Cultivating Connection: Serving Our Community Members Most Affected by What's Happening in Israel & Palestine: An Intersectional Panel

Educators, Healthcare Professionals, Liberatory/DEI Practitioners, and Parents/Caregivers

Cultivating Connection Intersectional Panel

Our Guiding Question:

How can we better serve those in our communities who hold Palestinian and Jewish identities?

The Goal:

Mutuality, learning, understanding, an attempt at shared reality, connection, in community.

⬇️ Register To Receive the Recording of Our Event: ⬇️

    Workshop Details:

    WHEN: Our event took place on Sunday January 14, 2024.

    You can expect to reserve 2 hours of your day (and receive 2 hours of professional CMH’s if you’re an SLP or adjacent professional).

    WHERE: The link will be emailed to you so you can watch at your leisure.

    This is a free workshop, open to the public.

    WHO IT'S FOR:

    • Professionals in the education, healthcare, or related fields who work with community members and colleagues who may hold Jewish or Palestinian-American identities.
    • Parents / caregivers or other community members who are curious to learn more about the personal experiences of those closely affected by the long history of conflict & the ongoing war.

    What Do Others Say?

    thank you ayelet for this heart offering today. I sent it far and wide last week, glad i can keep sending it out for people to watch
    my husband was impressed by how organized it all was. i was like welcome to the world of SLPs haha we get stuff done
    Thank you for the powerful panel this afternoon. What an incredible gathering of folx with all sorts of intersections. You did a great job facilitating. I really appreciate this opportunity. Blessings to you.
    I wanted to share my friend said that she signed up and she felt like it was a safe and inclusive space so wow. I'm blown away. I had given up hope that I would get to this place and wanted to thank you for creating this opportunity.
    This was an exceptional event Ayelet! Brilliant! Thank you for hosting with such care and compassion!
    Amazing amazing so intense and now going to lie down and rest
    This was a profound listen and I found myself feeling so much during and after! I am also so thankful for the NVC guidance and literal guide and somatic check in sheet you made. I shared it with my husband because it felt like this is an amazing resource. So just a big thank you. I'm really reflecting and checking in with me after listening in.
    Thank goodness I had my NVC worksheets

    One person’s pain does not negate another person’s pain.

    "Common humanity doesn’t mean that you agree with somebody else. It just means that you get their experience."

    - Dr. Gabor Mate

    This Panel Centers a Diversity of Perspectives & Experiences

    🫱🏾‍🫲🏼

    We come together in an attempt to better appreciate how members of the community can support, serve, and understand each other more deeply. 

    🎙️ 

    We center oral storytelling & narrative over "expert-led" factual evidence, in an attempt to connect to one another & move into shared grief.

    👩🏽‍💻

    As an audience member, you are invited to join us, bearing witness to perspectives; not to teach, not to solve, not to debate.

    The individuals on this panel are just that: Individuals.

    They are not here to speak for the beliefs of all others holding similar social identities

    We do not want to tokenize anyone, and we aim to share a number of perspectives. In an effort to further serve our audience, it is possible that we will continue to add to the voices represented here through additional live events or recordings.

    so much for controlling the narrative

    We Know:

    🔤

    Words Matter

    We explore how words & phrases can also have very different meanings, interpretations, and associations that vary greatly based on identity, history, and story.

    🗣️

    Representation Matters

    We are trying to proactively represent a variety of identities. It’s not perfect. It’s a first “attempt” to do the heart work necessary to extend our circles of care and concern.

    Who Are Our Panelists?

    This session attempts to give space to those with a variety of identities, beliefs & backgrounds.

    ⭐️

    Palestinian Americans (who are of Muslim and/or Christian faith backgrounds)

    ⭐️

    Jewish Americans who are “Pro-Israel” and “Anti-Zionist” / “Post-Zionist” / “Zionist Questioning” (who hold Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and/or Mizrahi identities)

    ⭐️

    Leaders in liberatory frameworks / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (none of whom hold Palestinian or Jewish identities)

    This is a space for the panelists to listen to one another, feel mutually acknowledged, seen, heard, and understood… this is not a debate. 

    Roni Zeiger

    Myisha T. Hill

    Maram Abed

    Paige D.

    Hadar Cohen

    Meera Mohan-Graham

    Fatemeh

    Mia Newton

    Noor Al Ramahi

    Jen Gergen, NVC Support

    In Order to Accomplish This:

    ✅ We have created clear guidelines

    These guidelines/agreements help us navigate how we will each engage, ensuring that every panelist is given time to share their stories without interruption. If guidelines are not followed, participants (both panelists and audience members) will be removed. Please scroll down to the bottom of the FAQ section to view our community agreements.

