestinian and Israeli members and people we met along the way about their experiences and learnings.
American Friends of the Parents Circle
4 E 95th St 5C
New York, NY 10128
American Friends of the Parents Circle
4 E 95th St 5C
New York, NY 10128
Laila Alsheikh lives in Bethlehem in the West Bank. In 2002, her 6 months old son, Qussay, became ill and Israeli soldiers prevented Layla from taking him to the hospital for more than five hours. Qussay soon died from the lack of timely treatment. Layla joined the Parents Circle in 2016. Following her son’s death, she never thought of revenge, but rather has devoted her time and energy to ensuring a better, more peaceful future for her children.
Yuval Rahamim’s father, Abraham Rahamim, was killed in 1967 while serving in the Six Day War. Yuval was 8 years old at the time. He joined the Parents Circle in 2010 and served as President of the board from 2011-2014. Since December 2015, Yuval has chaired the Israeli Peace NGOs Forum, an association for empowerment and cooperation of more than 120 Israeli and bi-national Peace organizations. He has served as the Israeli co-Director of the Parents Circle – Families Forum since 2020.
Ainka Jackson is the founding Executive Director of the Selma Center for Nonviolence, Truth and Reconciliation, which is committed to bridging divides and building the Beloved Community. She was previously the Metro Guardian ad Litem for the Metro Nashville Public Defender’s Office, Juvenile Division where she represented children who were abused and neglected. Jackson was born in Montgomery, Alabama and raised in Selma, Alabama, and has presented at numerous conferences and institutions including, on truancy and the school to prison pipeline at the annual Samuel Dewitt Proctor Institute for Child Advocate Ministry and spoke at the United Nations in Switzerland about economic and racial equity.
Todd Deatherage spent sixteen years in senior positions in the legislative and executive branches of the U.S. government before co-founding the Telos Group. From 2005 to 2009, he was Chief of Staff in the Secretary of State’s Office of Policy Planning at the U.S. State Department. He also spent two years as Senior Advisor in the Department’s Office of International Religious Freedom, where he specialized in religious freedom in the Middle East. Todd worked for a decade in the U.S. Congress, including six years as Chief of Staff to Senator Tim Hutchinson. He is a native Arkansan and a graduate of the University of Arkansas. He began his career as an educator. He and his family live in Fairfax County, Virginia.
Shiri Ourian
Executive Director
American Friends of the Parents Circle – Families Forum
