A Jew Asks Questions of Two Palestinians in a Time of War

In this short clip Mubarak Awad gets to the heart of the issue reminding us of our shared humanity.

Jonathan Kuttab reflects on the importance of hope in hard times.

They've got a great deal more to say.

Please share this clip, watch the entire conversation, and take action to help build true and lasting peace with justice.


Please sign our petition and visit this page for additional suggested Action Steps

Here is the full video conversation with timestamps below.


In conversation with Mubarak Awad and Jonathan Kuttab.
(Photo - Mubarak in Bethlehem, 2005)
We offer this in-depth conversation at this time of crisis. We hope many will be inspired to watch the entire video, but we list timestamps below for those who would like to dive into a particular question.
2:00 - Mubarak intro
9:47 - Jonathan on his new book - Beyond The Two-State Solution
14:52 - Mubarak raises up NVI's impressive partners
19:40 - Jonathan on the power of narrative
22:58 - Mubarak reflects on how trauma impacts children for life
27:55 - Jonathan on the self-serving motivations of politicians
30:43 - Mubarak speaks about dehumanization in the name of religion
34:45 - Jonathan on two major organizations that have declared the occupation to be a form of apartheid
41:10 - Mubarak confronts Christian evangelicals role in the region
45:40 - Jonathan on the new definitions of anti-semitism being used to limit acceptable speech
50:08 - Mubarak speaks on equality, democracy, and hope
57:43 - Jonathan reflects on the ongoing pattern of evictions and what it meant to attack the Dome of the Rock
1:02:28 - Mubarak questions the so-called Abraham accords and the “deal of the century”
1:06:57 - Jonathan speaks to ways this moment is different than any other
1:13:31 - Mubarak questions the role of the United Nations
1:19:35 - Jonathan on the role of the United States

At several points in the video, we raise up the vital work of our partners in the region. They are doing visionary work in difficult circumstances and we hope you will be moved to support them. NVI's Partners

Please sign our petition and visit this page for additional suggested Action Steps

To get a free copy of Jonathan Kuttab’s book Beyond The Two-State Solution, please visit:https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/beyond2states

To view our webinar where Jonathan is in conversation with Rabbi Lynn Gottlieb and takes questions, please visit:https://www.nonviolenceinternational.net/beyond_2_states_webinar

Here is the video we mention where Mubarak tells his powerful personal story.

We discuss two recent reports from respected human rights organizations. Here are the links: B’Tselem – The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Human Rights Watch Report


Our hearts are breaking. And, still we celebrate those who are lighting candles of hope even as we must curse the darkness. At NVI, we know that we are not condemned to live in a state of perpetual violence. Let’s raise up a vision of a better future and a nonviolent path to get there. Below we list a variety of powerful resources shared with us by our partner the Center for Jewish Nonviolence. In these hard times, we hope you will take inspiration from the wonderful ongoing vital work of our partners. They deserve our active support.

Collected resources: Support Palestinian Resistance

Online Actions

Protests across the US

Connecting with Palestinian Partners and Hineinu Activists

Social Media - Follow These Accounts

Educational Infographics

Video Explainers

Podcast Recommendations

More Educational Resources


 “To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic.  It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness...What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something.  If we remember those times and places—and there are so many—where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction...And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't have to wait for some grand utopian future.  The future is an infinite succession of presents and to live now as we think human beings should live, in defiance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory."  -- Howard Zinn

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Nonlinear Leadership Development Training

“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-organising 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 

Webinar: Syria Today - Stories of Return, Resistance, and Renewal

Join us on April 23, 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, 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, unity, 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 webinar is 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. 

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

You can RSVP to attend this webinar via our  sign-up page here!

David Hartsough: Presente! A Shining Light for a Nonviolent World

David Hartsough on left, along with Laurence Henry face down neo-Nazis at Arlington Virginia desegregation sit-in in 1961. Photo by Gene Abbott. Courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.

We share the passing of David Hartsough, a long-time supporter of Nonviolence International and the global nonviolence movement. David died at the age of 84 after a battle with cancer. He was a loving husband of Jan and of 2 children. He co-founded Nonviolent Peaceforce, Nonviolent Peaceworks, and World Beyond War, David was a Quaker who dedicated his life to nonviolence and a just world. His vision and commitment to nonviolence shaped countless movements. His memoir, Waging Peace: Global Adventures of a Lifelong Activist, tells the remarkable story of his decades spent on the front lines of nonviolent action. Can you believe he drove to Red Square in 1961 in a VW Bug from Berlin and protested against nuclear weapons? 