    ✅ Equal Time for Each Panelist

    Each panelist will have the same number of minutes to answer the question posed to them. We have 5 questions in total; some will be framed for all panelists, and some will be specifically geared toward our Palestinian and Jewish participants.

    ✅ Fact Checker Included

    We will have a fact checker present to ensure misinformation is not spread, and to help create an annotated document that will be distributed in full after the live recording of the event.

    ✅ No Q&A

    The chat will not be open to audience members or panelists. There will be no opportunity for live Q&A in an effort to bring focus, & allow us to sit together - at times, in discomfort. This is an opportunity to witness and listen. We hope that you will continue the conversation in your own communities.

    We acknowledge this is not the most liberated model of discussion. It is our preference to center the experience of our panelists, allowing them to engage in their stories & the experience of listening and sharing - rather than fielding questions from the audience.

    A Few Important Notes

    Living in diaspora

    Living in diaspora is an experience many of our panelists share. The feelings around this experience vary greatly.

    The reality is that we all live in communities at large, and live amongst humans holding a diversity of identities.

    Worries About "Balance"

    For those worried about whether this panel will be “a balanced” set of perspectives, we, again, invite you to consider what it means to live in communities with other people who hold various identities. Pain, fear, and hurt are inevitable.

    We need each other.

    We must seek to better understand the vast and intricate tapestry that make up our communities.

    And so, we must bear witness to each other.

    "American Experience"

    The event will center an American experience, as we are, in part, exploring how A) educational and healthcare providers might better serve clients/patients and their families here in the U.S., as well as B) find space to better understand their fellow colleagues who hold Palestinian or Jewish identities.

    Build Listening Skills

    Building our listening skills and flexing our empathy muscles are essential. Inevitably, some of what you hear expressed will cause emotional discomfort, as you will be asked to hear - and really listen to - disparate narratives.

    We will be providing suggestions for a practice of self-empathy, provided by a practitioner of Non-Violent Communication.  

    ⬇️ Register To Receive the Recording of Our Event: ⬇️

      Meet Your Host, Ayelet.

      I'm a pediatric speech-language therapist and parent educator, an Ashkenazi Jewish American woman, a humanity-centered, equity-centered business owner, and a facilitator of community spaces.

      My work is about holding space: for families, young children, practitioners working with new families, for community, and for learning spaces.

      I'm not new to holding multiple truths at once. As I've navigated my own belief system with regard to this current geo-political moment, I have frequently turned to my own values as an individual (and how I show up as a business owner and leader).

      In order to move forward (or even stand still), I believe we must additionally connect to our collective humanity. I hope to facilitate a space to do that here.

      Ayelet Marinovich, M.A., CCC-SLP

      Founder of Learn With Less® & Strength In Words LLC

      What Will The Experience of This Workshop Be Like?

      Here at Learn With Less®, we are a relationship and values-based company. To us, that means that we prioritize and make decisions based on the values we hold. We hope that learning more about these values (and how they show up in our company) will give you a good sense of what to expect!

      🤲🏽 Connection & Community

      The collective pain, fear & mourning of (age old) loss of human life require that we reach out to connect to each other.

      That we “seek connection, not conflict” (myisha t. hill). That we hold space for each other at an impossible, isolating, deeply divisive time.

      🐣 Simplicity

      This is a deep, complex, long, nuanced, overwhelming, violent history. We'd like to live in the simplicity of the binary of “good v bad” / “right v wrong.”

      The only clear thing to me is that life is sacred, that the only way out is through the grief. I am holding onto my humanity. No, clinging to it. That much is simple.

      👁‍🗨 Inclusion

      In Judaism, no one is disposable; all human life is sacred.

      I am the granddaughter of Socialist Zionist Jews. I am holding multiple truths at the same time. I am living in the nuance. It is painful, uncomfortable, & necessary to acknowledge.

      I believe in a free Palestine. I believe in collective liberation.

      🤩 Play

      How on earth could we even talk about play right now? Is play not an immense privilege?

      But what is play if not exploration, an attempt to understand our world in a new way? We must.

      And, my love, even when there is grief, there are also moments of joy. It is life.

      🧠 Education

      I seek knowledge, history, context, vetted resources, first-person narrative, reporting from a variety of sources.

      When engaging with others who do - or do not - share your own beliefs, I encourage us to lead with empathy - over education. Find the humanity of others. Acknowledge their very real pain. And continue to seek knowledge.

      ⬇️ Register To Receive the Recording of Our Event: ⬇️

        FAQ'S

        How many panelists do you have?

