The Peacemakers’ Task Force at Our Redeemer’s Lutheran Church is inviting the public to hear Yael Maritz, an Israeli woman who will share her story about growing up in the small town of Ramat –Yishai in the Jezreel Valley.

The event is on Saturday, June 6, at 7 p.m., at Our Redeemer's, on the corner of 24th Avenue Northwest and Northwest 85th.

"Continuing in our effort to see the many perspectives of Middle East life (in March, we heard from a Palestinian woman), we feel these are opportunities to gain knowledge first-hand from people who have experienced this part of the world," said church organizers.

Refreshments will be served and all members of the public are welcome to attend.

Maritz was born in 1982 (during the first Lebanon war) on a Kibbutz named Dovrat, attended a Kibbutz high school, was on an Israeli national team in Karate, winning 3rd place in Europe at age 16. 

Maritz joined the Israeli Defense Force at 18. She spent an extra year in the military by taking a Military Intelligence officers’ course; Maritz is still technically a 'Senior Lieutenant Reserve. 

She moved to Seattle to go to college.  She has 2.5 more years on her student visa and is currently doing the "residency" part of her education at a company called Surreal Software (which makes computer games), before she goes back home to Israel.