Peacebuilding in Israel and Palestine: An Introduction

This is a 3-session workshop; participants can only sign up for the series as a whole and are expected to attend all sessions.
Dates: Sundays, January 30, February 6, and February 13, 2022, from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM

This mini-course of 3 sessions will introduce participants both to the framework of peacebuilding and the work of peacebuilding among Israelis and Palestinians. Peacebuilding is a practice of transforming conflict through a deep listening of the other, whomever that “other” may be. While peacebuilding is a practice that occurs in many regions around the world, we are focusing on examples from Israel and Palestine because of the level of interest in this issue in our local community, and because we as presenters have our own connections to these stories. We will spend time considering testimonials of both Palestinians and Israelis who have made commitments to non-violent peacebuilding. These testimonials will be drawn from diverse sources, including published memoirs, journalistic profiles, novels, and websites of peacebuilding organizations.

This is a three part series; participants are expected to attend all three sessions.

Trainers:

Mehlaqa Samdani is the founder and director of Critical Connections, a non-profit organization in western Massachusetts that educates the larger public on issues related to American-Muslims and other targeted communities. Critical Connections focuses on issues of Islamophobia, national security, civil rights and liberties, and U.S. foreign policy, among others, through regular panel discussions and the production of a community television show in partnership with Amherst Media.

Rabbi Justin David has served as the Rabbi of Congregation B’nai Israel in Northampton, MA for 18 years. Before moving to Northampton, he was the Assistant Rabbi at Adas Israel Congregation in Washington, DC, after having been ordained by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. Rabbi David is proud to lead a community that is spiritually vibrant, intellectually alive, morally engaged, and devoted to raising the next generation of compassionate Jews. He is especially proud of CBI’s dedication to support those who are most vulnerable as well as our dedication to the poetry of traditional prayer and our commitment to ongoing study. Rabbi David is the author of Longing: Jewish Meditations on a Hidden God. In 2018 he was awarded the Human Rights Hero award by T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call For Human Rights.