As of January 2008, the membership in our local listserv stands at 75.

On January 17, 2007, we co-sponsored Nonie Darwish in a lecture on the University at Buffalo campus, drawing perhaps 100 attendees. Though she was speaking the next day elsewhere in Buffalo, we succeeded in raising funds to sponsor her additional talk on campus.

On January 31 we issued a statement criticizing the Western New York Peace Center for violating principles of self-professed pacifism to bring anti-Israel distortion and bias to campuses. Twenty faculty members signed the statement. Our statement was widely circulated, was covered by the local NPR affiliate, and appeared in the Buffalo Jewish Review.

On March 25-27, the Buffalo chapter chair attended the SPME strategic planning meeting in Philadelphia.

In May 2007, about 20 members held a strategizing meeting at a local coffee shop.

On Nov. 5, we co-sponsored a talk by Benjamin Krasna, Deputy Israeli Consul General, on “Israel’s Outreach to the Developing World,” with a disappointing turnout.

On Nov. 12, we co-sponsored Dexter Van Zile, Deacon in the United Church of Christ, and member of CAMERA on “How Mainline Churches View Israel,” with a turnout of about 250.

In December 2007 we were represented in a forum sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Buffalo; outreach to the university was agreed upon as an important new direction for the Fed, with additional meetings planned for 2008.

Respectfully presented,
Ernest Sternberg
Chair, University of Buffalo Chapter of SPME

Professor, Dept. of Urban & Regional Planning
Hayes Hall, South Campus
University at Buffalo, State University of New York
Buffalo, NY 14214
(716) 829-2133 ext. 224
ezs@buffalo.edu