We have been wanting to set up a conversation with Garden of Hope (mindfulness center in Palestine) founder Issa Souf since we began our speakers series at the start of the Covid pandemic. We've finally gotten a date with him, and we are beyond thrilled. Please join us in this important conversation with Issa and Dorit Alon Shippin who also helps with the Garden of Hope and is engaged in peace-building. Please join us and share this invitation with your friends and network far and wide. Thank you.
Seeding and Cultivating a Garden of Hope
A Conversation with
Issa Souf and Dorit Alon Shippin,
calling in from Palestine and Israel
Sunday, 25 January 2026, 11:30AM-1PM US EST
(click here to see time in your timezone)
Via Zoom. Free and open to all. RSVP required.
Issa will talk about his work and vision for the Garden of Hope, located in the West Bank and the first mindfulness center in Palestine. He will talk about his work as a peace activist with the Palestinian society and also with Israeli and international peace activists. He will also talk about the current situation in the West Bank, where he lives.
Dharma teacher Dorit will talk about the meaning of the cooperation with Issa around the Garden of Hope and the current, general atmosphere in Israel.
DANA: Please support the Garden of Hope. Donate HERE. Thank you for your generosity.
ABOUT ISSA SOUF
Issa Souf (54) is a Palestinian Muslim. He lives with his family in the village of Khares in the Salfit Governorate (Nablus area) in the West Bank, Palestine. Issa is a father of 5 (ages 14-24). He is a peace and non-violent activist resisting the Israeli illegal occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. He is working towards the recognition of the suffering of the Palestinian people and towards recognition of their basic rights for freedom and independence.
At the young age of 29, during the time of the second Intifada (uprising) in 2001, Issa was shot by an Israeli soldier while coming outside of his house to call the children home. As a result of the shot that hit his spine, Issa became paralyzed in his lower body. In July 2004, Haaretz newspaper (by Gideon Levy) published a letter that Issa wrote to the soldiers who carried out the shooting and after which his family was not allowed to approach him and help him. In the letter, he expresses sorrow for the loss of humanity and the cruel situation in which soldiers are required to fight against innocent civilians and sometimes commit such acts.
In 2003, he participated in a Palestinian-Israeli delegation that traveled to the
Plum Village meditation center in southern France to study and practice mindfulness under the guidance of Zen master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. In the last years Issa has been busy fulfilling a dream that will serve his vision for a peaceful and free existence in Palestine. He has built and continue to build a community and peace center called the Garden Of Hope with the help and support of many friends around the world,
Continuing Issa Souf’s legacy, the centre serves local Palestinian communities first and foremost, while also building justice-based relationships with peace-minded Israelis and strengthening international solidarity, learning, witnessing, and resistance—always with awareness of the profound imbalance of power between occupier and occupied.
ABOUT DORIT ALON SHIPPIN
Dorit Alon Shippin (68) lives with her family in Neve Shalom ~Wahat Al-Salam (Oasis Of Peace) in Israel. The Oasis Of Peace is an intentional peace community in Israel where Palestinians and Jews citizens of Israel live and work together for peace. Dorit is a mother of 3 and a grandmother of 5.
In 2003, she participated in a Palestinian-Israeli delegation that traveled to the Plum Village meditation center in southern France to study and practice mindfulness under the guidance of Zen master and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh. Since then Issa and Dorit stayed in touch and became good friends and colleagues. Both continued to follow the practice of Plum Village and the
mindfulness engaged practice of Thich Nhat Hanh. Together they are leading a
Palestinian/Israeli sangha that started at Issa's home and now will continue to meet in the new center of the Garden Of Hope.
Dorit is a member of The Order of Interbeing of Plum Village and was certified as a Dharma teacher of that tradition.