A group of poets, Israeli, Palestinian, and Americans with strong ties to the Middle East,  read their work and discuss the personal and political perspective from which they write. The poets share a deep passion for peace, an intricate historical perspective, and a love of the written word. The premise of the evening is that only when we understand the pain and longing of the "other," can we ever find peace. A discussion, with questions from the audience, will follow, moderated by Bnai Keshet member Martin Golan, a journalist and writer. Among those reading are:

Gavriel Reisner is a poet whose work often draws on the moral complexities of his father's life as a partisan in World War II and his mother's survival in Hitler's death camps. He lived in Israel for 30 years, and was a professor of English and multidisciplinary studies at Tel Aviv University.

Fuad Attar is a widely published Palestinian poet and translator, whose book, Love & Honor, was published to much acclaim. His work has appeared in many magazines, and he has translated the poetry of Stanley Kunitz into Arabic.

Barbara Elovic's poems have appeared in over 100 journals. One chapbook, Time Out, recounts her father's life from Eastern Europe before World War II to his life in the American and Israeli computer businesses. Among her most compelling recent work is To Genesis, a collaborative collection of poems that retell the stories of that book of the Bible.

In a kind of musical interlude, the event will be interspersed with poems in Hebrew and Arabic, read by native speakers.

SPONSORED BY THE BNAI KESHET ISRAEL COMMITTEE

Adults $5