Thanks so much to everyone who registered and attended our first-ever Neighborhood Study Hall! If you missed it or you’re looking for the “solo step” from our session, never fear! Here’s a quick recap of our session, filled with resources and action steps!
Recap
We spent the first 15 minutes of our session connecting through introductions, sharing how we felt and what community care means to us. We moved on to 15 minutes of talking about what actions we’ve felt able to take regarding Gaza (no matter how small!), plus noting what feels harder or outside our comfort zones. The first half hour meant a lot, and I’m very grateful to the participants for being so open and vulnerable.
We spent the next 30 minutes on three action steps.
Action Steps
If you missed the study hall and want to take the steps, please find them below:
We used this free guidebook, Advocating for Palestine, to help inform hard conversations.
Our action steps included a role-play conversation with my good friend
and me. We focused on navigating criticism of the Israeli government while avoiding antisemitism, emphasizing the difference between Judaism and Zionism, and showing empathy to promote a calm interaction.It's important to note that hard conversations range from “open to education” to “de-escalation.” The talking points, emotional skills, and tactics needed change greatly depending on where the other party is on that spectrum. You can get free virtual bystander and de-escalation training from Right To Be, which offers specific training for interrupting Islamophobia and antisemitism.
We signed this petition asking Biden administration members to resign and show public refusal for complicity in genocide.
I chose this petition for our group work because it emails over 200 staff members within the White House simultaneously and already has almost 2.9 million signatures, meaning it is gaining useful traction.
We accessed a Ceasefire Tracker to learn if our Representatives and Senators supported a ceasefire and what public statements they’ve made or actions they’ve taken. Once we knew, we used this email tool to send them emails.
I really appreciate seeing all the ceasefire tracker info in one place. I chose the email tool for our group work because if your Rep or Senator has called for a ceasefire, it automatically generates a thank-you note! It also allows you to personalize subject lines and email copy, which can be useful in getting their attention.
If you’d rather make calls to your Rep or Senator, I’d recommend 5 Calls (you can also download it from the app store on your phone). This wasn’t a group step because everyone attending was already comfortable making calls. BTW, I recently learned that the magic number is contacting your officials 11 times, so go for it!
Solo Step: Learning About US Funding for the Israeli Military & Starting A Conversation
All who attended the study hall were willing to commit to a solo step this week. I’m sharing that now so everyone can give it a shot:
Find 20 minutes on your calendar between now and Sunday, February 25th. Block that time on your calendar for your Gaza action step and put a reminder in your phone that you are taking the step at that time.
Go to this tool, maintained by the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights, and learn how much people in your city pay to fund the Israeli military and what that money could do in your community instead.
The tool will generate a graphic, which you can download to share on social media to raise awareness. Or, if you don’t use social media, use the graphic to start a conversation with a friend or family member.
If you’d like a toolkit with further action steps outlined for you, I’d recommend this one.
Q & A
Tons of great questions were asked during study hall.
Here are three I wanted to answer in this follow-up:
Where can I find reliable reporting on Gaza? I don’t feel able to have conversations because I don’t know what sources to trust.
This is difficult to navigate. As Americans, it’s helpful to recognize we’ve been strongly culturally influenced to evaluate everything Arab, Middle Eastern, or Muslim through the lens of terrorism. Think about the first time you saw a terrorist depicted in a movie. For me, it was 39 years ago, in Back to the Future, with the “Libyan terrorists.” This influence only got more extreme after 9/11.
Go outside that cultural influence and try Al Jazeera, which has had Gazan journalists on their team, or Middle East Monitor. You might read things that feel uncomfortable because it differs from the US media's narrative. Uncomfortable is not the same as inaccurate.
Also, consider that our inability to understand something is often our lack of proximity to the issue. Those closest to an issue know its reality best. I learned that from Shane Claiborne, a Christian activist who went to live over 20 years ago in the “slums” of Philadelphia so he could address his proximity problem to the poverty of America’s inner cities. He also went to Iraq and Afghanistan to understand US military involvement firsthand.
While we can’t go to Gaza, we can address our proximity problem by following journalists there on social media. Their reporting is no less valuable because they are pushing it out through social media. In an extreme situation, it is the tool they have at their disposal. I’d recommend Motaz Azaiza, Bisan Owda, or Lama Jamous (Lama is a child journalist). They have all been featured in mainstream media reports if you’d like to evaluate their backgrounds.
Motaz shares some graphic content, so consider the balance between mental wellness and avoidance for one’s individual comfort when learning from him.
Who do citizens of Washington, DC, contact for national-level issues since they do not have official representation in Congress?
DC does have a Rep in Congress, although her role is very limited. You can find her office here. (This is why DC residents have license plates that say, “taxation without representation.”)
There are so many pressing issues right now. Can I contact my government officials about multiple topics at once?
I did some reading on this, and the consensus is that it is best for us to limit our outreach to our Reps and Senators to one issue at a time so as not to dilute our request on each topic. That could feel overwhelming, but try taking it one item per day or week or choose the issues you will personally take action on while identifying groups or people you can support who are taking on other issues you care about.
Thank you!
Thanks again to everyone who attended the first Neighborhood Study Hall session. I’ll be hosting another session next month. Watch for that announcement!
And a reminder: If you feel traumatized and even frozen witnessing this level of harm and crisis, you are completely normal.
Community and action are antidotes to despair.
Sounds like it was a rich time. Thank you for sharing some helpful links for us to check out and get involved ourselves.
Thank you so much for this summary! Fatigue got the best of me Saturday and I missed the study hall. I’m so grateful for the notes, I will use this guide to take action this week.