Roots – Peacemakers in a Time of War
Formed in 2014 by peace activist Ali Abu Awwad and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, Roots is a group based in the Gush Etzion settlements of the West Bank that believes the path towards peace between Palestinians and Israelis is through dialogue. Rabbi Hanan and Noor Awad will be visiting Sarasota on their US Speaking Tour on Sunday, February 18 at 7pm at the Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota, 3975 Fruitville Road. The event is free and open to the public, but registration is required. Register here. This event is sponsored by WSLR, the Peace Education and Action Center and the Unitarian Universalists of Sarasota.
Despite living so close to each other, Israelis and Palestinians in the West Bank exist in almost complete separation, and both sides have little knowledge of each other’s lives or humanity. Stereotypes are generally reinforced by exposure to only the aggression of the other; whether through media or personal experience of violence and trauma. Roots is a unique network of local Palestinians and Israelis who have come to see each other as the partners needed to make changes to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger lives in Alon Shvut Israel and is one of the founders of Roots/Shorashim/Judur, The Palestinian Israeli Grassroots Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence and Transformation. Currently he serves as its Director of International Relations. He also is the founder of the American Friends of Roots, a multi-faith organization dedicated to supporting the work of Roots/Shorashim/Judur.
Prior to the founding of Roots, Rav Hanan spent his whole career teaching Jewish studies in various seminaries, colleges and frameworks in the Jerusalem area, among them the Pardes Institute, Beit Midrash Elul, Nishmat and Yeshivat Bat Ayin. He also spent two years as part of the Judaic Fellows Program in Boca Raton Florida and over ten years in Dallas Texas, first as Rosh Kollel of the Community Kollel and later as founder and Executive Director and Community Rabbinic Scholar for the Jewish Studies Initiative of North Texas.
Born to Palestinian parents, Noor and his family moved from Amman, Jordan to Beit Sahour following the signing of the Oslo Accords. There, he began engaging with his identity as a Palestinian refugee, both in violent and nonviolent ways. While studying to become a tour guide, Noor traveled to Israel and for the first time saw Israelis beyond the lens of “occupying soldiers” which put him on a path of intense rethinking about the reality of the conflict. In 2012, Noor was licensed by the Palestinian Ministry of Tourism.
In 2016, Noor was asked to bring an overseas group he was guiding to hear Rabbi Schlesinger speak at Roots. He was profoundly challenged by what he heard, and after a series of intense, mind-expanding meetings with the rabbi and later with Ali Abu Awwad, in which he heard things he had never heard before, Noor became a Roots activist.
.Photo from WSLR