How to talk about Antisemitism and Israel: A Workshop with Project Shema

Background: Many members of our Jewish community are looking for ways to better engage their non-Jewish progressive peers on issues surrounding Israel and antisemitism. Hineni and the Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas (JCRC) are responding to this challenge by providing a unique opportunity to participate in an intensive workshop facilitated by Project Shema.

About the workshop: This interactive workshop offers tools and strategies to empower Jewish leaders to navigate difficult conversations around antisemitism in contemporary and progressive discourse, including when anti-Jewish ideas are carried alongside Israel & Palestine discourse. Participants learn a relational engagement strategy to depolarize conversations and activate others to act as allies and upstanders for the Jewish community.

Project Shema’s workshops are reversed engineered to address the underlying challenges Jewish advocates face when talking about Israel and antisemitism with peers who identify as progressive and/or in progressive movement spaces. Participants will get a full understanding of the challenge, and learn the strategy, tactics, and framing necessary to effectively engage progressives on these issues. Our collective goal is to empower Jewish advocates and help scale the skills, confidence, and capacity for our community to address this challenge effectively.

Who should apply? Ideal participants for the cohort support Jewish self-determination in Israel, identify as left-of-center (e.g., liberal, progressive, Democrat), engage across communal lines civically/politically, are able to communicate genuine empathy for the Palestinian people, and can attend the full program. If you fit these criteria, we welcome your application!

Note: This workshop focuses on the unique challenges and opportunities of engaging progressives on Israel and Antisemitism. This in no way discounts or diminishes the challenges faced by antisemitism on the right.

This workshop is underwritten by a generous donor and brought to you though a partnership of JCRC and Hineni. Space is limited.

**The deadline to apply is October 28th, 2024**