Welcome, everybody. Our itinerary plans are nearing completion for the August 4-15 Meet the Peacemakers tour to Israel/Palestine. I hope you will join us for this extraordinarily moving, intense and perhaps even life-changing experience.  Very few people outside of the region even know that these peacemakers, these ”great souls” exist.  During these ten days, you bear witness to their nonviolent struggle, against crushing odds, to bring about justice, dignity and peace.  For more information about this delegation, please contact me at ypetretti@gmail.com.

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Yael Petretti

Other Links
The Compassionate Listening ProjectThe Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum

Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers Talk About the Occupation – Hebrew Version
Breaking the Silence: Israeli Soldiers Talk About the Occupation – English Version

Marc Gopin – Citizen Diplomacy Blog

Parents Circle – Families Forum

Holy Land Trust

The essence of Compassionate Listening is to initiate a heart-to-heart connection with other people, particularly those with whom we may disagree, by learning to be fully present, nonjudgmental and empathetic as we listen to them. Compassionate Listening is the practice of cultivating compassion for those on all sides of a conflict, including ourselves, and learning to retain our spiritual and emotional equilibrium especially when emotions are running high. This heart-based skill empowers us to bring peace to our relationships with our families, our communities, in the work place and in the world beyond.

The principles of Compassionate Listening have been distilled from The Compassionate Listening Project’s work in the Middle East among Israelis and Palestinians. The very same principles are equally true and valuable wherever there are human beings in relationship with one another. We have seen again and again how powerfully healing the gift of listening is to those who long to be heard.

When we take the time to open our hearts to others, especially those with whom we may be in conflict, it becomes difficult to view them as “the enemy.” As we hear their stories, we begin to experience them as people who have all the same joys, fears, hopes and needs that we have. We come to see our shared humanity. Here is where our healing can begin.

WHY DO IT?
We are standing at a crossroads. We now must choose between continuing down the path of mutual destruction and misery or forging a new, more heart-oriented direction for our future evolution. Joanna Macy describes this juncture as “The Great Turning.” Compassionate Listening, cultivating the skill of relating to one another from the heart, even in the heat of conflict, is the bedrock practice through which we can bring this about. It is creating peace in our lives, from the inside out.

Contact Yael for a short, complimentary presentation, “A Taste of Compassionate Listening.”
Email: listening@listeningwiththeheart.org

Hybrid” and “multi-partial” are words that have been used over the years to describe Yael, who lived in Jerusalem, the heart of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, between 1978 and 2010. Her Jewish/Christian background and life-long friendships with Muslims and others have given her a unique perspective on the daily lives, fears and hopes of all of these peoples.

Her training as a political scientist, her decades of work as an Israeli tour guide, her involvement in Palestinian human rights issues, her Compassionate Listening skills, and her deep love of both Israeli and Palestinian people, have enabled her help others understand what is happening there and why. For those who wish to contribute to building peace in a more concrete way, she leads annual delegations to Israel and Palestine, into the “belly of the beast,” and into the heart of peace-making.

Drawing on her experience, Yael has brought the lessons learned back to North America, where she makes public presentations about the history of the conflict, modern political trends and her uncommon approach to bringing the people together.

She trains educators, clergy, therapists, mediators, medical caregivers, parents, politicians and others in Compassionate Listening skills, making them powerful forces for peace and connection in their families, schools, communities and beyond their borders. The positive, heart-felt feedback she receives from her training and delegation participants proves again and again how much the skills of listening and speaking from the heart are needed in our world.

Bringing people together comes naturally to Yael. This theme has run through everything she has ever done and continues to be what most inspires her passion in life.

Both before and after earning a degree in International Relations at UC Berkeley, Yael traveled widely to meet people of other cultures and creeds. She organized citizen diplomacy groups to travel to other countries, giving Americans the chance to build real friendships with people they would otherwise have never understood. She served on the Israel-Palestine Working Group at the United Nations and facilitated a number of Compassionate Listening trainings in the United States.

