I’m on an e-list of people who have taken Jalaja Bonheim’s Circlework Training. Jalaja has been doing work in Israel, for years, with circles of women, containing both Israeli and Palestinian Women.
On Tue, Oct 11, 2011 at 1:41 PM, Joan Kiley wrote:
This article is so beautiful, written from the heart, about the heart, in support of the “movement.” It’s by Eve Ensler. I hope you’ll check it out.
Love,
Joan
Quotes from Eve Ensler – Reader Supported News
“I have been watching and listening to all kinds of views and takes on Occupy Wall Street. Some say it’s backed by the Democratic Party. …. Some say its Communist, some say it’s class warfare. Some say it will burn out and add up to nothing. Some say it’s just a bunch of crazy hippies who may get violent.
“I have been spending time down at Zucotti Park and I am here to offer a much more terrifying view. What is happening cannot be defined. It is happening. It is a happening. It is a response to injustice and inequity and poverty and Wall Street corruption and soaring college debt and unemployment and homelessness, institutionalized racism and violence against women, the murdering of the earth, fracking and the keystone pipeline and the wars that the US has waged on other countries that have destroyed them and bankrupted us here.
“It is a cry against what appears to be scarcity and what Naomi Klein calls a distribution problem and, I would add, a priority problem. It is a spontaneous uprising that has been building for years in our collective unconscious. It is a gorgeous, mischievous moment that has arrived and is spreading. It is a speaking out, coming out, dancing out. It is an experiment and a disruption.
“We all know things are terribly wrong in this country. From the death of our rivers, to the bankruptcy of our schools to our failed health care system, something at the center does not hold.”
On 10/11/11 11:32 PM, Aura Hammer wrote:
Thanks Joan. I don’t know if you women know about what’s going on here in Israel, but we’ve been doing this all summer and it’s been the most exciting summer (since the summer of 67…). What Eve Ensler wrote has been going on in other places for months now, and it’s very exciting to feel it spreading to America as well. Jalaja, you have been speaking for a few years now about the spread of circle work as expressed by Paul Hawken in the book you gave me (Blessed Unrest) (it’s just about my bible!) – and THIS IS IT – the world is awakening, circles are everywhere. As part of the Israeli protests, we had one Saturday night where 1000 circles happened everywhere in the country at once, connected by internet, but people with people – old, young, all walks of life, came to speak their hearts, their concerns, their wishes, at the same time. The energy was so incredible that it still continues!. Even tho most of our tents have come down, people are still talking – in circles – and not in circles… people are expressing, being heard, a new/old kind of democracy or, as i see it, the beginning of something even newer and older – matriarchy. what’s also wonderful for me is that this is being created by young people, but – as opposed to the ’60’s – it’s not against the older generation – the older generation is fully part of it, the young people listen to their elders and the elders listen to the wisdom of the young….i’m so glad to be alive, and to feel the connections being woken!
hug
aura
On Wed, Oct 12, 2011 at 5:57 PM, Joan Kiley wrote:
Hello Aura,
Thank you so much for sharing about this exciting movement in Israel! I love to read about the young and old together, generations feeling their connections. Last night I listened to a man who talked about the same thing happening at Occupy Wall Street, the questioning, the listening, the respectfulness between generations, truly trying to understand one another.
Yes, I can’t imagine a more exciting time to be living. And when I view photos of the OWS gathering and discussion groups, so often it is of circles.
Love,
Joan
From Aura
one important detail i forgot to mention: it was started by a young woman(!), a film student named Dafni Liff (Scroll down to her speech). When we had a huge demonstration in Tel Aviv, of 450,000 people, she spoke and told the reason why she began this: she said that she had a friend who committed suicide, no specified reason, but her reaction to this was the amazing decision to work to stop despair. so she gathered some friends, put up a tent, and the rest is history. so this is not just about social and economic justice, not just about changing democracy, this is about treating society as a whole, this is about healing the world…
See Paul Hawken: “It’s the earth, talkin back, wakin up… It is global, classless, unquenchable, tireless….” Alas, the video is no longer available.
See my post on Dancing in the Streets