A community-wide gathering and panel discussion about the situation in Israel and Gaza, along with a report on relief efforts, will be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 28 at Shaare Zedek Synagogue, 829 North Hanley Road.

Panelists include: Morris Kalliny, an Egyptian-born assistant professor at St. Louis University and an expert on role of the media in the Arab world; Andrew Rehfeld, CEO and President of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis; J. Martin Rochester, professor of political science at University of Missouri-St. Louis and Itai Sened, an Israeli-born professor of political science at  Washington University and Director of the Center for New  Institutional Social Sciences.

Batya Abramson-Goldstein, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, will moderate the panel and Larry Levin, Publisher/CEO of the St. Louis Jewish Light will oversee the Q&A portion of the evening. The event is being sponsored by the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and the JCRC, with the support from the Jewish Light.

In addition, Federation has started a new Israel Terror Relief Fund to assist the people of Israel at this critical time. This new fund will help support the more than 1 million residents of Israel’s south, who have been living in siege, under rocket fire from terrorists in the Gaza Strip. Jewish Federations are creating this relief fund to help its partners, the Jewish Agency for Israel, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, and ORT, deliver immediate services and assistance on the ground throughout the south.

Such services include trauma counseling, financial assistance, portable bomb shelters, and potentially other initiatives including bringing children in the strike zones out of harm’s way.

Money raised will be transferred directly to JFNA’s corresponding fund that is providing $5 million of relief to the victims of this latest campaign.  St. Louis’s share of that total is $73,475.

To donate, visit jewishinstlouis.org.