Civitas home page

---

Laura Blumenfeld Headlines Conference on Revenge & Reconciliation

Last Friday, Feb. 20 and Saturday, Feb. 21, Civitas hosted its Conference on Revenge/Reconciliation: Breaking the Cycle of Conflict..

.A special thrill for us was that your keynote speaker was Ms. Laura Blumenfeld, reporter for the Washington Post and author of the award-winning book Revenge. In the book and in her remarks, she paints a very vivid picture of how she tries to seek revenge against the man who shot (but only mildly wounded) her father. She struggles with her own ambiguity, and the ambiguity then becomes contagious, affecting others including the shooter, her family, and many others. The term that she uses for what happened to the shooter is transformational revenge.

Ms. Blumenfeld's remarks figuratively spanned the globe, illustrating how differing societies deal with feelings of revenge. Some countries such as the U.S. or U.K. have a system where justice is based on "crimes against society." Citizens in other countries such as Albania or Iran focus more on "justice" for the victimized family.

Following Ms. Blumenfeld's remarks, students asked a number of most compelling questions. It was clear that the prior research in which they had engaged had prepared them for the presentation and it allowed Ms. Blumenfeld to give more detailed answers.

Following Laura Blumenfeld's presentation, students divided into two committee groups to wrestle with a host of questions about revenge and related issues. Both committees made key progress in "full groups" by clarifying key questions and organizing issues to be explored. Under outstanding stewardship from chairs Lisa Granich-Kovarik, Frank Kovarik, Abbey Hatcher, and Rachel Kunce, the committees frequently broke into small groups and brainstormed ideas. Ideas were frequently challenged with "what if" questions and at times the sub-groups had to start over to find a more workable process.

By Saturday afternoon, each committee had answered some questions and of course raised a host more. But when all delegates reconvened, committee and sub-committee representatives gave excellent explanations of the progress they had made.

One thing that it clear is that this topic is going to have to be revisited and its threads will be in future conferences.

Right now, we have pictures from the conference available on-line. They can be purchased as photos, place mats, mugs, basketballs, and a host of other objects. Feel free to check it out. Special thanks to Marian Brickner for providing us with professional quality photos.

By Wednesday or Thursday of this week, we will have video of Ms. Blumenfeld's remarks. Next week, we will have more written results from the committees. Click here for a Conference Description, or to Sign Up Online!
Click here for the application form!
Prep Session 1 Photos from Saturday, Jan. 17, 2004.
Video from Revenge & Reconciliation Prep Session #2
Map & Directions to Doubletree Club Airport Hotel

---

Review of Laura Blumenfeld Biography
Laura Blumenfeld

Author of The New York Times bestseller Revenge: A Story of Hope

In 1986, Laura Blumenfeld's father was shot in Jerusalem by a member of a rebel faction of the PLO responsible for attacks on several tourists in the Old City. Her father lived, but Blumenfeld's desire for revenge haunted her. Revenge: A Story of Hope is her story.

Traveling to Europe, America, and the Middle East, Blumenfeld gathers stories and methods of avengers worldwide as she plots to infiltrate the shooter's life. Through interviews with Yitzhak Rabin's assassin; with members of the Albanian Blood Feud Committee; the chief of the Iranian judiciary; the mayor of Palermo, Sicily; an Egyptian heroin smuggler; the Israeli prime minister and the military chief of staff; priests; sports fans; fifth-grade girls; and prostitutes, among others, she explores the mechanics and the psychology of vengeance.

In the end, her target turns out to be more complex -- and in some ways more threatening -- than the stereotypical terrorist she'd long imagined.

A rare, ambitious, personal, and intellectual tour of dark urges often denied, Revenge: A Story of Hope is a beautifully written story about family, loyalty, and home, about the personal passions behind public events, and about the thin line between love and hate.

Acclaim for Laura Blumenfeld and Revenge: A Story of Hope:

"A vitally important story...Revenge is written with such forcefulness and immediacy that by the end of her story [Blumenfeld] has carried the reader through an intellectual transformation akin to her own." -Janet Maslin, The New York Times

"I was just swept away with it, by it, with the beauty of the writing and the drama of the tale." -Richard Cohen, The Washington Post

"A gripping read. Rich, graceful, intimate, and absorbing." -Kirkus Reviews

"Laura Blumenfeld has the eye of a journalist, the soul of a novelist and the passion of an activist. She brings all three to bear superbly in this gripping and haunting first book. It is a sure winner.� -Thomas L. Friedman


"Read this book, not only because it is well-written and thoroughly enjoyable, but because Laura's is a message that needs to be spread." -The Harvard Crimson

"Well-written, with a sharp and lively style." - Jerusalem Post

HBO is making a movie out of Revenge. It will be directed by Julie Taymor (The Lion King), produced by Wendy Finerman (Forrest Gump), and written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Tony Kushner (Angels in America).