        We have 2-3 panelists who hold each of the aforementioned identities. Again, they are:

        • Palestinian Americans (who are of Muslim and/or Christian faith backgrounds)
        • “Pro-Israel” Jews and “Anti-Zionist” / “Post-Zionist” / “Zionist Questioning” Jews (who hold Ashkenazi, Sephardic, and/or Mizrahi identities)
        • Leaders in liberatory frameworks / Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (who do not hold Palestinian or Jewish identities)

        That's 9 panelists. We'll also have a practitioner of Nonviolent Communication (NVC), a fact checker, and technical support.

        Why are you including DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) practitioners on this panel?

        Folks in DEI have been educating around the effects of living in society with marginalized (and often multiple / intersectional) identities for a number of years: how oppression and trauma show up both in the body and in our institutions/interpersonal/intrapersonal relationships, and how we can imagine liberation.

        These are educators & practitioners who can help shape our conversation with regard to collective liberation, and in order to truly call it an intersectional panel that takes these concepts into account, I felt it would be necessary to actually consult with those in this space for the purposes of this panel. 

        How long will this event last?

        This is a 2 hour workshop. If you are a U.S. based speech-language therapist or adjacent education/healthcare professional, we can provide 2 hours of professional development in the area of cultural responsiveness and DEI.

        Can attendance / accessing the recording be applied to continuing education hours for professionals?

        Speech-Language Therapists (and other adjacent professionals) who attend or watch the recording will be invited to receive a certificate of participation for certified maintenance hours (2) that can be applied to continuing education requirements, and can be used to fulfill part of our DEI requirements.

        If you’re not really sure whether this workshop is right for you, or you have any questions or concerns, reach out to us at admin@strengthinwords.com and we will get back to you ASAP!

        What are the community guidelines you're creating to ensure people understand how to respect the space you're creating?

        In order to participate in this workshop as either a panelist or an audience member, we ask that you agree to the following community guidelines. If you cannot adhere to these guidelines, please do not attend live. If you attend and break the agreements, you will be removed from the workshop.

        ⭐️ Take the Space You’ve Been Given; Respect the Space of Others: As an audience member, your role is to bear witness. You will be asked to stay muted for the entirety of this event. We acknowledge this is not the most liberated model of discussion. It is our preference to center the experience of our panelists, allowing them to engage in their stories & the experience of listening and sharing - rather than fielding questions from the audience.

        Each of the panelists will be given the same amount of time to respond to the questions they’re posed. They have all agreed to answer these questions ahead of time. Panelists will hear an alert  when their time limit has been reached. They will be asked to close, and make space for another person.

        ⭐️ Be Here, Stay Here: Please prioritize these two hours. If you’re here, plan to be here for the entirety. There will likely be moments during this workshop when each of us will be activated. It’s easy to say “I heard this one thing that enraged me, so I tuned out everything else.” Tune in. Hold nuance. Check in with your body. Remember that life is full of multitudes, and you’re simply hearing another person’s truth. Find the space around that truth that bumps up against yours.

        ⭐️ Labels Dehumanize: Where things often get ugly quickly is the moment when people say things about entire groups of people - “what Israelis / Jews / Palestinians / Hamas do.” We ask that panelists stick to personal truths instead of using this as an opportunity as a platform for generalizations. Stick to your specific lived experiences.

        ⭐️ This is a Learning Space, and Will Not Be Perfect: We are unpacking history, memory, story, identity. It’s ok for it to feel messy; as in, panelists don’t have to get it all “right” or “perfect” when sharing. It’s also ok for information you receive to feel uncomfortable if it rubs up against your understanding of the world (as panelists and audience members).

        It is not ok to interrupt or speak over other panelists during their allotted time. It is not ok to intentionally misrepresent information, facts, or history. In order to ensure disinformation is not spread, we will have a fact checker present who will be creating an annotated document to be distributed to all registrants and panelists after the live event.

        ⭐️ Fact Checking: These are uncomfortable topics. Everyone on this panel (and many individuals participating in the virtual room) has experienced pain. When misinformation is spread, it negates everything we’re trying to accomplish. If and when panelists mention dates, statistics, or specific terminology, these will be added to an annotated document and distributed to all registrants with citations.

        ⭐️ Emotional Discomfort: Not everything you hear will be easy or comfortable to hear. Not everything will be something you agree with. This is about trying to see each perspective, each human more clearly. Your feelings are valid. We will be providing (non-violent communication) resources for you to enable you to name some of what you’re feeling, and to get it out of your body so you can process those and identify your needs.

        ⭐️ “A Central Remedy For Despair is Community:” Thank you, Louiza “Weeze” Doran, for this beautiful phrase. Conversations, sharing, connecting, reminders of the experience and weight of the moment - these are the reminders that we are all full humans, that we can lean on each other, that we are not alone. Take care of yourself, take care of what you see and hear, here. Go and process with a friend. Invite them to watch this workshop. Be intentional about being in community so you can connect to what is happening in your body, and to the truths of others.