What is humanity’s greatest need? Did we find an answer in an hour and a half? Read to gauge for yourself.

(*artwork: Liberation dove by Incé Husain)

How is silence perceived in different cultures and families? How is quietness perceived? How do we navigate dual cultural identities? We discussed these questions for nearly two hours, with reference to a “Think Piece” written by RJ Dill.

“The party, then, acts as a kind of binding element, trying to find a way to bring together diverse social forces, and to help them stay together, despite the many tendencies pulling them apart. And different parties will advance different strategies to make this possible. This is tough work. The party must find a way to creatively unify an enormous diversity of experiences, forms of struggle, and political goals into a lasting unity, all while preserving genuine differences.” ~ The Party as Articulator, Salar Mohandesi

We rediscussed a post distinguishing different identities in liberation movements (see our first, lengthier discussion on the post here), and discussed a new vision for future Circles that involves contributing regularly to independent press in London. This new vision is anchored in the idea that regularly contributing human rights-oriented articles to press will increase awareness of global injustice in London, naturally raising the baseline for how committed the public is to building and contemplating a just world.

For over a month, we discussed the Call for input for the report of the Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory to the Human Rights Council 58th session with respect to Western University.

“The Palestinian people are very, very strong,” says Palestinian-American comedian Sammy Obeid. “They're the only ones who could be surviving this madness. Like, we're going to cut off their food. We're going to cut off their water. It's like, have you heard of Ramadan? You're messing with the wrong folks. They've been training for this their whole lives.”

Over onion rings, we discussed humour as an act of resistance by reading about Sammy Obeid and drawing from a research article on how humour uniquely combats oppression.

Four Palestinian journalists reporting live for Gaza were nominated for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize - the most prestigious peace prize in the world. Is this a meaningful act of resistance, or a performative act akin to lip service? Who is allowed to name nominees for the Nobel Peace Prize, and do we agree with this list?

Can one do evil without being evil? A discussion on the "banality of evil" thesis by Hannah Arendt, which argues that people who do evil things are not necessarily evil individuals, but are merely trying to function in a society where their professional roles oblige them to do harm. What are the societal implications of how we answer this question?

A post by The Slow Factory defines twenty “roles” in liberation movements separated into “creative” and “pragmatic” categories. Which role are you?

A circle discussing the article "Lessons From a Bank-Robbing Guerrilla Turned President" that shifted into conversations about the usefulness of protests, how to meaningfully educate people on human rights causes, and how to break cultural barriers that may prevent understandings of colonialism.

A second circle on the Rome Statute that delved deeper into the document and whether we agree with its premises and applications. The day this circle was held, the UN General Assembly adopted a ‘historic’ resolution that called for an end to the occupation of Palestinian Territories within a year.

Have student encampments for Palestine remained ideologically focused or fallen prey to fads?

How do we define what is and isn’t ‘protest’? What are the similarities in student protests that have been met with violence by those in power?

“…ordinary people adopted a critical stance in the way in which they perceived their relationship to reality. Social realities that may have appeared inalterable, impenetrable, came to be viewed as malleable and transformable; and people learned how to imagine what it might mean to live in a world that was not so exclusively governed by the principle of white supremacy.” ~Angela Davis

“This is a common strategy of white feminism: to align with women of colour when it suits, to trumpet a non-existent sisterhood in order to appropriate our work and advance the myth of a better world run by women.” ~ Ruby Hamad

What can we learn about liberation from Palestinian poets?

A true step towards a peaceful and unified world or an extravagant scrap of paper to be tossed when it fails to benefit the powerful?