Col. Ann Wright called him the “Forrest Gump” of the US Peace Movement implying that he had a knack for being present at so many historic anti-war events for 70 years. In addition to ubiquitous protesting he actively worked on numerous campaigns for peace and justice. In the late 1950’s, he was arrested for nuclear & chemical weapons ban protests, in the 1960’s, he was among the earliest to oppose the Vietnam War, through the then newly created Washington Peace Center and the Friends Committee on National Legislation. In the 1970’s he worked for the American Friends Service Committee where he opposed US wars in Central America and supported the pioneering use of nonviolence intervention by Peace Brigades and Witness for Peace. He became so enamored with nonviolent intervention that In 1996 he presented his idea of a large scale nonviolent army to intervene in conflicts around the world at NVI’s global conference Mainstreaming Peace Teams. His dream later came to fruition at the 1999 Hague Appeal for Peace where he met Michael Beer, Mel Duncan and Timmon Wallis and Nonviolent Peaceforce was provisionally born. 

In 1996, he traveled to Kosovo to support and train the nonviolent student movement in its resistance to Serbian rule and repression. He then encouraged NVI Director, Michael Beer to follow to provide more coaching and training on nonviolent resistance. In the 2000’s, he was repeatedly arrested for opposing US wars against Muslim countries and co-led a peace delegation to Iran.  He then helped David Swanson start the World Beyond War, for which NVI, through David’s suggestion, served briefly as a fiscal sponsor.  He was a life-long war-tax resister and supporter of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.

But his legacy was not just about ending war. He met Dr. King in Alabama as a young teenager and was a courageous activist in the sit-in movement that ended segregation in the DC area. He was arrested uncountable times for environmental, poverty alleviation, anti-racism, and social justice issues.  In 2011, he was one of the co-founders of the Occupy Movement in Washington DC. Although not a wealthy man, he was a generous financial supporter of all NVI initiatives including our projects in Russia, Iran, Kosovo, Tibet,  Palestine, Burma, and Western Sahara. He donated his massive nonviolent training collection that has been partially digitized and uploaded to NVI’s Nonviolence Training Archives.

NVI is sad to see him leave us but grateful for his relentless support and encouragement. What a remarkable nonviolent life!

Job Fair at the US Senate Victory

Job Fair at the US Senate Victory: Some Workers Getting Jobs Restored...

 

Co-Director Michael Beer helped lead some of the initial protests by Federal Workers in the Senate. Much work remains to reinstate workers and to challenge the illegal firings of tens of thousands of government workers and contractors. NVI remains committed to nonviolently mobilizing public support in the US and globally against criminal actions by the Trump administration.

Article on reinstating fired workers

https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-administration-reinstating-24500-fired-workers-after-court-order-2025-03-18/ 

Job Fair at the US Senate to Protest Illegal Firings

This week, NVI Director Michael Beer, helped launch a “Job Fair” at the US Senate. Each day this week, illegally fired federal workers have walked into senate offices with resumes asking for jobs. These federal workers meet with Senators and staff and tell their stories of being fired from US Aid for International Development, Social Security, National Institutes of Health, and Department of Energy and many others.

Many of them had worked in the government for less than 2 years. Many have worked for decades and had strong job performance evaluations. All were highly skilled and some had previously worked for much higher salaries in the private sector. They fear that the vital work of their agencies will be dismantled and that people around the world will suffer because of the damage done to health and energy research or a sudden halt in humanitarian aid.

 

Here are some articles about the unconventional lobbying.

Here is a Washington Post Article.

 

You can hear some of these workers in their own words.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGV7h1Gx2sR/

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGdvjVExh0L/

 

Most of these folks have never lobbied before. But they are angry and want to do something. Hopefully they can persuade/pressure Senators to stand up to Musk and Trump and stop these attacks on federal workers and on these congressionally funded agencies.

These firings are an attempt to cripple government services and force them to be privatized. Other agencies like the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau are cops who prevent and reverse financial fraud perpetrated by big firms and the oligarchs.

Others are doing a sit-in as we do this write-up.

 

Here is a good primer for those looking for something to do.

https://choosedemocracy.us/what-can-i-do/

Also, take a look at NVI’s huge database of 346 nonviolent tactics and get inspired and the number of things you can do.

 

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