Each month, Ariel Gold, executive director of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, hosts a special guest for an in-depth live conversation with a global audience. Initiated in the fall of 2022, this regular series — hosted by Zoom on the third Tuesday of each month at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time — has attracted hundreds of people across multiple continents to listen, learn and interact with front-line activists and social changemakers.
Gathering Voices kicked off with a bang in 2022 with compelling conversations with Dr. James Zogby, Rev. Graylan Hagler, Tabatha Holley and Medea Benjamin. Since the start of 2023, Ariel’s featured guests have been Zoughbi al Zoughbi, Dr. Zoharah Simmons, Julia Barcha and Dr. Carolyn Karcher.
Zoughbi al Zoughbi is executive director of the Wi’am Palestinian Conflict Resolution Centre in Bethlehem, Palestine. Zoughbi was elected president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation (IFOR) in late 2022 during IFOR’s quadrennial Council meeting, held in Juba, South Sudan. Joining FOR-USA live from the West Bank on Jan. 17, Zoughbi provided a powerful and timely analysis of life under Israeli occupation.
Dr. Zoharah Simmons is a Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee veteran, National Council of Elders leader, and emeritus professor of African American Religions and Islamic Studies at the University of Florida. Zoharah and her family are profiled in the acclaimed new biography “Stayed on Freedom: The Long History of Black Power through One Family’s Journey” (available from the FOR Store). On Feb. 21 she discussed the dramatic learnings from her lifelong commitment to collective liberation.
In partnership with Just Vision Films, FOR-USA hosted a virtual screening of the documentary film “Boycott,” which chronicles the efforts in over two-thirds of U.S. states to pass laws intended to silence boycotts and other nonviolent measures aimed at pressuring Israel on its human rights record. The March 21 screening included a live discussion with the film’s director, Julia Bacha, on how these dangerous bills remove the legal protection awarded to boycotts for generations, granting governments the power to condition jobs on political viewpoints.
In a much-demanded follow-up to her February conversation, Zoharah Simmons rejoined FOR-USA on April 18 to discuss “Gender and Movements.” Zoharah and Ariel took a deep dive into themes of women’s leadership in social movements in the face of sexism, gender-based violence and “glass ceilings” in allegedly progressive spaces.
Dr. Carolyn Karcher is editor of the excellent anthology “Reclaiming Judaism from Zionism: Stories of Personal Transformation” (available from the FOR Store). Carolyn joined Ariel on May 16 to examine the history of Zionism and of the anti-Zionism movement, as well as the choice between Judaism as a religion and the nationalist ideology of Zionism. They discussed their personal journeys from a Zionist worldview to activism in solidarity with Palestinians and Israelis striving to build an inclusive society founded on justice, equality and peaceful coexistence.
Shane Claiborne, best-selling author, renowned Christian activist, and self-proclaimed “recovering sinner,” who is the visionary leader of The Simple Way in Philadelphia, co-director of Red Letter Christians, and co-creator of RAWtools (transforming guns into garden tools). On June 20 Shane and Ariel discussed
strategies for disrupting Christian Nationalism, ending the worship of guns, grassroots community-building and his latest book, “Rethinking Life: Embracing the Sacredness of Every Person.”
With rare exceptions (particularly film screenings), video recordings of all Gathering Voices events hosted by FOR-USA are available for on-demand review by clicking here.