Laura has appeared on Good Morning America, the Today Show, Prime Time Live, Charlie Rose, Oprah, NewsNight with Aaron Brown, and The O'Reilly Factor, among others. She has been interviewed extensively on NPR, the BBC and other radio shows. Her story has been featured in numerous newspapers and magazines from The New Yorker to Jewish Week to People magazine.

Laura is currently on the national staff of the Washington Post, where she is covering presidential politics and homeland security, among other subjects.

Laura Blumenfeld holds a master�s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University and has been a staff writer at The Washington Post since 1992. She has also written for The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, and The Los Angles Times. She has reported extensively from the Middle East, including Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Turkey, Jordan, Israel and the west bank, and speaks Arabic and Hebrew.

In her speech �Revenge: A Story of Hope,� Laura Blumenfeld gives audiences a personal, and intellectual tour of dark urges often denied about the personal passions behind public events, and about the thin line between love and hate.

Laura Blumenfeld resides in Washington D.C. with her husband and two children.
Link to Laura Blumenfeld's book: Revenge
Link to book reviews on Revenge FRIVOLOUS M.U.N. THIS SATURDAY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick and simple. Our high school frivolous MUN is this Saturday, Feb. 28, 2004 at Crossroads (map link below) from 9:00 AM - 11:00 AM. Frivolous means not being serious. Come join the good time!
Map & Directions to Crossroads School

---

A Week Off
This week, there are no primaries or caucuses in any of our fifty states. There is a debate from Los Angeles this Thursday night (CNN) with the remaining four candidates. What is yet to be seen is if there will be a two-person forum with just senators John Kerry and John Edwards. We should know more about this by next week, seven days before Super Tuesday on March 2, 2004.

Our weekly survey question is about the recent entry of Ralph Nader into the presidential race.

Link to CNN election coverage

---

What do you think about Ralph Nader entering the presidential sweepstakes?

Former Green Party candidate Ralph Nader has now entered the 2004 presidential race as an independent candidates. Many people feel that his presence on the ballot in 2000 cost Al Gore the election. Many also feel that he could possibly damage the chances of the Democratic candidate in 2004. What are your thoughts on the question?

Link to Survey on Ralph Nader and the
Presidential Race
Link to Poll on Civitas Intranet Site

---

Previous Survey Results (New)

Last week's question was:


The number of computer viruses worming their way around cyberspace has been soaring in recent weeks. Apparently, more and more viruses have been directed at Microsoft products. The creators and disseminators of these viruses say that it is ethical for them to attack Microsoft because the Bellevue, Washington-based company holds such a monopoly in so many areas of the computer industry. Our questions today relate to whether you think that it is ethical to manufacture and spread virus the Microsoft-only products.



Responses:

1. Putting computer viruses into cyberspace is okay, no matter against whom. 0% (0)

2. Putting computer viruses into cyberspace is okay if only against Microsoft. 0% (0)

3. Neutral or Not Sure. 7% (1)

4. Putting computer viruses into cyberspace only to attack Microsoft products is not okay. 7% (1)

5. Putting any computer viruses into cyberspace is absolutely unethical. 86% (12)

Total: 14
Bobbi Clemons; Home School, Office Monkey

The idea of attacking someone through the internet is cowardly. If you're trying to make a statement like, "Microsoft is bad because it is a monopoly." you need to step out in the real world and do something about it.

---

Additional Links

More information about Civitas
Photo Gallery
Streaming Video [Real Media]
Web Calendar
Agendas
Civitas Intranets Site
Civitas Home Page
Previous Newsletters
Maps & Directions
Middle East Conference Index Page
High School General Assembly Assignments for 2003-2004
High School Security Council Assignments for 2003-2004
Civitas Participant Handbook
Resolutions (High School U.N.) for 2003-2004
Checklist for Writing a Model U.N. Resolution
Sample Resolution