In the spring of 1996 1 received a phone call from Leah Green, who was then Director of the Middle East Program for Earthstewards Network. She wanted to talk with me about my writing on Compassionate Listening, a process in which people open up to new thoughts and ideas when they are carefully listened to. Sometimes they even change their opinions as they learn to listen to themselves. Over the years I have doggedly kept visiting the Middle East, pursuing this process. Leah invited me to come to Israel and Palestine in November of 1996 with a group dedicated to Compassionate Listening. It was to be followed by a similar journey there with American Jewish leaders in 1997. Thus began our work together
I found these journeys to be deeply moving. Some who came were not sympathetic to the Palestinians, and after they had listened to both sides they discovered there was truth and error on both sides, and that reconciliation was not only possible, but a necessity. A transformation had taken place.
Leah has been dedicated to the development of Compassionate Listening. Since then, she and her excellent trainer, Carol Hwoshinksy, have developed it beyond my original thinking. Their work has received a remarkable recognition and this October, 2001, we have been invited to listen in Lebanon and Syria. The latest development, came in July of 2001 when we were invited to take it to Germany in October, 2002, and teach Compassionate Listening to both Germans and Jews so they can develop new and trusting relationships.
In Leah's process she has been taking Jewish and now Palestinian Leaders from the United States so both could better understand the situation. There is a stunning video of a Compassionate Listening delegation called Children of Abraham which is available from the
Compassionate Listening Project, and they have just received funding to produce a new one! The key ingredient is the delegates go together to learn what's happening and seek the truths of both sides, recognizing that on both sides are wounded people who suffer and have grievances.
Leah Green and those who work with her are breaking new ground and many new projects of Compassionate Listening are seeding the world.
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