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Shining Bright- Roots Winter Update
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Israeli pre-Army students crowd around a Roots speaker

This new year has brought with it new faces, new programs, new challenges and new hopes. Here at Roots we've taken powerful steps forward since our last update:
* New members in our core staff
* Significant growth of our activist network
* Exciting developments in our programming
* Increased ability to address the challenges of the conflict in our region

Below you'll find updates, information on our spring speaking tours (in North American and Western Europe) and some impact stories from our programs. And if you want a way to stay in closer contact with our programs post a "Like" to our Friends of Roots Facebook page!

Core Staff Development

Roots has been blessed with Khaled Abu Awwad joining our leadership staff. Khaled has brought a wealth of new connections and experience to our team. The incredible burst of programming and new initiatives is felt by all. Welcome Khaled!

Recent Programs

To get a sense of what's happening around here lately, here's a glance at the reports presented in last weeks staff meeting:

▪ Womens Religious Learning Group: Bi-weekly meetings continuing and growing sense of commitment.
▪ Jewish-Muslim Religious Dialogue (Group 1): New attendees from Ramallah and Jerusalem
▪ Young Adult Project: Organizational structure improving, the twenty core youth are showing up consistently to the bi-weekly meetings. Working on a blood donation event.
▪ Work-boards: Emails circulating in local towns- already seen a few employment opportunities created.
▪ Outreach to political leadership: Met last week in Israeli Parliament with the religious coordination lobby.
▪ Photography Workshop: Final exhibition approaching for girls group.
▪ Na'aran- Meeting next week with local Palestinians/Israelis in Jordan Valley to plan the first programs of our first satellite project!
▪ Kafe Judur- 40 plus people have been attending the last several sessions!
▪ Local Teachers Project- Recruting and planning continues with core teachers.
▪ Media: The Wall Street Journal is going to carry a story about our work on behalf of the Bachar family! Our new web-site should be going up soon. New Service- Reporting Palestinian news into Hebrew- the twitter account drew 500 followers within a day and continues to grow! New Website- Should be up within the month!
▪ Womens Religious Learning Group: Bi-weekly meetings continuing and growing sense of commitment.
▪ Jewish-Muslim Religious Dialogue (Group 1): New attendees from Ramallah and Jerusalem
▪ Young Adult Project: Organizational structure improving, the twenty core youth are showing up consistently to the bi-weekly meetings. Working on a blood donation event.
▪ Work-boards: Emails circulating in local towns- already seen a few employment opportunities created.
▪ Outreach to political leadership: Met last week in Israeli Parliament with the religious coordination lobby.
▪ Photography Workshop: Final exhibition approaching for girls group.
▪ Na'aran- Meeting next week with local Palestinians/Israelis in Jordan Valley to plan the first programs of our first satellite project!
▪ Kafe Judur- 40 plus people have been attending the last several sessions!
▪ Local Teachers Project- Recruting and planning continues with core teachers.
▪ Media: The Wall Street Journal is going to carry a story about our work on behalf of the Bachar family! Our new web-site should be going up soon. New Service- Reporting Palestinian news into Hebrew- the twitter account drew 500 followers within a day and continues to grow! New Website- Should be up within the month!

As you can see, Roots is growing quickly both in our expanding numbers of local projects and in our work to create a satellite in the Jordan Valley area. This growth presents us with new challenges in funding our work- from bringing in experienced facilitators, transportation fees through keeping our space heated through this cold winter.

If Roots' work speaks to your values and hopes please do what you can to help us grow! Below is a link offering several ways to advance our work. At this point, funding is really the only obstacle to doing more on-the-ground projects, engaging more people and increasing our impact.
Click here to Donate
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Roots staff getting down in a recent workshop on short-term strategy
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Hands of our young adults on a recent hike to understand our shared land

Some recent feedback:

We've been collecting reflections from some of the participants in our projects, and thought it right to share some of their words:
"Before I encountered Roots and the youth meetings that took place, I was in 12th grade and engrossed in my studies, but I have never taken place in anything so meaningful as this.
The project allowed me to actualize the "doer" inside of me. And no one is happier about that opportunity than myself!"

