Marking 24 months since the escalation of violence in Gaza, we will open the doors of Present Tense to hold space for shared humanity — opposing horror with community, care, and collective action.

Together, we will host spaces for grieving and reflection, while raising funds for Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP)and The Sameer Project.
We ask participants to bring their hearts and hands to this work of solidarity.

Grieving Circles
Each week, we will gather for a Grieving Circle — a space of mending, learning, and healing.

• 01.10.25 — Grieving & Mending Circle
• 08.10.25 — Grieving & Learning Circle
• 22.10.25 — Grieving & Mending Circle

What to Expect
We will begin in meditative silence before moving into collective action:

• Grieving with guided meditation and intentional silence.
• Sewing together Mahmoud Darwish’s words — “If the olive trees knew the hands that planted them, their oil would become tears” — onto a large textile, to be auctioned at the Gather for Gaza event.
• Reading from Darwish’s In the Presence of Absence while mending.