Event Calendar

Join Nonviolence International for a webinar on March 16, Monday, at 11:30am CT and 6:30pm Jerusalem time, entitled Solidarity in Action: Resisting Occupation in Palestine and Minnesota. This will be a conversation among Palestinian and Minnesota activists about nonviolent resistance to occupation and state violence. This webinar brings together organizers from two contexts where communities are confronting intensified state control, displacement and militarized enforcement: one new, in  Minnesota, where federal immigration enforcement actions, characterized by a large deployment of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Border Patrol agents and have been resisted by community protests, grassroots defense and community building efforts have deeply impacted families and organizers, and veterans in the West Bank, where decades of military occupation shape everyday life and resistance, and have seen an increase of violence in the last months.

While there is no equivalency in duration or depth of violence and impunity, we have an opportunity to learn from people who have resisted occupation their entire lives and from those who may or may not have experienced it comparatively recently. Speakers will share their lived experiences, contrast strategies of resistance, shared learning and explore opportunities for solidarity and collective action. Through this exchange, we aim to center community agency, hope, and shared learning, and uplifting practices of resilience and organizing.


The webinar will be hosted by Mel Duncan, from Minnesota, co-founder of the Nonviolent Peaceforce and organizer of the Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine (UCPiP). And speakers include Amira Musallam, Head of Mission of UCPiP, Maddie Moon, Minnesota community organizer, and Emilia Gonzalez Avalos, Executive Director for UNIDOS MN.

Goals:

• Share lessons learned from grassroots resistance in both contexts 

• Build and invite compassion and mutual understanding

• Identify opportunities for solidarity and collaboration between movements fighting occupation, displacement, and state violence

This Webinar on January 21, at 10AM ET and 5PM Jerusalem time, entitled Beyond Political Illusions: What This Moment Demands of Us is a strategic conversation bringing together Jonathan Kuttab, Huwaida Arraf, and Jeff Halper. Building on earlier discussions that focused on NVI’s book “Beyond the Two State Solution” this webinar responds to the current reality of genocide, escalating violence, and deepening impunity across Palestine. Our guests will clarify what international law and moral responsibility require of us now to manifest a new society committed to nonviolence, justice, equality, and the dignity of life.

Goals:

• Support Jeff Halper’s 1 state campaign

• Encourage worldwide book groups around Jonathan’s book

• Clarify the political reality in Palestine and move beyond dominant political frameworks that have collapsed 

• Explore what international law, nonviolent action and moral responsibility require of individuals and movements

• Challenge all the existent political frameworks and question how individuals and movements can actually push for alternative frameworks to be put in action

“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.” Marcel Proust

We are living in a time of unprecedented change. Old systems are collapsing and uncertainty is rising. Trust in leadership is eroding. Our institutions — political, social, religious, and even activists — are struggling to inspire faith, courage, or direction. Leaders rise, but few lead — the best ones are trying their best to manage crises after crises, caught in the same cycles they were meant to transform.

When it comes to true leadership, vision has been replaced by visibility and noise has taken the place of wisdom. We are drowning in information but starving for insight. In the landscapes we live in, leadership as we know it is no longer enough.

The challenges we face, such as climate collapse, systemic injustice, polarization, and despair cannot be solved by the same mindset that created them. What is needed is not better management of the old, but the birth of the new.

A new kind of leadership. A nonlinear one.
Leadership that emerges from consciousness, not control.
From vision, not fear.
From possibility, not precedent.

Nonlinear Leadership was created for those who feel this tension; leaders, changemakers, and activists who know that something deeper must shift.
It is for those ready to think differently, act courageously, and lead from vision rather than fear.

• Are you in a leadership position but find yourself struggling to move forward efficiently and effectively? 
• Are you an activist striving to make a difference but feel stuck?
• Do you want to have a breakthrough and lead with more clarity and confidence?
• Are you seeking to achieve greater results in your life and for those around you?

Join Nonviolence International in the launch of our second online training program, and designed to develop strong and effective leadership for the challenges of our time. It will begin on January 10th, at 11AM ET and 6PM Jerusalem time, on a weekly basis, until February 14th. 