As a licensed tourist guide living in Jerusalem over three decades, she facilitated encounters between her tourists and the various religious and ethnic groups who inhabit the Middle East: Bedouins, Druze, Israelis, Christian and Moslem Palestinians. Appreciation of cultural diversity, friendship and mutual respect are her deepest values

Yael relocated in late 2010 to the New England area where she teaches Compassionate Listening to a wide variety of groups and organizations. Her work as a certified Compassionate Listening Facilitator provides the perfect tool for bringing people together: the practice of listening and speaking to one another from the purest places of the heart.

What to Expect in a Compassionate Listening Training:
After getting a brief history of how Compassionate Listening developed, we work together through experiential exercises to listen nonjudgmentally to as other people speak. Through these interactions, we gain awareness of the things which interfere with our being able to be fully present as we listen. We explore the roles that projection, our “shadow” selves, and preconceptions play in preventing real heart-to-heart connection with other people. We see more clearly how deep listening actually produces profound shifts in attitude and behavior. The way is opened to understanding, reconciliation and even forgiveness.

The Introductory training is offered in one- or two-day sessions or a series of four to six two-hour meetings.

Upon completion of this Introductory training, participants may choose to deepen their skills by attending an Advanced training or pursuing facilitator certification in Compassionate Listening.

Compassionate Listening trainings focus on learning five core practices:
Cultivating Compassion for Yourself and Others
Suspending Judgment
Maintaining Balance in the Heat of Conflict
Listening with the Heart
Speaking from the Heart

If you or your group would like to host a training (providing the space and getting the word out), please contact Yael at 413 588 7996 or email her at ypetretti@gmail.com.

When was the last time someone really listened to you? Without interruptions, without judgment or advice?

In our world, feeling truly heard and understood is a rare thing.

I would like to offer you my full, undivided attention, where you can feel free to “talk it out.” Whether you are feeling happy or sad, stuck or confused, you will be able to explore what’s happening inside more deeply. I will support you as you gain clarity, new insights and calm.

You are safe. Whatever you say is absolutely confidential.

All of us long to be heard, to have our feelings acknowledged. Over the years I’ve worked with this deep listening, I’ve seen the great relief it can bring. People often tell me that an hour or two of just being listened to is better than years of therapy!

If you would like to schedule a listening session with me, I would love to hear from you. Please contact me at 413-588-7996 or send me an email at: listening@listeningwiththeheart.org

My rates are:

Standard (50 minutes) – $30
Short (20 minutes) – $15
Long (80 minutes) – $50

Payment is due at the time of our appointment and can be made by cash, check (made out to Listening With the Heart) or credit card via PayPal.

If you must cancel an appointment, please do so more than 24 hours in advance. Otherwise, I ask that you pay for the session. Thank you!

Introductory Intensives and Advanced Training

If you or your group would like to host a one-day training (providing the space and getting the word out), please contact Yael at 413- 588- 7996 or email ypetretti@gmail.com.

“Yael:

I just want to thank you for the powerful workshop on Compassionate Listening you recently conducted. What I learned there has been a tremendous help in my personal life and as a coach. Really understanding that just being a presence for someone, to really listen without judgement and without the compulsion to take on the person’s issue, is extremely powerful and has made a difference in my life already. I would like to take additional workshops on this topic and I am currently speaking with my church about having the workshop done there. Thanks so much for making a difference! ”
- Kathleen Murphy

Thank you for an inspiring and insightful day. You bring the richness of your knowledge and appreciation of the world’s diversity to everythng you do. Keep us informed of your work and we will continue to tell others of our experience”.
- Barbara Kelly, Westport, CT

” I found myself telling everyone who I met today about Compassionate Listening and what I learned. As a result of the workshop, I have become more mindful of how I listen and hopefully will be compassionate when doing so.”
- Joy Deignan, Westport, CT

” I am still so high from yesterday’s extraordinary karma with Yael… I hope we encourage Yael to come on back and continue her teachings for us and others. The message is so important to get out there!”
- Jill Brooks, Westport, CT

The training was absolutely fantastic. It made me acutely aware of how challenging it is to truly listen with one’s heart with quiet purity and lack of judgment. If we were all more skilled at this, the world would be moving down a different path. I look forward to attending advanced trainings. Thank you, Yael!
- Rachel Goldman, MA

