Editing Arab–Israeli peace projects (section)

=== Roots/Judur/Shorashim: The Palestinian Israeli Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence, and Reconciliation ===
{{Main|Roots – Judur – Shorashim}}
At the start of 2014, community activists [[Ali Abu Awwad]] and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.webyeshiva.org/staff.php?tid%3D9802 |title=Professional Faculty & Staff |access-date=2015-03-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150317102922/http://www.webyeshiva.org/staff.php?tid=9802 |archive-date=2015-03-17 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/rabbis-without-borders/author/hschlessinger/ |title=Hanan Schlesinger &#124; Rabbis Without Borders - My Jewish Learning |access-date=2015-03-05 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403095120/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/blog/rabbis-without-borders/author/hschlessinger/ |archive-date=2015-04-03 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/author/hanan-schlesinger/|title=Hanan Schlesinger – The Blogs |work=The Times of Israel}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rabbiswithoutborders.org/?q=alumni#alumni|title=Home|publisher=Rabbis Without Borders}}</ref> along with others, formed "Roots", a group based in the West Bank area of Gush Etzion to promote dialog and eventually trust between Israelis and Palestinian as a path to peace.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://friendsofroots.net/index.html|title=Friends of Roots|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150308153052/http://friendsofroots.net/index.html|archive-date=2015-03-08}}</ref> The group's full name is Roots/Judur/Shorashim: The Palestinian Israeli Initiative for Understanding, Nonviolence, and Reconciliation, and was initially situated on Awwad's family’s land near the village of Beit Ummar in the West Bank.<ref>[https://archive.today/20150309130319/http://daily.swarthmore.edu/2015/03/05/palestinian-ali-abu-awwad-speaks-about-nonviolent-resistance-in-israelpalestine/  Palestinian Ali Abu Awwad Speaks About Nonviolent Resistance in Israel/Palestine], By Lily Tyson, March 5, 2015.</ref>

The Roots project organizes meetings between Israelis and Palestinians who live near each other in the West Bank in order to create dialogue.  The project's outreach program includes monthly meetings between Israeli and Palestinian families, a women's group, work with school children, engaging local leaders, a summer camp, language learning, and cultural exchanges. In order to accommodate this wide variety of activities, a centrally-located site in the Gush Etzion area of the West Bank is used as a convenient meeting area.<ref>[http://friendsofroots.net/about-roots.html About Roots] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505192650/http://friendsofroots.net/about-roots.html |date=May 5, 2016}}, group website.</ref>

[[Ali Abu Awwad]] is a [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] activist and pacifist. He is the founder of ''Al Tariq'' (The Way) and a member of the [[The Parents Circle-Families Forum|Bereaved Families Forum]], and tours the world together with Robi Damelin, a [[Jews|Jewish]] woman whose son was killed by a Palestinian sniper, to encourage dialogue and reconciliation between Palestinians and [[Israelis]]. His life and work has been featured in two award-winning films, ''[[Encounter Point]]'' and ''Forbidden Childhood''. He lives in [[Beit Ummar]], near Hebron.<ref name="just">{{cite web |url=http://www.justvision.org/portrait/76100/interview|title=Interview with Ali Abu Awwad |date=12 June 2005|access-date=16 July 2012 |publisher=Just Vision}}</ref>

Ali Abu Awwad, whose brother died in the conflict, attends many meetings with local Jewish residents.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/ali-abu-awwad/#ixzz3TRZMjx8f In a settler’s living room, a Palestinian reaches out: Activist Ali Abu Awwad, who lost a brother to the conflict, uses nonviolence to challenge the prejudices of his Arab and Jewish neighbors.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827183303/http://www.timesofisrael.com/ali-abu-awwad/#ixzz3TRZMjx8f |date=August 27, 2016 }} Times of Israel, 3/4/15.</ref> One of the first such meetings of his occurred in July 2014, between local Israeli and Palestinians within one part of the Etzion bloc in the West Bank.<ref>[http://www.timesofisrael.com/settlers-and-palestinians-break-their-fast-together/ Settlers and Palestinians break their fast together. At the Etzion bloc intersection, an effort to find a joint dialogue over chicken and mejadra.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160404042015/http://www.timesofisrael.com/settlers-and-palestinians-break-their-fast-together/ |date=April 4, 2016}} ''Times of Israel'', 7/16/14.</ref>