Inner West Jewish Community and Friends Peace Alliance (iwJAFA) together with
Jewish Voices for Peace and Justice
Present
An evening with Diane Balser
Monday 16th July 2012
7.30pm sharp (Doors open 7.15)
Newtown Synagogue Community Hall
20 Georgina St, Newtown
$10 ( $5 unwaged)
RSVP iwjafa@gmail.com
Diane Balser is Professor of Women's Studies at Boston University.
A pioneer in the women's movement in the 1960s and 70s, Diane helped to found Bread and Roses, one of the first feminist collectives in the USA.
She says of that time "In New York, tons of Jewish women were doing anti-nuclear work - our gender connected us to wanting peace - but I don't remember anyone discussing that we were Jews, almost annihilated in the Holocaust." Her feminism and Judaism converged in the 1970s during viscious attacks on Golda Meir at Brandeis University.
At the UN Conference on Women in Nairobi in 1985 she co-chaired a workshop on a two-state Israeli-Palestinian solution. She led a women's Shabbat at the 4th UN Conference on Women in Beijing in 1995. She was Executive Director of the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace (Brit Tzedek v'Shalom).
In the 1980s, Diane developed and led the largest network in Massachusetts representing women and public policy issues. She has trained women throughout the world for over 35 years in leadership skills, personal empowerment, and public policy.
