Ali Abu Awwad is a Palestinian activist and pacifist. He is the founder of Al Tariq (The Way), which teaches the principles of nonviolent resistance to Palestinian men, women, and children. He is also a member of the Bereaved Families Forum, and tours the world together with Robi Damelin, a 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. At the start of 2014, together with Rabbi Hanan Schlesinger and others, Awwad formed “Roots”, a group based in the West Bank area of Gush Etzion to promote dialogue and eventual trust between Israelis and Palestinian as a path to peace.

Hanan Schlesinger resides in Alon Shvut Israel. He serves as the Director of Memnosyne Israel, promoting interfaith, bridge building projects between Israeli settlers and local Palestinians. As the Executive Director and Community Rabbinic Scholar of the Jewish Studies Initiative of North Texas, he also flies to Dallas, Texas once a month to teach adult education classes within the Jewish community and to spearhead interfaith dialogue.