Introducing a new series – Peace by Peace. Our first event is Sunday 18th February 11am til 7pm at Pelican House in East London. Click here for full info + tickets. Even though there are no words any more for what we are witnessing in Gaza and the West Bank, you can read a detailed description of the intentions and motivations behind Peace by Peace. It was written in collaboration with many voices and perspectives. This is a call to come together and move beyond words.
I know it’s not an easy thing right now to seek softness, but that is what this is a call for. To witness one another and process collectively, to come from a place of love, not fear. How do we show up in our fullness and centre Palestinians in their hour of need? I write this as a British Jewish Human who rejects any notion of safety based on dehumanisation, displacement and oppression. I know in my heart that we can model a different way of being in our society, one that removes violence, and the necessity of violence in response to violence, in human civilisation. Shouting in the street has its place as an expression of outrage and solidarity, but to break the cycle of destruction and violence we need an internal shift as well, and we need to do it together.
It is my understanding as an artist that encoded within all culture are messages of survival, coexistence, peace and love. I believe the same to be true of spiritual practice. It is rooted in love, abundance and respect for all forms of life. Part of the motivation for setting up Peace by Peace is to share these messages, encoded within metaphor and non-verbal ritual, to spread love and to dismantle systems of oppression and corruption, which in my opinion includes all forms of religious extremism, colonialism, imperialism and supremacy.
Simon Roth 