News Releases

Israeli Pioneer in Peace and Women's Movements to Speak During Women's History Month at USM

March 4, 2004

The University of Southern Maine Women's History Month keynote speaker is Marcia Freedman, a pioneer of the Israeli women's and peace movements. Freedman will speak on "Women, Peace and Political Action: The Israeli Experience" at 5:30 p.m., Monday, March 15, in Luther Bonney Auditorium on the Portland campus. Her address is free and open to the public, as is a reception in her honor that will take place at 7 p.m. in the Woodbury Campus Center.

The annual Women's History Month dinner will also take place in the Woodbury Campus Center at 7:30 p.m. on March 15. Tickets for the dinner are $15 public and $9 for students and must be reserved by calling USM's Women's Studies Office at 780-4862.

Freedman emigrated from the United States to Israel in 1967. She was elected to the Israeli Knesset and served from 1973-1977 as a member of the Citizens Rights Movement. She raised concerns not addressed in Israel before--domestic violence, rape, incest, breast cancer, and teenage prostitution. She introduced legislation that led to reform of Israel's then highly restrictive abortion law and in 1977 co-founded the Women's Party.

During her years in Israel, Freedman was an active member of the Israeli peace movement and is currently president of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, a national organization of American Jews committed to Israel's well-being through the achievement of a negotiated settlement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

She is the author of "Exile in the Promised Land," a memoir of her years in Israel.

Editor's Note: To help arrange interviews with Freedman, please contact USM's Office of Public Affairs at 780-4200.

USM is celebrating Women's History Month with a varied series of events, including a March 20 walking tour of "Portland Irish Women's History." A list of events that are open to the public appears below:

Thursday, March 4
Ladies' High Tea and Feminist Insurgency Society discussion, "Working Class Women & the Academy," Sonia Acevedo, USM English major, Eileen Eagan, USM and Janet Zandy, author of "Calling Home: Working-Class Women's Writings," 2:30-4 p.m., Woodbury Campus Center Amphitheater, Portland, free and open to the public, 780-4289.

Friday, March 5
Author Janet Zandy will join Kimberly Simmons' "Women and Social Change" class, 9-11:30 a.m., Room 523, Luther Bonney Hall, Portland, free and open to the public, 780-4289.

Tuesdays, March 9 and March 30
Lavender Bag Lunch Series sponsored by the Center for Sexualities and Gender Diversity, 12 noon-1 p.m., Boiler Room, Woodbury Campus Center, Portland, free and open to the public, 780-5767.

Tuesday, March 9
Women's History Month lecture, "Cultures of Desire: Peyton Place and the Place of Writing in Working Class Life and Culture," Ardis Cameron, USM, 1:15-2:30 p.m., Woodbury Campus Center Amphitheater, free and open to the public, 780-4289.

Wednesday, March 10
Women's Suffrage Film Series, "Life & Times of Rosie the Riveter," 11:30-1:30 p.m., Women's Resource Center, Woodbury Campus Center, Portland, free and open to the public, 780-4996.

Wednesday, March 10
Women's Resource Center Taboo Topics Series, "The Stigma of Reporting Sexual Harassment," 7-8 p.m., Burnham Lounge, Robie-Andrews Hall, Gorham, 780-4996.

Wednesday, March 17
Women's Resource Center Taboo Topics Series, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," 12 noon-1 p.m., Woodbury Campus Center, Portland, 780-4996.

Saturday, March 20
Women's History Month Walking Tour: "Portland Irish Women's History," 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m., meet at the Irish Heritage Center in St. Dominic's Church, 34 Gray St., Portland, free and open to the public, for more information and to confirm details, contact Professor Eileen Eagan, 780-5058.

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