PSC hosts Jo Berry and Pat Magee of the "Forgiveness Project"

The Pluralistic Spiritual Center frequently hosts meetings of the Sulha Organization (http://sulha.com), which PSC director Dafna Karta Schwartz has also been involved. On Thursday March 11, one such meeting brought together some 60 young Jews and Arabs from Israel and Palestine in a special gathering that opened the hearts and minds of the participants. Guest speakers were Jo Berry and former Irish Republican Army operative Pat Magee of Ireland of the Forgiveness Project. Jo’s father, the Conservative Party MP Sir Anthony Berry, was killed by Pat in the Brighton bombing of 1984. In November 2000. Their joint presentation, which was translated into Arabic, told the story of Jo’s first painful meeting with Pat, and the two’s later decision to work together to encourage forgiveness among victims and former combatants of the conflict. Their personal struggle for forgiveness served as a reminder that after a violent conflict has run its course, the survivors must live with their pain. The meeting strengthened the participants’ desire to work nonviolently for a better future.