May We Stay Soft Enough: Resisting the Dehumanization of Zionism

“We need to be weapons of mass construction, weapons of mass love. It’s not enough just to change the system. We need to change ourselves.” —Assata Shakur

May We Stay Soft Enough is an invitation to examine and reimagine our politics of resistance. Can we resist zionism without losing our humanity? How can we stay soft in the face of widespread dehumanization? How do we hold the heartbreak and betrayal of friends and colleagues who stay silent, look away, or align themselves with genocide? When is our rage sacred, and when is it a replication of imperial violence?

Join Holly Truhlar and Sarah J.S. for a two-part participatory workshop and exploration of embodied anti-zionism. Over two 2.5-hour sessions, we will explore how zionism shapes our relationships, and strengthen our ability to hold another person’s humanity, even if they deny ours. This is a space to feel our feelings, explore our responses to zionism, and consider the challenges we face within our communities and movement spaces as we cultivate pathways toward collective liberation.

Session 1: November 1st, 1:00 - 3:30pm EDT
An Introduction: How Zionism Shapes our Relationships

In this session we will share an introduction to the political ideology of Zionism and the connection between Israeli imperialism and facism within the U.S. Participants are invited to reflect on their relationship to Zionism and responses to its ubiquitous presence in mainstream, dominant cultures. We will also discuss the efficacy of anti-Zionist activism and whether leftist movements are replicating non-liberatory ideologies of punishment in their fight for Palestinian liberation. This session will be recorded and watchable (not downloadable) for 60-days.

Session 2: November 8th, 1:00 - 3:30pm EST
A Practice: Finding Blessings Alongside Grief & Rage

In the second session we will move into embodied practice: We will invite participants to explore their relationship with a Zionist in their lives (or an "edge person," activating post, or piece of information). Using reflective writing, music, movement, and small group discussion, we will practice using our activation to expand our capacity for compassion, grace, and humanity--both for ourselves and the “other.” We will close with a ritual of blessing and repair with the parts of ourselves and others that Empire has taught us to exile. Parts of this session will be recorded and watchable (not downloadable) for 60-days.

Optional Integration Session
November 15th, 2:30 - 3:30pm EST

In practicing aftercare, we’ll be offering an optional one-hour integration session on Saturday, November 15th, from 2:30–3:30pm EST. This will be a gentle space to share what’s been alive for you since our time together. We'll welcome questions, insights, or anything that’s still moving through. This session will not be recorded.

Additional Information:

We do not expect people directly experiencing genocide to “stay soft.” We are not discouraging resistance, self-defense, or holy outrage. Rather, this offering is for those whose calling in this moment is to practice staying open while standing firmly for a Free Palestine. It’s a space for grievers, organizers, healers, activists, and allies who want to expand their capacity to hold complexity, compassion, and rage, alongside a place of welcome for anyone who might join the movement toward collective liberation.

This is not a space where we will engage in debate or dialogue about historical facts or political beliefs about Palestine, Israel, or the ongoing genocide. This offering is designed for folks who feel deeply impacted by the violence of Empire and want to explore the radical practice of staying soft and open in a world that is baiting us to contract into self-righteous rigidity. Revolutions are sustained by each heart learning to love past its edges.

These sessions will likely feel intense, but you will be held in a container of care. We encourage you to leave about 30 minutes open after each session so there’s spaciousness in case we run over and to allow time for integration.

*Note about your ticket: When completeing the registration and choosing a ticket tier, the event date will display singularly as November 1, 2025. However, please note that your registration and purchase applies to all three sessions: November1, November 8, and the optional integration session on November 15. The Zoom link you will receive will remain the same for each session.

In solidarity, 20% of proceeds from this offering will go directly to a Palestinian living in Gaza. If you would like to attend and the pricing is beyond your financial means, please email Holly@HollyTruhlar.com, we believe in collective care, and we’ll make space for you.

Sarah J.S. (she/her) is a Lisbon-based peer-support facilitator, environmental attorney, and social justice activist. She has practiced law and activism across continents to support indigenous herders in Mongolia, the U.N. Environment Programme in Kenya, asylum seekers at the southern U.S. border, and Pacific Island nations facing climate disaster. Sarah served as first executive director of the eco-emotions nonprofit Good Grief Network, and is the co-founder of Judeus pela Paz e Justiça (Jews for Peace and Justice), which is the first antizionist Jewish collective in Portugal. In her current work, Sarah helps organizations and communities develop practices for building resilient relationships and reimagining meaningful action in uncertain times.

Holly Truhlar (they/she) is a collapse psychologist, politicized grief tender, and soul activist. Their body of work is a remembering-forward of what it means to be people of potency and culture. Through ritual, storytelling, imagination, neuroqueer practices, and Deep Democracy work, they mentor individuals and facilitate groups in the sacred work of grief and belonging. They hold a Doctorate in Law and a Master’s in Transpersonal Counseling Psychology, though their deepest learnings come through relationship with the Wild, including the Dreaming Earth, Ancestors, Hekate, and donkeys. Since 2023, Holly has co-facilitated two large grief ritual trainings with Francis Weller, drawing thousands of learners into the communal practice of grief tending and cultural repair. They currently teach, speak, and consult with people and organizations on liberatory grief work, rupture and repair processes, and soul-centered leadership.