What is the Nonlinear Leadership Development Program?

This is a deep personal development journey designed to awaken your inner leadership.
It gives you tools to make the impossible possible—in your personal life, your work, your community, and your country.

Developed from the pioneering work of Miki Walleczek, Nonlinear Leadership begins at the individual level. It reconnects you with your innate creativity, intelligence, and responsibility, giving you access to action through the power of nonlinear thinking and language.

Participants first cultivate inner clarity and vision—discovering what it truly means to lead—and then expand their leadership into the collective, building communities capable of self-organization, innovation, and sustained transformation.

This approach helps distinguish facts from interpretations, moving beyond the weight of the past to act from future possibilities. Through this, participants engage in deep reflection, challenge limiting mindsets, and foster environments where people can thrive amidst uncertainty and change.

The training will be facilitated by Sami Awad, Co-Director of Nonviolence International.

What will you learn?

• Deal effectively with challenges and breakdowns on personal, professional, community, and national levels.
• Build relationships based on mutual trust and respect.
• Respond effectively to what is happening here and now.
• Create bold, future-driven visions that honor but are not bound by the past.
• Accomplish breakthrough results.
• Lead purposeful, outcome-oriented meetings.
• Understand and harness the power of context in leadership.
• Build networks that empower and sustain your vision.

What will you accomplish?

• Gain access to powerful, action-oriented language.
• Learn nonlinear tools applicable across all dimensions of life.
• Free yourself from constraints of the past.
• Create an inspiring and transformative future for yourself, your community, and your organization.
• Build self-organizing networks that turn the impossible into reality.
• Engage with the principles of nonlinearity, self-organization, and emergence.
• Strengthen your sense of self-responsibility and clarity in decision-making.

We welcome:

• Leaders committed to building a future founded on nonviolence, justice, equality, and peace.
• Leaders ready to create breakthroughs in their lives and work.
• Those seeking to challenge what they know and open new possibilities.
• Anyone willing to learn, grow, and explore new approaches to leadership.

Participation is limited to 30 people, ensuring an intimate and high-impact learning experience.

Contribution:

The full program value is $600, but Nonviolence International is committed to accessibility.
We invite voluntary contributions based on each participant’s ability to give, ensuring no one is turned away for financial reasons.

Apply Now

If you’re ready to redefine what leadership and community means in your life.
If you’re ready to think and act beyond the limits of linear systems - then this program is for you.

To apply, please fill in the following form.

Join us on December 13, at 10AM ET / 3PM Western Sahara, for an important webinar that sheds light on one of the world’s least-known yet longest-standing occupations: Western Sahara.

The event will begin with a clear and concise political–historical overview of the occupation, providing the essential grounding needed to understand the nonviolent resistance movement led by the Saharawi people. From there, our speakers will explore how Saharawi communities have organized, documented abuses, and sustained resilience in the face of deepening repression.

You’ll hear directly from long-time Saharawi human rights activists Salka Barca, from the Western Sahara Solidarity Committee (WSSC) and Karama Sahara, Nayua Aduh, from the Committee Against the Exploitation of the Saharawi People, and Mulay Sid Ahmed, from the Saharawi Association in the USA (SAUSA). We will also be joined by David Wildman, who brings over three decades of experience in faith-based international justice work. The conversation will be hosted by Susan Smith, Director of Operations and Community Engagement at the Fellowship of Reconciliation - USA (FOR - USA).

This webinar is a rare opportunity to learn from voices deeply rooted in the struggle: those who have shaped, documented, and sustained Saharawi nonviolent resistance for decades. Whether you are an advocate, student, organizer, or simply someone committed to global justice, this event will offer concrete pathways to support a future of dignity and self-determination for the Saharawi people.

What we will explore together:

• The political and historical roots of the current occupation
• How Saharawi communities organize and resist through nonviolent means
• Firsthand testimonies from human rights defenders
• How international allies can play a meaningful and ethical role
• Recent developments on the ground, including rising repression and documentation efforts
• Practical advocacy tools and ways to support Saharawi-led initiatives
• Live dialogue and Q&A with speakers

Don’t miss this opportunity to deepen your understanding and stand in solidarity.

