Wednesdays - May 14 & May 21, 2025 - 7:00pm
Engaging Our Empathy, Developing Our Confidence: a Workshop for Palestine
As the situation in Palestine reaches apocalyptic proportions and we struggle to find the confidence to mobilize our empathetic impulses, we need safe spaces to develop tools to overcome what holds us back. Join us for this critical workshop as we struggle together to heed the cries of humanity.
In these sessions we will roleplay talking to our friends and family about one of the most heartbreaking tragedies of our times, the genocide in Palestine. After reviewing the most crucial facts and history surrounding the occupation of Palestine, we will explore ways to productively build our courage and empathy.
Making connections between the war on Palestine and the war on democratic rights in the U.S. we will broaden our courageous and empathetic impulses as we intervene for a more democratic and socially just future.
The goal of this two-part event is to help each other be more effective advocates for poor and oppressed people in the U.S. and to contribute to the related movement for a free Palestine.
Wednesday - May 28, 2025 - 7:00pm
The Struggle to Survive
Join us for a pre-recorded virtual session to learn about the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) and Al-Reef Fair Trade and their relationship with Equal Exchange.
In this session, representatives from PARC will provide an overview of what olive farming means to Palestinians, both economically and culturally. They will describe the various services that PARC provides to farmers, including technical assistance, processing facilities, quality testing, low-cost olive pressing, as well as marketing and exporting services. They will share first-hand accounts of the dangerous and uncertain conditions facing Palestinian olive growers in the West Bank.
As a national developmental organization, PARC promotes the sustainable economic development of 41 farmer cooperatives and performs other social services such as improving water supply and investing in critical infrastructure. PARC also provides social services for women, children, and families and hope to young people in the form of tangible career path training.
Friday - June 6, 2025 - 7:00pm
Where Olives Trees Weep Film Screening and Palestinian Olive Oil Tasting
Join us for an evening of Palestinian olive oil tasting with Equal Exchange followed by screening and discussion of Where Olive Trees Weep.
We are excited to bring local friends, family, and neighbors together for a screening of this impactful film.
We will begin the evening with a tasting of Palestinian olive oil presented by Equal Exchange. Following the screening we will have time for discussion and building community.
From Producer: "Where Olive Trees Weep offers a searing window into the struggles and resilience of the Palestinian people under Israeli occupation. It explores themes of loss, trauma, and the quest for justice.
We follow, among others, Palestinian journalist and therapist Ashira Darwish, grassroots activist Ahed Tamimi, and Israeli journalist Amira Hass. We also witness Dr. Gabor Maté offer trauma-healing work to a group of women who were tortured in Israeli prisons.
Ancient landscapes bear deep scars, having witnessed the brutal reality of ancestral land confiscation, expulsions, imprisonment, home demolitions, water deprivation, and denial of basic human rights. Yet, through the veil of oppression, we catch a glimpse of resilience—deep roots that have carried the Palestinian people through decades of darkness and shattered lives.
This emotional journey bares the humanity of the oppressed while grappling with the question: what makes the oppressor so ruthlessly blind to its own cruelty?"
Wednesday - June 18, 2025 - 7:00pm - In Person
Wednesday - June 25, 2025 - 7:00pm - Via Zoom - SPECIAL GUEST, IMMANUEL SOLAS
Book circle: Creating Shifts—Decolonizing Spirit, Reimagining Our World
If you've ever felt disheartened by the avoidance of real struggle in spiritual spaces, you're not alone.
“Creating Shifts” offers an innovative framework for spiritual activism in an age of polycrisis. It is grounded in an honest approach to personal growth that refuses to spiritually bypass social inequities and systemic problems or hide behind toxic positivity.
What we will explore:
The relationship between spirituality and social justice
Practical tools for decolonizing spiritual practices
Frameworks for building inclusive communities
Strategies for sustainable activism and social change
Ways to avoid individual self-improvement at the expense of collective liberation.
June 18th - 7:00 PM - In person book circle
June 25th - 7:00 PM - Online book circle with author Immanuel Solas.