PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Distribution- January 3, 2006

 

VIP DELEGATION IN ISRAEL TO REDEEM THE DREAM

 

A VIP delegation is visiting Israel performing preliminary research and planning to bring 5,000 African Americans to Israel for a spiritual pilgrimage in 2007.  Led by Southern Christian Leadership Conference President and CEO, Sen. Charles Steele, the Redeem The Dream spiritual pilgrimage is in fulfillment of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to bring 5,000 African Americans to the Holy Land to further the causes of global peace and spiritual reconciliation.  Dr. King had planned a peace pilgrimage to Israel in 1967, but the 6-day War interrupted the plan and the following year King was assassinated. The Redeem The Dream spiritual pilgrimage will punctuate the historical connection and global impact that African Americans have established and maintain as architects of peace and brotherhood as evidenced in the region by the continued efforts of the African Hebrew Israelite Community in Dimona, Israel. 

Last week Dr Lafayette and Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) President and CEO, Senator Charles Steele spoke at a global nonviolence conference in Bethlehem spotlighting Israeli and Palestinian nonviolent activists.  Their efforts are toward fulfilling President Steele’s mandate to expand the scope of the work of the SCLC to an international level.  Dr. Bernard Lafayette, a former confidante and lieutenant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and SCLC Board Member is currently traveling in Israel as part of a VIP delegation performing preliminary research and planning for the Redeem The Dream event scheduled to take place in 2007.   He will be speaking at  the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute on January 4, 2006 at 7pm at an intimate “Meet and Greet” hosted by the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr/ SCLC/ Ben Ammi Institute For A New Humanity (INH) - conflict resolution center. Dr. Lafayette will offer remarks on the theme “In Search of the Non-Violent Global Community

Dr. Lafayette, an educator, lecturer, author and nonviolent Civil Rights legend, has returned to Israel to further explore inroads toward expanding the Nonviolent Global Community.  Dr. Lafayette will be participating in training with staff from The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr./SCLC- Ben Ammi Institute For A New Humanity in Dimona, Israel.  Established in The Village of Peace in Dimona last February, the Institute is the very first international SCLC-affiliated conflict-resolution center offering courses, counseling and training in resolving differences within families, communities, faiths and nations. It is the goal of the Institute, to foster the ideals of peace, brotherhood and love eloquently captured in the life, words, and writings of Dr. King and in the praxis of Ben Ammi Ben Israel, the anointed spiritual leader of the Hebrew Israelite Community in Dimona, Israel. 

The Hebrew Israelites are approximately 2,500 African Americans tracing their heritage to the ancient Israelites of the Bible. They have resided in Israel some 36 years and their settlement in Dimona is also known as The Village of Peace, renowned for its holistic, spiritually-based lifestyle. They have become a haven for visitors from all walks of life, from around the world – including many internationally known personalities, like superstars Stevie Wonder, Whitney Houston and Winnie Mandela.  The community has within its borders the development of a new humanity that in fact allows participation based on the content of one’s character and not race, color or creed. In the almost 40 years of its existence, this community has come to be regarded as the “Miracle in the Desert” and an “Island of Sanity” and provides for the world a model of peace, justice and love.

The Redeem The Dream tour group has media, political, promotions and clergy leaders from the U.S. Among them are:

SCLC Board Member, Dr. Bernard Lafayette, and wife

Radio personality, Omar Neal (Alabama), former city councilman

Vice President of Turner Broadcasting, Rosemary Jones

Photojournalist: Monica Morgan

Promotions: Pam Morris, City of Chicago, Producer of World’s largest free gospel festival

Politics:

Illinois State Senator Donne Trotter

Illinois State Senator Kwame Raoul

Illinois State Representative Kenneth Dunkin, Chairman of Tourism Subcommittee

Church:

Rev. Helen Sinclair  (Illinois)

Rev. William Revely (Michigan)

Also in attendance at the Van Leer Institute will be a number of U.S. federal and state government officials and media personalities, currently visiting Israel as guests of the Dimona community.  Redeem the Dream expects to promote and increase tourism to the Holy Land particularly among African Americans. 

Admission is free. For further details call The Institute For A New Humanity: Tom Outland - Director, 052 533 4964 or 050 714 4157; Yielah B. Israel, 054 642 5436