This webinar is hosted by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and Nonviolence International. and sponsored by Western Sahara Solidarity Committee.

Register now to be part of this important conversation!

Join us on October 8, at 10 AM Eastern time / 5 PM Jerusalem time for a vital online conversation with activists Huwaida Arraf, Haneen Sabbah, Sahar Vardi, and Amira Musallam, Ariel Gold, as we enter the third year of resistance to genocide against Palestinians. This webinar will explore how Palestinians and their allies persist in resisting with courage, resilience, and creativity.

Hear directly from these activists, and nonviolence practitioners, about the strategies and stories that sustain hope and resistance. We’ll examine the continuity of nonviolent action and discuss lessons from both local and global movements for justice.



Haneen Sabbah: Palestinian Falahi woman and mother, now based in southern Portugal, is a writer at We Are Not Numbers and contributed two writings to Global Voices. She is also an organizer, singer and storyteller at heart, and teaches Arabic online. Besides all that, she is a culture worker, shining a light on Palestinian culture with songs, food and stories.

Amira Musallam: Palestinian Christian peace activist and the Head of Mission for Unarmed Civilian Protection in Palestine (UCPiP), a pilot initiative she co-founded to deploy and coordinate protective presence teams in high-risk Palestinian communities. With over nine years of experience in project management and fundraising, Amira has worked with B’Tselem, Holy Land Trust, and international networks advocating for civilian protection and accountability. Her lifelong commitment to nonviolence began in her youth after experiencing violence first-hand. She has since dedicated herself to resisting land seizures, supporting threatened communities, and building global solidarity circles to challenge impunity. Amira has spoken at the United Nations, engaged policymakers worldwide, and continues to center the voices of Palestinian women and families facing dispossession and war.

Sahar Vardi: Anti-militarist and anti-occupation activist from Jerusalem. Sahar was a conscientious objector, and has been involved in protective presence and solidarity work with Palestinian throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem for over twenty years. Previously she led the Israel program of the American Friends Service Committee, doing extensive research on Israel’s military export and human rights violations associated with it. More recently, Sahar graduated from the Rotary Peace Fellowship where she researched the environmental impacts of militaries and their action, and continues to research the intersection of environmental and military harm, both in the context of Palestine-Israel, as well as globally. She is currently involved in different grassroots anti-occupation groups, including Free Jerusalem, Boycott from Within, and protective presence projects in the South Hebron Hills. 

Ariel Gold: Executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation. She was the national co-director of the antiwar group CODEPINK, where she specialized in campaigns for Palestinian rights. She is a member of Congregation Tikkun v’Or in Ithaca, New York where she resides and has been a longtime active member of Jewish Voice for Peace.

Huwaida Arraf: A Palestinian social justice activist and a civil right attorney, who is the cofounder of the Nobel Peace Prize-nominated International Solidarity Movement (ISM), and leading the Free Gaza Movement, organized 5 sea voyages to Gaza to challenge the Israel's illegal blockade on the Palestinians. Her mission is displaying to the world of what Palestinians are enduring throughout the history and creating a generation of resistance to occupation through nonviolent actions. Huwaida is one of the activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, despite the unlawful interception of the vessel, and enduring the treatment of the Israeli forces, she continues to embody the spirit of steadfast resistance. 

This is a space to learn, connect, and take action. Together, we will explore how international solidarity can support Palestinian communities and amplify their voices, proving that principled resistance can endure even in the most challenging circumstances.

Goals:

• Illuminate the realities of the Palestinian people entering the third year of intensified violence and systemic oppression.

• Highlight the human, social, and political impacts of the ongoing occupation and settler-colonial policies.

• Provide tools for international activists, organizations, and allies to support Palestinian nonviolent resistance effectively.

• Encourage networking, collaboration, and strategic advocacy beyond immediate geographical boundaries.
  
