featured image
Therapy

RIPPLES of Hope: Psychedelics as a Tool for Peacebuilding and Collective Healing

May 14, 2024
Featuring: Sami Awad & Leor Roseman, Ph.D.

In this episode, David interviews Sami Awad: Palestinian peace and nonviolent activist and founder of Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem; and Leor Roseman, Ph.D.: Israeli neuroscientist, researcher, and senior lecturer at the University of Exeter.

featured image
Subscribe Share

In this episode, David interviews Sami Awad: Palestinian peace and nonviolent activist and founder of Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem; and Leor Roseman, Ph.D.: Israeli neuroscientist, researcher, and senior lecturer at the University of Exeter.

They talk about Roseman’s 2021 paper, “Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis,” which looked at what happened when people with fiercely different opinions moved beyond fear, anger, and othering, and sat together in a safe container and drank ayahuasca with the purpose of healing collective trauma. When the focus of the participants moved toward understanding each other, Roseman and Awad saw a unity that gave them a lot of hope, leading to the creation of their nonprofit, RIPPLES, which is focused on using psychedelics for peacebuilding – first in the Middle East, and hopefully soon, everywhere. As Awad says, “If it can happen here, it can happen almost anywhere.”

They discuss:

  • The efficacy of psychedelics as a tool for nonviolent activism, building peace, and recognizing – and healing – collective trauma
  • The balance between the idealistic and the practical, or ‘the irony of harmony’ – if you focus too much on the connectivity of psychedelics, do you actually exclude voices?
  • The concept of “my liberation depends on your healing and your liberation depends on mine”
  • The challenge in doing something with the hope and enthusiasm that comes after a powerful experience: How do you make sure that wave of hope continues rippling through choppy waters?

Links

RIPPLESsalliance.com

YouTube: Sami Awad & Leor Roseman: ayahuasca as a peace-making tool among Palestinians and Israelis (PS23-MAPS)

University of Exeter: Dr. Leor Roseman

Frontiersin.org: Relational Processes in Ayahuasca Groups of Palestinians and Israelis

Frontiersin.org: On Revelations and Revolutions: Drinking Ayahuasca Among Palestinians Under Israeli Occupation

Maps.org: Oneness, Liberation, and Revolutionary Revelations Observational Research on Ayahuasca Rituals of Israelis and Palestinians

Sami Awad

In this Episode

Sami Awad

Sami Awad is the founder and the former executive director of Holy Land Trust in Bethlehem . Sami was born in the United States to Palestinian parents; his father (originally from Jerusalem) became a refugee at the age of nine after his father was killed in the 1948 war, leaving behind his widow and seven children. Sami’s mother is from the Gaza Strip, where he still has members of his family living there. Growing up in a violent situation, at a young age, Sami was influenced by the teachings of his uncle, Mubarak Awad, the Palestinian activist who promoted and engaged in nonviolent resistance to the Israeli occupation during the first Intifada. From a young age, Sami was introduced to and influenced by great leaders and visionaries of peace and nonviolence, from Jesus to Gandhi, to Martin Luther King Jr. Sami holds a doctoral degree in divinity from the Chicago Theological Seminary, a master’s degree in international relations from the American University in Washington D.C., and an undergraduate degree in political science from the University of Kansas.

Socials: Instagram

Leor Roseman

Leor Roseman, Ph.D.

Leor Roseman, Ph.D., is a senior lecturer and psychedelic researcher at the University of Exeter. He is also the chair of RIPPLES ALLIANCE, a new nonprofit for psychedelic-assisted peacebuilding. He has previously worked at the Centre for Psychedelic Research, Imperial College London, under the mentorship of Prof. Robin Carhart-Harris and Prof. David Nutt, supporting the foundational work of an emerging research field. His interdisciplinary research covers neuroscience, psychology, phenomenology, anthropology, and conflict resolution, using various research methods such as fMR, quantitative, qualitative, microphenomenology, ethnographic, and participatory research. Currently, Leor is investigating relational processes and group dynamics in psychedelic rituals. He is interested in how psychedelics enhance connectedness, group bonding (communitas), and sociality, and can serve as a social cure. Furthermore, together with Palestinian and Israeli activists and researchers, he is developing a praxis of research and action which utilizes the potential of psychedelics for peacebuilding, liberation, and justice. They hope to create a participatory approach that focuses on personal and societal healing and considers action and healing intertwined.

Socials: X / Linkedin

Load more podcasts