كاثارسيس- بذور للعلاج الشمولي Catharsis holistic healing

07/09/2026

28/08/2026

Palestinians are constantly being asked to make ourselves smaller, quieter, more acceptable. To change our language, soften our politics, compromise our values, or remain silent about contradictions because something is being done for Palestine or for Gaza.

But does the end always justify the means?

This is not about the conference but about global solidarity. For me, liberation is not only about what we are fighting for. It is also about how we choose to get there.

If the methods we use contradict the values we claim to defend, then we have to be brave enough to question them, even when they come wrapped in the language of solidarity.

24/08/2026

The body remembers. Sometimes life brings us back to an old pattern, not to punish us, but to give the body a different ending. What happened to me in Morocco echoed the violence I once experienced at the hands of Palestinian police. This time, I could meet the fear, feel what was still held inside me, and begin to release it. The pattern returned, but I did not return as the same person. 🌿

19/08/2026

استعطاف الآخرين واسترضاؤهم مش دائمًا طيبة أو اختيار واعٍ، أحيانًا بيكونوا ردّة فعل بقاء تعلّمها الجهاز العصبي لما كانت المواجهة أو قول «لا» غير آمنة. خطورتهم إنهم ممكن يخلّونا نبتسم وإحنا خائفين، نوافق وإحنا رافضين، ونحمي مشاعر الآخر على حساب حدودنا وكرامتنا.

وهذا شيء أنا شخصيًا عانيت وما زلت أشتغل عليه في رحلتي، وأتعلّم كيف أميّز بين اللطف الحقيقي وبين الاسترضاء الناتج عن الخوف، وكيف أرجع لصوتي وحدودي من غير شعور بالذنب.

الاسترضاء قد يبدو سلامًا من الخارج، بينما الجسد في الداخل يحاول فقط أن ينجو.

ورح أشارك قريبًا أكثر بالعربي عن هذه الاستجابة، كيف ننتبه إلها في أجسادنا وعلاقاتنا، وكيف نبدأ نتحرر منها خطوة خطوة.

16/08/2026

When Palestinians and Israelis are placed in the same healing or reconciliation space, the nervous system does not enter the room as an equal.

For Palestinians living through a genocide proximity to Israelis can activate survival responses such as freeze or fawn. Fawning can look like being agreeable, smiling, avoiding confrontation, minimizing anger, comforting the other person, or creating connection in order to feel safe.

Apparent harmony is not necessarily evidence of safety, healing or reconciliation. Connection without justice can become another form of silencing.

There is also a substantial body of research showing that contact between dominant and oppressed groups can sometimes have a sedative effect, particularly when the underlying power imbalance is not addressed:

Ifat Maoz (2011), “Does Contact Work in Protracted Asymmetrical Conflict?”
After reviewing two decades of Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation encounters, Maoz showed that supposedly equal dialogue spaces can reproduce the power inequalities that exist outside the room when political inequality and competing collective narratives are not directly addressed.

Maoz (2000), “Power Relations in Intergroup Encounters”
Research on Jewish-Israeli and Palestinian/Arab-Israeli coexistence groups found that an emphasis on coexistence and common ground could conflict with Palestinians’ lived experience of inequality, with outside power relations reappearing inside the encounter itself.

Çakal, Hewstone, Schwär & Heath (2011), “The Sedative Effect of Intergroup Contact”
Among Black South Africans, positive in*******al contact was associated with lower collective-action tendencies and reduced support for policies benefiting the disadvantaged group.

Tausch, Saguy & Bryson (2015), “How Does Intergroup Contact Affect Social Change?”
Among Latino Americans, positive contact with the dominant group was associated with less interest in collective action and less anger about inequality.

15/08/2026

من ضربة ساحرة في المغرب لضربة شرطية في رام الله. و ضياع الحق بين الاثنين. واهميت التشافي حتى لو بعد مرور سنين.

14/08/2026

Experimenting on Palestinians by an Israeli researcher while appropriating indigenous medicine!

RIPPLES presents itself as a psychedelic “peacebuilding” initiative bringing Palestinians and Israelis together through ayahuasca, research, ritual, music and collective healing. Their work grew out of studies and ceremonies involving Palestinian and Israeli participants, and has since expanded into public performances, fundraising and what they describe as a movement for collective liberation.

Bringing Palestinians into an unsafe environment with Israelis as they continue the genocide of their people is more harm than healing. The Palestinians that participate are desperate for access to the medicine which is only provided with the condition of being with Israelis and participating in the research!

I have heard enough around the way this work has affected Palestinians to have serious concerns about harm, consent, power, accountability and what happens to people after these intense experiences.

And now Palestinian identity, Palestinian music, Palestinian grief, Palestinian stories and Palestinian participation become part of the imagery through which these projects present themselves internationally and raise money.

This work also fundamentally violates the Palestinian call for boycott and anti-normalization.

28/04/2026

Tuesday April 30, 2026 • 10:00am PDT / 8:00pm EEST

Voices of the Land

Resistance and Solidarity with Lebanon

A Community Gathering with Hussein Al-Dimassi and Farah Abi Morshed, facilitated by Ashira Darwish

Come join us for a gathering to listen, witness, and share presence in a time of fracture. Through the voices of Farah Abi Morshed and Hussein Al-Dimassi, we gather at the intersection of land, resistance, and lived experience in Lebanon. This event invites a deeper inquiry into what it means to remain rooted, to speak, and to care in the midst of violence and ongoing crisis.

Founded in 2007, SPACE Team is a community-based initiative working in humanitarian relief, crisis response, and development, supporting Palestinian refugees and vulnerable communities across Lebanon. Since its inception, the team has delivered nearly 100,000 humanitarian and development services, playing a critical role in major crises including the Syrian war, the Beirut Port explosion, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Since the Israeli aggression on Lebanon, SPACE has been actively supporting displaced families and strengthening the resilience of communities to remain on their land.

Today, the team focuses on meeting people’s basic needs for survival while continuing to build long-term community resilience through programs in relief, youth support, education, and economic empowerment.

Your support directly contributes to sustaining this vital, community-rooted work and reaching those most affected. All proceeds will support community-led efforts on the ground through the SPACE Team initiative.

Interpretation for this event provided by Language for Justice and Opportunities for Grassroots Action or (OGA). We are grateful to our volunteer Arabic/English interpreters: Einas Zeyadeh and Wissal Al Allaq for supporting this conversation. Thank you!