  
• Reinforce nonviolence as a powerful, principled, and effective response to systemic oppression.
  
  

The webinar is a unique opportunity to gain deep insights from sources who have played an important part in the struggle against occupation and who offer valuable knowledge so you, as part of the global family committed to peace and justice, can contribute to the future of the West Bank and Gaza. 

Don’t miss out, register now to be part of this important conversation!

Connect • Reflect • Organize

You are warmly invited to join a global virtual gathering of individuals and groups participating in the 250 Calories Solidarity Fast for Gaza.

As we engage in this powerful act of nonviolent resistance, we are not alone. This online meeting is a space to connect with others around the world who are fasting in solidarity with the people of Gaza. Together, we will reflect on our shared commitment, hear updates from organizers, and explore ways to amplify our collective impact.

The meeting will be facilitated by NVI Co-Director, Sami Awad, based in Bethlehem, Palestine. 
We will also have partners speaking live from Gaza on the humanitarian situation on the ground, and showing how you can help. 

What to Expect

• Deeper understanding of fasting as a powerful nonviolent tactic

• Brief campaign updates and goals moving forward

• Reflections from fasters across different regions

• Open space for sharing experiences, challenges, and inspiration

• Opportunities to coordinate actions and outreach globally

Whether you’re fasting for one day or the full 40 days, your presence matters. Let’s strengthen this movement by showing up for each other — and for Gaza.

Please fill out the form on this page to reserve your spot.

 “We fast because we cannot feast while others starve.
We gather because solidarity must be seen, heard, and felt.”

“The real act of discovery consists not in finding new lands, but in seeing with new eyes.“

Marcel Proust

“To be outstanding leaders and achieve exceptional results, we have to change the way we think about the world and about what is possible.” 

Miki Walleczek

“We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” 

Albert Einstein

      Sami Awad giving a NLD training in Palestine, 2010

Are you in a leadership position but find yourself struggling to move forward efficiently and effectively? 

Are you an activist striving to make a difference but feel stuck? 

Do you want to have a breakthrough and lead with more clarity and confidence?

Are you seeking to achieve greater results in your life and for those around you? 

Join Nonviolence International in the launch of their first online training program to develop strong and effective leadership in order to face the challenges we are facing in the world today. 

Nonlinear Leadership Development promotes leadership paradigms that inspire leaders to think beyond traditional frameworks, by empowering individuals and communities to navigate complexities, embrace innovation, and drive positive change.

What is the Nonlinear Leadership Development Program?

It is a deep personal development program to enhance inner skills of leadership. The purpose of the program is to provide leaders with the tools that help them make the impossible possible at the level of their personal life, their work, community, and for their country.

The unique contribution of the nonlinear methodology is that it begins at the individual level, providing a methodology that can successfully put people in touch with their innate leadership potential by unleashing their self-responsibility, creativity, intelligence and commitment, and by giving them a voice and direct access to action through nonlinear thinking and the power of language.

Participants start by creating the visions and strategies for leadership within themselves - understanding what it means to be a leader - and then from there they move on to serving the larger community. Furthermore, this methodology is designed to ensure sustainability through the building of a dynamic, growing network of self-organizing communities.

This approach emphasizes distinguishing between interpretations and facts, enabling individuals to move beyond past traumas and make decisions aligned with future possibilities. By adopting NLT, participants are encouraged to engage in deep self-reflection, challenge existing mindsets, and cultivate self-awareness, thereby fostering environments where teams can thrive amidst uncertainty and change.

The training will be provided by our co-director, Sami Awad. 

What will you learn?

• Deal effectively with breakdowns and problems on the personal, professional, community and national levels.
• Build relationships of mutual trust and respect.
• Deal effectively with what’s happening here and now.
• Build powerful networks to support you in the future.
• Create a bold future which is informed by, and honours the past, but is independent from the past.
• Accomplish breakthrough results.
• Have effective, purposeful meetings which support you in delivering on intended results.
• Understand the power and importance of creating and managing context.

What will you accomplish?