I found a group that enables, and listens. Young men and women that have gone through difficult challenges in their lives, and are refusing to give up on their ability to live in peace and as neighbors one to the other.
… These meetings changed my perspective and the perspectives of my Palestinian neighbors and have taught me tolerance, understanding of the Other, and most importantly that we are ALL people and its up to us to work with each other and not against each other—to never give up!
I'm proud to be a part of this meaningful project, and glad that I was blessed to see that there's "another way" and that the word "to fight" and can also apply to the war for peace."

Roots Young Adults participants
Boulder KGNU Radio Interview 3

Spring Speaking Tour

March 9-10 in Paris
Ali Abu Awwad and Jean-Marc Liling
9th: Conference at Cercle Bernard Lazare 8pm
10th: Conference at the Mouvement Juif Libéral de France (MJLF) 8pm
March 16-25
Ali Abu Awwad and Rav Hanan Schlesinger
Dallas, Charleston WV, LA, Atlanta, Dartmouth MA, Boston, NYC
March 29- April 5
Rav Hanan Schlesinger and Antwan Saca
Danbury CT, NYC, Hoboken, Rochester, Indianopolis, Ohio.
May 12-14
Ali Abu Awwad and Shaul Judelman in Tutzing, Germany

Exact locations and contact info is posted on our website. There are still an openings for Thursday evening 3/23 and Friday/Saturday 3/31-4/1 in the northeast US as well as day-time slots in the above mentioned cities. For booking, email - info@friendsofroots.net - with "Spring Tour" in the subject line.
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Friends of Roots Abroad

Interested in getting involved?
Roots is supported by an incredible network of people who upon visiting our projects or hearing us speak in their communities decided to help increase our impact. In both the US and Geneva area, our supporters are volunteering through the following organizations:

American Friends of Roots

American Friends of Roots are working building infrastructure to support upcoming US visits and fundraising events. A working board of seven members has been established and will work to support Roots' crucial actions on the ground.

To get involved- fill out the volunteer form on our website!

B8 of Hope - Geneva

On March 23, the B8 of Hope is hosting a gala fundraising dinner in Geneva for the Roots. We are so grateful for the tireless work of our friends in Geneva to create this event and look forward to our future cooperative efforts. B8 of Hope has also organized a speaking tour and meetings for Roots reps in Paris and Switzerland in the beginning of March.

The eight founders and members of B8 of Hope's steering committee are men and women, of different origins, nationalities and religions, who decided to take advantage of the fact that they live in Geneva, the international city of peace and human rights, to create a "home", a tribune, a base for the promotion of dialogue, non-violence and a peaceful solution. Their focus for the moment is to actively support their first selected organization, Judur/Shorashim/Roots, by assisting them in all the dimensions of their mission (assessment, transparency, structure, benchmark, best practices, communication, fundraising, visibility, networking).

Europeans interested in connecting with B8 of Hope are invited to contact info@friendsofroots.net with "B8ofHope" in subject line.
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Cleaning up after some recent construction work

Site Infrastructure

We are enjoying our new kitchen space, the now-tiled pavilion, a new toilet stall and have almost completed a dormer cabin. As the winter cold has been all around us- we have been using the greenhouse as a warm space for meeting during the day and heating it in the evenings for events. We are grateful to Partnership for Peace and the Threshold Foundation for their investments in the physical space where all this work sits! February will also see a few volunteer work days on the site to continue upgrading our physical plant
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Roots is finding a new frame for our futures

Recent Visits and Initiatives:

These past three weeks we were blessed to host Pastors John Moyle and Scott ___ from the Oakbrook Church in the DC area. John was instrumental in the founding of Roots and to this day the Oakbrook Church has supported our work as a project of their community- in helping manage finances, website and more. It was great to spend time with them, reflect and look forward together and for them to meet and see many of the new faces and programs here at Roots. We are full of gratitude to the support of the whole Oakbrook community- a chance here for us to say thanks!
In addition to a plethora of student visits from around the world, we also hosted the leadership of Leader Quest- an incredible project advancing social change on a variety of core issues across the globe. We are looking forward to hosting their upcoming delegations and grateful to begin a partnership with their staff.
 

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