International forum
hosted by Ohr
Somayach to
spotlight Mideast
tensions.

Dennis Ross

- Rabbi Gottlieb

Mayor °linen

Jonathan Rosenblum

SUSAN TAWIL
Special to the Jewish News

A

live, online, interactive
videoconference airing
simultaneously in three cities
will provide an insider's view
of Jerusalem next week.
Ohr Somayach, an international
adult Jewish education outreach net-
work, will present "Jerusalem, The
Insiders Speak Out: Can There Ever be
Peace in Israel?" on May 17. The pro-
gram addresses the Mideast crisis,
including the status of Jerusalem.
"This program is a major break-
through," says Rabbi Eric Krohner. "It
elevates th 2 standard of what is possible
for Jewish education now and into the
future." Rabbi Krohner is founder and
executive coordinator of Ohr
Somayach-Detroit and Jerusalem
Vision, the Ohr Somayach division
planning the videoconference.
The speakers on the program are:
• Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert,
speaking from a studio in New York
City. Mayor since 1993, he also has
served as the ranking member of the
Foreign Affairs and Defense
Committee in the Knesset.
• Jonathan Rosenblum, a syndicated
columnist for the
Jerusalem Post,
speaking from the Max M. Fisher
Federation Building in Bloomfield
Township. He is an Ohr Somayach
alumnus, the director of Am Echad in
Israel and an Israeli correspondent for
the Jewish Observer.
• Ambassador Dennis Ross, former
U.S. special envoy to the Middle East,
speaking from Washington. He served
as special Middle East coordinator in

the U.S. State Department under
President Bill Clinton and Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright. He served
under President Reagan in other posi-
tions with the State and Defense
departments, helping formulate U.S.
policy toward the former Soviet Union
and the Middle East.
• Rabbi Dr. Dovid Gottlieb, senior
lecturer at Ohr Somayach-Jerusalem,
speaking from Philadelphia. He was a
professor of mathematical logic at
Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore
and has been a popular speaker at Ohr
Somayach-Detroit events.
The moderator is Brent Triest, an
Emmy-award-winning television pro-
ducer and professor of law and political
science at Wayne State University in
Detroit. Bloomfield Hills' Mindy Soble
Kaufman is production adviser.
A statement from Tom Rose, pub-
lisher of the Jerusalem Post and the
Jerusalem Report, will be included in the
program.

Cutting Edge

The innovative program's format will
be "town meeting" style, featuring a
high-profile panel of experts. The pro-
gram will connect audiences in Detroit,
Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Washington
and New York City. All sites will be
linked via broadband videoconferenc-
i ng.
The program will be Web cast live
in "real time" for online participation
around the world. Internet viewers will
see and hear the program and ask ques-
tions, joining the panel discussion as it
happens, via e-mail.
A Power Point presentation will

5/11
2001

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