• You will get access to powerful action and result oriented language.
• You will get access to nonlinear tools that can be applied in different dimensions. 
• You will unlock yourself from the constraints of the past.
• You will create a future for yourself, family and community that will be inspiring and transforming.
• You will build growing dynamic networks of self organising communities which give voice to making the impossible possible.
  
• You will engage in the phenomena of nonlinearity, self organisation, and emergence.
  
• You will ask yourself: “what allows for self responsibility?”
  
• You will get a clear vision on decision making.

What are the requirements to participate in the training program?

• Leaders committed to a future founded on the principles of nonviolence, justice, equality and peace within society and in relation to others.
• Leaders who want to have a breakthrough in their lives.
• Leaders who want to engage in making the impossible possible in their lives.
• Leaders who are ready to challenge what they know in order to create new opportunities.
• Be open and interested in learning, especially different approaches to leadership.
• Commit to all sessions.
• Selection-based process, since the attendance for this training is limited to a maximum of 25 participants, ensuring an exclusive and unique learning experience.
• The full training program costs $600, however, our organization is committed to making this training accessible to everyone who feels they need it and is ready to fully commit. Therefore, we welcome voluntary contributions based on each participant's ability to give.

To apply, please fill in the following form: APPLY NOW 

Join us on April 23rd for a webinar that delves into current Syrian realities and the impact of sanctions. Our experts include long time Syrian human rights leader Bassam Ishak, Syrian-American politician and lawyer Dima Moussa, NVI Board Chair Rafif Jouejati (now in Syria), and our NVI Co-Director Michael Beer who has just returned from Syria.

Guests will share their thoughts - and those of the people they represent - on what rebuilding the nation and fostering reconciliation, nonviolence, and justice look like. This discussion will shed light on the paths to recovery and the steps needed to ensure sustainable stability, dignity, and hope for millions of Syrians.

This registration is good for all 3 events.

As we approach the one-year mark since October 7th and the war on Gaza, we invite you to join us for a time of reflection and action. This moment calls us to honor the sacredness of every life lost to the ongoing violence, to acknowledge our deep sorrow, and to renew our commitment to peace, freedom, and safety for all. 

As part of many initiatives that are happening globally, on October 6, 7, and 8, we invite you to join our international community online at 2:00 pm ET/9:00 pm Jerusalem Time. Through these virtual gatherings, we will establish a unified ritual space to process grief, confront the systems of oppression that perpetuate immeasurable suffering, and reframe the crisis in Palestine and Israel by fostering a shared vision of reconciliation, justice, and collective actions to bring about peace.

The virtual gatherings will be facilitated by Nonviolence International (Oct 6th), Parents Circle Families Forum/American Friends of Parents Circle Families Forum (Oct. 7th), and Combatants for Peace/American Friends of Combatants for Peace (Oct 8th).

This registration is good for all 3 events.

Thursday, December 19, 2024, 11am NY, 7pm Syria

We held an webinar Thursday, December 19,  that delved into the future of a free Syria in a post-regime era.  Speakers included long time Syrian activists Rafif Jouejati (NVI board chair), and Sweida activist Noura Salam. The collapse of the Assad regime on December 8, 2024, is of historic significance: it marks the end of more than half a century of authoritarian oppression, during which countless thousands of Syrians were disappeared, tortured, or killed by their own government. Since 2011 and as part of the Arab Spring movements, Syrians have experienced both nonviolent and armed resistance. Upwards of 400,000 civilians were killed; millions of others were internally displaced or became refugees.  Today, with liberation from the Assad regime, the future of Syria is hopeful but unclear as the transition period begins. Outside governments continue to  interfere in Syria's affairs with sanctions, troops, attacks, and weaponry. Join our  Syrian nonviolent activists as they talk about their experience and their hopes and plans. 

This webinar was a unique opportunity to gain deep insights from sources who have played an important part in the struggle against tyranny and who offer valuable knowledge so you, as part of the global family committed to peace and justice, can contribute to Syria’s bright future. 

You can find the video of the webinar here.

https://youtu.be/KKLDikKVBCU?si=62fqY1kvgVLiXU3R