All are welcome in this workshop. It is a safe space for reflection and inquiry to explore fundamental questions central to the history of Israel-Palestine. These are some starter affirmations or group commitments during our Sumud study. We can add to them or adjust them as agreed by the group.
Listen
We enter this workshop with different levels of prior knowledge on Israel/Palestine — that is ok and welcome. The teach-in portion of the workshop will equip us all with a common foundation based in historical fact. Please listen attentively during the teach-in.
We all enter this workshop with different perspectives. During the discussion portion, please share your perspectives honestly and ask frank questions. Please also listen and engage with other participants respectfully, even if you do not always agree with what is said. We come to this space with open hearts and open minds.
Speak
Please speak from your own experience, aware of your positionality and possible privilege in society (race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ability, religion, nationality, education, etc.) We come to this space from a place of spiritual equality, regardless of our backgrounds.
Please also speak up and recognize if you feel disrespected or a microaggression. You can do so orally or with a chat message. An “oops” or “ouch” may be a helpful way to indicate when something happens that is, or appears, hurtful. In such a circumstance, we’ll pause, breathe, and slow down to do any group processing needed. We will also welcome guidance from the person who was hurt.
Such a circumstance becomes an opportunity to learn together about how to address a microaggression or instance of oppression in real time.
You are also welcome to add or vocalize a “hurrah” or “right on” when another Friend speaks your mind and you’d like to underscore what they shared.
What’s shared here stays here — what’s learned here leaves here
In order to make this a safe space for discussion, no recording is allowed, and nothing shared in our Sumud sessions is for attribution without the consent of the person who said it. You are encouraged to share the content of what was said with others afterwards, but not share who said it. This is also called the “Chatham House Rule.”
Opportunity for All to Speak
Friends are asked to pause for a brief reflection after another person has spoken. Friends who have already spoken should give an opportunity to those who have not yet spoken before speaking a second time. In this manner, we will all grow together intellectually, spiritually, and morally. The facilitator will occasionally invite Friends who have not yet spoken to do so if they would like.