The Institute for Global Engagement and Nyack College’s Institute for Public Service & Policy Development invite you to a public presentation and panel featuring E.J. Dionne to explore Christians’ positive and negative contributions toward the Middle East conflict. Respondents will include voices from the three Abrahamic traditions.

The event will take place the evening of 29 April in the Dirksen Senate Office Building (enter at the corner of 1st & C St., NE) near the U.S. Capitol. The reception begins at 6:30pm; the presentation begins at 7:00pm and is followed by a time for responses and Q & A. The event is free and open to the public. Please RSVP at dcoffice@nyack.edu or 202-220-1300.

Mr. Dionne will address hunger, housing, and social justice in the Middle East. Pope Paul VI once said, “If you want peace, work for justice.” This has been understood by many as a call to action to improve living conditions for all people. How have the problems of social injustice, including hunger and the struggle over housing, fueled the on-going conflict in the Middle East?

E.J. Dionne is a columnist for The Washington Post. Before joining The Post in 1990 as a political reporter, he spent 14 years at The New York Times, covering local, state, and national politics, and also served as a foreign correspondent in Paris, Rome, and Beirut. He is a University Professor at Georgetown University and a senior fellow at The Brookings Institution. Dionne has been a frequent commentator on politics for National Public Radio, ABC’s “This Week,” and NBC’s “Meet the Press.” His books include Why Americans Hate Politics (1991), Stand Up Fight Back: Republican Toughs, Democratic Wimps, and the Politics of Revenge (2004), and They Only Look Dead: Why Progressives Will Dominate The Next Political Era (1996).

This event is the second in a three-part series. On 17 March, Michael Gerson addressed “Faith or Fanaticism?” and on 20 May, Andrea Bartoli will present on “Overcoming Violence.” The series provides an opportunity for diverse Christian perspectives to interact with each other, along with invited Jewish and Muslim voices to help enrich the conversation. The series title suggests ways forward while recognizing how the Christian community broadly has both helped and hindered efforts to ease the conflict.