Risking Peace: Storytelling in the Midst of Controversy

"Risking Peace: Storytelling in the Midst of Controversy" is an experiential workshop developed and led by Israeli storyteller Noa Baum. Based on the creative dialogue process used in her thought-provoking story program on the Arab-Israeli conflict, "A Land Twice Promised", this workshop is a fast-paced peek at a story-sharing process that can be applied to all human relationships.

"Land" springs from Noa's dialogue over several years with a Palestinian woman, which evolved over time into a performance that weaves together their memories and their mothers' parallel stories of survival and hope in the midst of war. In this way, "Land" gives voice to personal stories and perspectives that go behind the headlines, assumptions and easy answers.

As part of the "Risking Peace" workshop, participants experienced first-hand how active listening and telling the story of "the other" have the potential to build trust, generate goodwill, shift perspectives and create change. The experience provided a story-sharing model that can be applied to intimate settings, as well as to workshops and storytelling events.

Participants were invited to find a partner, "rant" about a controversial issue each cares deeply about, and then tell a personal story illustrating that issue. We were then instructed to retell (to another set of partners) our partner's personal story as if we were the main character, as if the problem or concern applied to us. "Dive in, take a risk and explore how it feels," were Noa's instructions.

"How was it, to have your story told by someone else?" "How was it, to tell someone else's story?" were among the follow-up questions posed to the group. Comments ranged from "it was a lesson for me to listen, to fight the urge to interrupt" to the notion of taking responsibility for telling "the other's" story and the emotions surrounding "getting into

someone's skin." Through this workshop, participants were challenged to acknowledge the power of holding opposites and contradictions expressed in their partner's story, as well as to see how story-sharing creates the personal relationships from which peace can emerge.

Valuable workshop hand-outs further explained how sharing "risky" stories can help people overcome their fear and reluctance to engage in difficult conversations required to resolve conflict.

To learn more about applying this story-sharing model, take Noa's workshop during the Healing Stories Conference in Minneapolis in February 2005.

Audrey Galex is an Atlanta, GA-based storyteller, the Jewish half of "Tapestry: An Arab-Jewish Storytelling Dialogue" and founder of Roots & Wings Life Stories, a service that helps people share, record and preserve their life stories and community histories.