This was a fabulous day!! Thank you Yael.
- Karen Kwass, MA

Yael, you inspired us.
- Doris Tennant, MA

“Your Compassionate Listening training was, for me, truly an eye-opener. It got me to understand where people are coming from when communicating. Although I have to remind myself from time to time to practice using the skills taught to me, I now see the world as a more loving place. Thanks again for an enlightening experience.”
- Anastasia, Oakland, CA

Trainings/Delegations:
Temple Israel, Greenfield, MA – Nov. 2012
Brandeis University – Nov. 2012
Compassionate Listening Delegation to Israel/Palestine – March 2012
Peace and Justice Studies Association Conference, Memphis, TN – October 2011
Easthampton, MA – September 2011
Northampton, MA – June 2011
Peace Abbey, Sherbourne, MA – April 2011
Easthampton, MA – April/May 2011
Compassionate Listening Delegation to Israel/Palestine – March 2011
Northhampton, MA – February 2011
Easthampton, MA – January 2011
Westport , CT – January 2011
Treehouse Community, Easthampton, MA – January 2011
First Parrish, Cambridge, MA – November 2010
Treehouse Community, Easthampton, MA – October 2010
First Parish, Cambridge, MA – November 2010
Journey of the Heart: Israel and Palestine Compassionate Listening Delegation- May 2010
Treehouse Community, Easthampton, MA – February, 2010
Westport, CT – February 2010
Kids4Peace, Atlanta, GA – February 2010
First Congregational Church, Old Lyme, CT – February 2010
Treehouse Community, Easthampton, MA
Rolling Ridge Retreat Center, North Andover, MA – July 2009
Libi Center, Jerusalem – February 16, 2009
Jerusalem and Sde Boker, Israel – January 17 & Feb. 5, 2009
Aravah Institute – Spring 2008
IPCRI Peace Education Conference – January 2008
Monroe Congregational Church – Spring 2006
Oakland Greek Orthodox Community Center – 2006
Spiritual Community Forum, New Haven CT – 2006
Israel/Palestine ten-day delegation – November 2004

Keynote Speeches and Presentations:
Brandeis University – April 2012
First Church Northampton, MA – January 2012
Karuna Center for Peacebuilding – February 2011
Forbes Public Library, Northampton, MA – January 2011
Treehouse Community, Easthampton, MA – January 2011
UN’s Day of Spirituality, Values and Global Concerns, NYC – October. 2010
Brookline, MA – January 2010
Temple Beth El, Sudbury, MA – February 2010
UCC in Devon, CT – February 2010
First Congregational Church, Old Lyme, CT, July 2009
Jewish Federation of Greater New Haven, January 2007
National Council of Jewish Women, May 2005
Whitney Center, New Haven, CT, April 2005
Community Center, Hamden, CT, October 2004
Peace Educator’s Conference, Greenwich, CT, June 2003
Southern Connecticut State University – Jewish Women Peace-Makers, Oct. 2003
International Women’s Day, New Haven, CT, March 2003

Experience:
Yael served as Executive Director of Promoting Enduring Peace, Inc. from 2001 through 2005. For these five years, she led the organization through many peace and justice activities and earned the praise of the PEP’s Board, as recorded by Alice Fraser, co-director of PEP for 32 years, who wrote:

“…Through your efforts, you have stabilized PEP after a tumultuous period of uncertainty. You have brought to the job a wide array of talents. You have demonstrated wide-ranging abilities from handling the miniscule details involved in launching a new web site to considering the broad spectrum of ideas necessary to conduct meaningful international peace tours, as well as local and environmental projects. Your wide background of education (International Relations at Berkeley) as well as your experiences as a 20-year resident of Israel have been invaluable in a practical as well as in an intellectual understanding of world events. You are gifted in your ability to bring people together around current war/peace issues and through your leadership qualities arrive at a balanced perspective. Your ability to persevere in spite of the obstacles and difficulties most NGO organizations are experiencing inspires us, the Board, with confidence in your leadership. We have voted a salary increase. We want to express our appreciation for your tireless efforts and pledge our continued support for you, as together we work to promote enduring peace.”