Community Conversations: Spark Healing Through Conversation

• Addressing people’s frustrations.
• Allowing people to express what is important to them, why, and what they want others to know.
• Confronting and reducing/being aware of our own biases.
• Creating safety and healing for everyone in the community. 
• How to create better personal relationships & feel more compassion for each other. 
• Offer suggestions for next steps and resources.

• It will NOT be a debate about whether the city should or should not issue a ceasefire resolution.
• It will NOT be a discussion on what the specific content of any proposed ceasefire resolution should or shouldn’t be.
• It will NOT be a direct discussion or debate about the details of the war, the history of the region, or trying to rehash what happened.
• It will NOT be about trying to convince others or push an agenda.
• It will NOT be about trying to reach an agreement.
• It will NOT be group therapy.

Zahra Sakkejha was born and raised in Toronto to Palestinian parents. Her father, born a refugee during the Nakba of 1948, and her mother, having grown up under occupation in East Jerusalem, raised her not to take for granted the privilege of living in a free society.  

Growing up in Toronto, Zahra made many Jewish friends but noticed that conversations about Israel and Palestine were largely avoided. It wasn’t until she moved to Los Angeles that she began to more deeply engage in political discourse with both Arabs and Jews.  

In 2023, Zahra joined the board of Tomorrow’s Women, a member organization of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) that trains young Palestinian and Israeli women to be compassionate leaders. She led the organization’s Strategic Planning effort in 2024 to provide culturally sensitive and sustainable direction during an unprecedented war.  

When the most recent war broke out on and after October 7th, Zahra began community organizing with the newly established LA Supporters of Standing Together, a group of Los Angeles-based Palestinians, Israelis, and allies organizing against the occupation and for peace, equality, and social justice. In 2024, she started Dialogue in the Diaspora, a local dialogue circle bringing Palestinians and Jews together for facilitated conversations about Israel-Palestine. Zahra is also an incoming fellow to the NewGround Professional Change-Maker Program.  

Zahra is proud of her Palestinian heritage, grateful for her Canadian privilege, and energized by her eternal optimism to promote authentic connection between Palestinians and Israelis to facilitate transformative understanding and practical partnership for the ultimate goal of achieving peace, justice, and equality in their homeland.

Ben Ginsburg
Communications Director at NewGround: A Muslim-Jewish Partnership for Change.

He is also a facilitator and co-lead for NewGround's facilitation training program, Community of Practice. He has facilitated conversations for NewGround's Professional Fellowship program, the Sisterhood of Salaam Shalom, the Pasadena Interfaith Study Group, and Orange County School of the Arts, all on the subjects of Israel Palestine, the crisis in Gaza, and related subjects that are important to Muslims, Jews, and others who care about the region. 

Ben has been passionate about bridging divides in conversation for over 10 years. In college at UC Davis, he was frustrated that the "two sides" (there are many more than two sides) of the campus debate over Israel Palestine tended to yell at each other rather than talking with each other. He spent a year at Hebrew University of Jerusalem to get a more direct look at what they were yelling about, and to learn with other students who weren't afraid to challenge their assumptions.  

After returning to the states, he spent time in conversation with the leaders of different student activist groups to learn about their experiences and perspectives, including Aggies for Israel, J Street, Students for Justice in Palestine, the Muslim Student Association, and Jewish Voice for Peace. As an intern at Hillel, he created programs to open up more complex conversations on Israel Palestine, informed by these different perspectives. 

Ben is passionate about innovative storytelling as a vehicle for opening up difficult conversations. Besides his conventional writing, he has also helped design game experiences to train teamwork and ideological discourse.

Outside of his professional work, Ben is the dance captain for the LA Wranglers, a local amateur LGBTQ+ country western dance group.