Pledge: Pres. Elect Keith Wescovich
Prayer: Ron Scott, a moment of silence was observed for Chuck Euskolitz who passed away last Sunday.
Song: Andy Anderson
Brents Card Game Winner: Donna Lash
Sergeants Report: Paul Moore
Raffle Winners: Matt Rubin, Keith Wescovich, Gerri Lewis
Happy Bucks: John Donnelly was happy for a successful Interact fundraiser, Daffodil Days.
Announcements:
Keith: Urged the members, especially newer members to attend the District Assembly on April 23 in Meriden. Its a great opportunity to get an overview of Rotary in one place in one day.
Keith read a letter of thanks from the Interact Club thanking them for our support of their book fair.
Keith informed the club of the high school senior project Walk for Cancer. Support is greatly appreciated.
Keith read an invitation from the Conn. Defenders minor league baseball team to come out to Dodd Stadium in Norwich to hold a meeting or event there. Keith got a show of hands which was overwhelmingly in favor. He will get more details.
Bill Bernhart: There will be a meeting of the Community Outreach committee following the regular meeting.
Brent Taylor: Safe Grad Night is having a golf tournament April 30 at Fox Hopyard. Anyone wishing to play, please let Brent know. It would be great if a team from the Rotary Club came out and supported this event. Safe Grad Night provides an alcohol-free night of fun at the Middle School. Graduating seniors can relax, win prizes and have a lot of fun without having to travel to various parties. You may also contact Matt Rubin who is on the committee.
Gerri Lewis: On April 19, at the New Haven Country Club in Hamden, there will be a welcoming brunch for the arriving GSE teams from Germany and Guatemala. All Rotarians are welcome. Gerri asked for and received volunteers to provide rides to activities on May 4.
Bill O'Shaughnessy: Bill met with other civic group leaders with officials of Old Lyme. Bill Bernhart also went and talked about our Community Outreach program.
Program: 
Marty introduced our speaker Jerry Fischer, Exec. Director of the Jewish Federation of Eastern Connecticut a job he has held for 25 years.
Jerry felt that with the new Obama administration, the prospects for peace are better. However, difficult challenges from well before 1948, will make peace very difficult to attain. Colonial powers messed up the region and today, it remains extremely volatile. Iran has been a destabilizing force and changing our relationship to one of cooperation and understanding will be very difficult.
Thinking he would promote democracy, Pres. George Bush insisted on elections in Gaza, despite warnings from Pres. Abbas and as a result, Hamas won seats in parliament which resulted in a divided government. This lead to a brutal civil war with Hamas emerging stronger by killing their politcal, more moderate, enemies. Hamas, a deeply religious organization which was repressed, is now in power. Their charter includes the obliteration of the State of Israel and among other things, the elimination of Rotary International.
Two-thirds of the population of Israel agree that a two-state solution is necessary for peace. The way forward however is difficult as Hamas fires obsolete, uncontrollable rockets into Israel from Gaza, terrorizing the Israeli population in the bordering towns. Suicide bombing has been reduced due to security measures taken.
Cease fires have lasted for short periods but ultimately fail leading to military operations by Israel. Hamas has contrived public relations displays that follow these operations to gain worldwide condemnation of Israel. Egypt is trying to broker peace between Israel and Gaza. The settlements are a big issue today and the Palestinians had an opprortunity to gain more territory in the West Bank but because rockets have been fired from territory ceded to the Palestinians by Israel, it is now impossible to consider allowing settling on the West Bank because it is close to Tel Aviv, a city with a population of 800,000. The problem of terrorizing attacks must be solved first but Jerry thinks it will eventually happen.
md
