2 speakers on Middle East relations likely to give differing perspectives

(Correction: Updates the day of the event.)

Two speakers on Israel, Palestine, and the United States — Mark Braverman, a grass-roots peace activist, and Yoram Ettinger, a retired Israeli ambassador — will speak in the Toledo area at separate events today, Sunday and Monday. From the titles of their speeches and their biographical backgrounds, indications are their perspectives on Middle East relations are very different.

Mr. Ettinger’s talk, sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo, is “United States and Israel —Mutually Beneficial.” He will speak at Congregation B’nai Israel, 6525 Sylvania Ave., Sylvania, during the morning service today at 10:30 a.m. and at Zoar Lutheran Church, 314 E. Indiana, Perrysburg, at 3 p.m. Sunday.

These appearances follow a scheduled Friday presentation at the Shabbat service at the Temple Congregation Shomer Emunim in Sylvania.

Mr. Braverman’s address is “The Path to Peace in Israel/Palestine: A Jewish-American’s Journey.” His presentations are Sunday at 6 p.m. at the University of Toledo Law Center Auditorium, 1825 W. Rocket Dr., and Monday at 7 p.m. at Bowen-Thompson Student Union Room 228 at Bowling Green State University. The Northwest Ohio Peace Coalition and the University of Toledo Students for Justice in Palestine are sponsoring Mr. Braverman’s appearances.

Mr. Braverman is the author of Fatal Embrace: Christians, Jews, and the Search for Peace in the Holy Land, and he will sign books after each lecture. Mr. Braverman is the cofounder and executive director of Friends of Tent of Nations North America, which supports peaceful coexistence and land rights in Palestine.

Mr. Ettinger is executive director of Second Thought, a U.S.-Israel Initiative. Mr. Ettinger’s Web site states that the initiative “is dedicated to enhance education on Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria.” Judea and Samaria are biblical geographical names for the area more commonly known as the West Bank.

Mr. Ettinger was minister for congressional affairs in the Israeli Embassy in Washington from 1989 to 1992.