Our Monthly Third Thursday Lunches bring in speakers to give new insights and perspectives on current events and social issues. Click here to contact the Planning Committee with feedback or suggestions.
Upcoming Third Thursday Lunches.
The Third Thursday Lunches continue at
Hotel Louisville
120 West Broadway (Second & Broadway)
January 15, 2025
Presentation at noon
Buffet begins at 11:30am
U.S. Labor and the Struggle for Palestine featuring Jeff Schuhrke, Author and Historian
The US labor movement’s complicity in Zionist settler colonialism, and a call for today’s labor militants to organize in solidarity with Palestinians.
US trade unionists are often told to keep quiet and remain neutral on Palestine because “Palestine has nothing to do with unions” and “weighing in” only distracts from struggles for better working conditions.
In his newest book, Neutrals There US Labor, Zionism, and the Struggle For Palestine, Jeff Schuhrke, engages that pervasive sentiment by recounting the history of the US labor movement’s century-long involvement in the struggle for Palestine. Jeff convincingly demonstrates that unions in the United States have never been silent or neutral on the question of Palestine. In fact, they have played a key role—in the initial Zionist colonization of Palestine, the foundation of the Israeli state in 1948, supporting US foreign policy commitments to Israel, and the ongoing suppression of the Palestinian liberation movement.
Schuhrke shows that US unions helped build and maintain the state of Israel, and also shines a light on important exceptions to this rule: instances of US labor solidarity with the Palestinian freedom struggle that point the way forward for today’s labor movement.
Jeff Schuhrke is a labor historian and assistant professor at the Harry Van Arsdale Jr. School of Labor Studies, SUNY Empire State University. In addition to No Neutrals There, he is the author of and Blue-Collar Empire: The Untold Story of US Labor’s Global Anticommunist Crusade. His writing appears frequently in Jacobin, In These Times, Jewish Currents, and Labor Notes.
Hotel Louisville * 120 West Broadway (Corner of 2nd St. & Broadway)
Free Off-Street Parking
Full Buffet Lunch at 11:30 * Presentation at Noon *
$10.00 at the Door*
Reservations for lunch required by Monday, January 12
RSVP to Beverley Marmion: 502-451-5658, bamarmion@mail.com
*price includes tips for the servers
PLEASE NOTE: If you make a reservation and then need to cancel, please cancel by the Monday reservation deadline. Failing to do so means that Hotel Louisville prepares more food than we need and we are charged for the meal that is not canceled. We thank you and look forward to seeing you!
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Previous Lunches
November 20, 2025 – Meanwhile, Back on the West Bank featuring Rev. K.T. Ockels (listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
October 16, 2025 – Seeking Racial Justice in Louisville featuring Ed Harness, Inspector General, Louisville Metropolitan Police Department (listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
September 18, 2025 – Somos un Circulo (We are a Circle) featuring Karina Barillas of La Casita Center (listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
April 14, 2025 – A Fresh Progressive Voice on Metro Council with Metro Councilman J.P. Lyninger (listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
March 20, 2025 – The Journey of a Civil Rights Activist with Gracie Lewis (listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
January 16, 2025 – The Pro-Israel Lobby & the Opposing Role of the American Council for Judaism with Allan Brownfeld (watch VIDEO)
November 21, 2024 – Haiti and the Haitian Crisis: Finding a way forward with Lionel Derenoncourt
(listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
October 17, 2024 – Solidarity With the Suffering in the Middle East with the Revs. Phil & Tricia Lloyd-Sidle
September 19, 2024 – Trans/Gender Basics for the Future with Alden Jones, PhD (watch VIDEO)
April 18, 2024 – Women of Iran: A Feminist Perspective with Farah Mokhtareizadeh (watch VIDEO)
March 21, 2024 – Legacy across Generations: Anne Braden’s Spiritual Granddaughters with Cate Fosl (listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
February 15, 2024 – The Kentucky Center for African American Heritage with Aukram Burton (listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
January 18, 2024 – “Gaza: Ceasefire Now!” featuring Dr. Ibrahim Imam & Shachaf Polakow, moderated by FOR Louisville co-chair Pat Geier (watch VIDEO)
November 16, 2023 – “The American Civil Liberties Union: Action Plans for 2024” with Amber Duke (listen on Solutions to Violence radio archives)
September 21, 2023 – “Out of Sight – Out of Mind – Out of Money: Turning the Lights ON at Metro Jail” with Kyle Ellison (listen to AUDIO), Presentation transcript and additional resources, Links and articles
April 20, 2023 – “Ukraine and the Anti-War Movement” with Ariel Gold (watch VIDEO)
March 16, 2023 – “Who Are the Women and Men Behind Bars in Kentucky, Going Beyond the Statistics” with Gail Chandler (watch VIDEO)
February 16, 2023 – “On a Kentucky Riverbank, a Path to Remembrance” with Hannah Drake (watch VIDEO)
January 19, 2023 – “Gun Violence: Prevention and Protection” with Cathy Mekus and Kemal Wells (watch VIDEO)
November 17, 2022 – “Rescue and refuge in the desert: Voices from the Borderlands” with Bob Kee and Dora Rodriguez (watch VIDEO)
October 20, 2022 – “Voting Rights under Attack: The Current Situation, Locally and Nationally” with Dee Pregliasco (watch VIDEO)
September 15, 2022 – “Kentucky Resources Council, The Good Trouble Proposal” with Tom “Fitz” Fitzgerald (watch VIDEO)
April 21, 2022 – “Answering questions on Ukraine and Russia” with Andrew Bacevich (watch VIDEO)
March 17, 2022 – “Hurt to Hope and Ultimately, to Healing: How Gun Violence Changed My Life” with Rose Smith and Barbara Boyd (watch VIDEO)
February 17, 2022 – “Issues Before the 2022 Kentucky General Assembly” with Representative Pamela Stevenson (watch VIDEO)
January 20, 2022 – “The State of Homelessness in Louisville” with Natalie Harris (watch VIDEO)
November 18, 2021 – “The Teaching of African and Native American History” with Dr. Ricky Jones (watch VIDEO)
October 21, 2021 – “Palestine and Israel – Update and Analysis” with Dr. Ibrahim Imam (watch VIDEO)
September 16, 2021 – “Philanthropic Redlining” with Rev. Kelly Kirby (watch VIDEO)
April 15, 2021 – “Hood to the Holler” with Charles Booker (watch VIDEO)
March 18, 2021 – “Reparations” with Rev. Kevin Cosby (watch VIDEO)
February 18, 2021 – “Collective Courage: Black Co-ops in Louisville’s West End” (watch VIDEO)
January 21, 2021 – “Police, Power, and Privilege” with Sadiqa Reynolds (watch VIDEO)
January 16, 2020 – “More Than Just a Bed: Addressing the Needs of Louisville’s Homeless” with Nina Moseley, CEO of Wayside Christian Mission (watch VIDEO)
November 2019 – “Kentucky’s Renewable Energy Future” with David Brown Kinloch
September 19, 2019 – “Fork University” with Doug Lowry (watch VIDEO)
August 2019 – “Stories from the Border” with Cory Lockhart
June/July 2019 – “Stories from the Border” with Tricia Lloyd-Sidle
(watch VIDEO)
February 21, 2019 – “ASALH: Migration from Our Ignorance to the Truth” with Barbara Spencer Dunn (watch VIDEO)
October 2018 – “The Bail Project” with Shameka Parrish-Wright (watch VIDEO)
January 2018 – “Racial and Socio-Economic Equity Issues in Jefferson County Public Schools” with Chris Harmer (view NOTES from presentation)
Fellowship of Reconciliation | Louisville Chapter 