PEACE with Penny

Khalil Sayegh & Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger of Roots-Shorahim-Judur, an Israeli-Palestinian Peace Organization

https://youtu.be/5awHyUBeqos


PEACE with Penny SEASON 3: Part II, Khalil Sayegh & Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger of Roots-Shorashim-Judur, “Two Truths in One Heart; Two Peoples in One Land,” Questions & Answers MARCH 20, 2022

At PEACE with Penny, we divided the recording into two, because the event was over two hours, and it made sense for ease of listening.


In Part I of the presentation with Khalil Sayegh and Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger, we listened to an inspiring and sometimes challenging presentation called “Two Truths in One Heart; Two Peoples in One Land.” If you haven’t heard it yet, it is recommended to go to the PEACE with Penny YouTube Channel link first to listen, however, it is not essential to do so, before listening to Part II, of the Questions and Answers. In Part II, the speakers gave the audience the opportunity to ask any questions that they had, in an open and honest discussion, and this is the recording of those questions and answers.


We’d like to thank the sponsors for allowing us to share the event with you. They are: The Rose Project of Jewish Federation of Orange County, Orange County Interfaith Network, The Jewish Collaborative of Orange County and St. Paul’s Episcopal Church.


We’ve known Rabbi Hanan since 2015, and he was the first Peace activist Penny S. Tee met along with Ali Abu Awwad, who are co-founders of Roots-Shorashim-Judur, a Peace organization of Israeli settlers & Palestinians. It is a grassroots Initiative for understanding, nonviolence and transformation.


Penny S. Tee met Rabbi Hanan and Ali Abu Awwad, after her family’s fateful 2014 trip that changed her life. Touring incredible sacred sights and running and hiding in bomb shelters, with missiles exploding overhead, has a way of getting your attention. It’s what her book, “BLASTED from Complacency: A Journey from Terror to Transformation in Israel,” is about. Rabbi Hanan and Ali are both in her book, and their background will surprise you.


On PEACE with Penny, we’ve interviewed many Peace activists who work with Roots-Shorashim-Judur, an extremely inspiring and ground-breaking organization, as well as many other Peace organizations. Rabbi Hanan is an orthodox, rabbi, settler who lives in the West Bank, and today, in 2022, 8 years later, he has many Palestinian colleagues—but before 2014, that wasn’t the case. Even though he lived minutes from Palestinians—and even his gardener was Palestinian, he like most Israelis, had never had any meaningful conversations with Palestinians. Their lives are lived adjacent, yet segregated.


Ali Abu Awwad is a Palestinian, and both he and his mother were in Israeli jails for battling what they call the occupation. Rabbi Hanan and Ali have known each other for years now. Could a Palestinian and a settler actually become friends? 2014 changed their lives as well.


Thankfully, there are many Jewish Israelis and Palestinians who work on Peace together, we just don’t hear about them in the news. Reporting seems to follow the old adage, “If it bleeds, it leads.” Oy.


That’s the purpose of PEACE with Penny, we interview Israelis and Palestinians working together on Peace. Our mission is to get the word out about these dedicated people, and provide hope that Peace, between Israelis and Palestinians, is possible. If you’d like to help, please contact Penny S. Tee at Penny@PennySTee.com For today’s talk, Rabbi Hanan brought another Palestinian colleague with him, Khalil Sayegh, a Gaza-born Palestinian from a refugee family who grew up with deep anger towards Israel and its people. Confused? A Jewish Israeli and another Christian Palestinian working together on Peace? Something that seems to have been forgotten in this conflict is that you don’t have to agree politically, to behave civilly toward one another.


The last time Rabbi Hanan was interviewed on PEACE with Penny, it was almost a year ago. The tragic circumstances of the Lag B’Omer disaster where 45 people were killed and 150 wounded during a celebration had just happened, and Palestinian missiles had been recently launched, terrorist shootings, stabbings and riots, were in the news, unfortunately, similar to much of what continues today, and we were in the mood to hear something positive, and Rabbi Hanan delivered. You can listen to our interview here.


We hope you will enjoy listening to both the event and the questions and answers. We pray that some day All will live in Peace, שלום and سلام.

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