Palestinian-Israeli grassroots work in the heart of the West Bank.
Roots-Shorashim-Judur is a local Palestinian-Israeli grassroots initiative based in the Gush Etzion and Beit Omar area of the West Bank.
Its work is difficult to categorize because it takes place inside one of the most complex realities of the conflict: Palestinians and Israeli settlers living in close proximity, under deeply unequal conditions, amid fear, violence, mistrust, and competing claims to the same land.
Roots brings together Palestinian and Jewish Israeli staff, volunteers, and community members who believe that change in the West Bank cannot happen from a distance. It must also involve people rooted in the communities most directly entangled in the reality on the ground.
Their Role in Civil Society
Roots occupies a distinctive place in the Palestinian and Israeli civil society ecosystem. It is not simply an encounter program, and it is not a settler initiative alone. It is a binational, community-led network in which Palestinians and Jewish Israelis use their respective access, credibility, and relationships to respond to local needs.
For Palestinians involved in Roots, the work includes engaging people whose choices and communities shape daily Palestinian realities in the West Bank. For Israeli settlers involved in Roots, the work includes challenging violence, fear, and extremism from within their own communities.
This dual rootedness allows Roots to listen within Palestinian communities, engage within settler communities, and build channels that can be activated when tensions rise. Its work includes dialogue, solidarity, violence mitigation, local advocacy, and practical efforts to reduce harm in a volatile environment.
Mission
Roots envisions a social and political reality in Israel and Palestine built upon dignity, trust, and mutual recognition of both peoples’ historic connection to the entire Land.
Through grassroots initiatives, Roots fosters understanding, nonviolence, and transformation between Israelis and Palestinians. The organization has established itself as a distinctive network where Palestinians and Israelis living in the West Bank recognize each other as essential partners in pursuing meaningful change.