שר"ש: שוויון, ריפוי, שיבה

WHO WE ARE

We are a group of anti-Zionist Israelis based in the U.S. who work towards freedom, democracy and justice for all who live between the river and the sea. In addition to striving for justice, we are motivated by our love for our families, our communities and histories and our own material stakes in a free and just future in Palestine/Israel.

We offer a leftist vision for radical change between the river and the sea. Our vision challenges the regime of violent subjugation of Palestinians, apartheid and Jewish supremacy, and offers instead a vision of Jewish and Palestinian safety and liberation from Zionism, militarism and constant war. We call for all residents regardless of religion, nationality, gender, or ability to share in a life of safety, dignity, and equality, in which Palestinians and Israelis remain on the land and have full and equal civil rights; for a right of return for all Palestinians; and for the healing of Palestinian and Jewish communities after decades of violence.

From our position as anti-Zionist Israelis located in the U.S., we act to strengthen international alliances among American, Palestinian, and Israeli anti-apartheid movements, which are all and each indispensable in the fight against Israel’s violent status quo. Like any anti-fascist movement, we have a role to play in political transformation and resistance within our own society as well as exerting pressure from the outside. We recognize that a global movement for liberation cannot succeed without also engaging in transformation of society in Israel.

OUR NAME

Our name, Shoresh (שורש), means “root” in Hebrew. "Shoresh" rejects the Biblical, settler-colonial, Zionist myths of claims to the land that try to legitimize Palestinian uprooting, erasure or destruction. Instead, “Shoresh” offers an alternative way to recognize our diverse connections to our families, cultures and languages that emerged from a history of living and existing in Palestine/Israel. The society in Israel is not monolithic. It is religiously, racially and ethnically both diverse and segregated. Still, we are all Israelis, and this informs our anti-Zionist work.

“Root" reminds us of the need to address the root causes of violence in Palestine/Israel: Zionism. In place of settler-colonialism and ethnic cleansing, we are developing a radically different political imagination, beyond Zionism, militarism and war, of a future in which everyone from the river to the sea can live freely and safely.

Shoresh is an acronym of three principles that unite us: equality, healing, and return.

Equality, שוויון

We work for a Palestine/Israel in which all people are free and equal. This means we use the privileged status that ethnocracy confers on citizens of Israel and on Jews in particular in order to replace apartheid with democracy, justice and civil as well as political rights for all.

Healing, ריפוי

Most of us are children or grandchildren of Jews who escaped genocide, state violence, and ethnic cleansing. We understand that victims can easily become perpetrators, and that this cycle keeps repeating under violent apartheid and occupation. This results in horrific violence against civilians, as we have seen on the October 7th massacre and in the US backed unraveling genocide in Gaza since.

It is almost impossible to imagine how our communities will emerge from and reckon with this horror. To heal, we must not only offer political change but also acknowledge and grieve past and present violence. As anti-Zionist Israelis, we advocate for political transformation within our own society grounded in leftist anti-facist resistance and in models of transformative justice.

Return ,שיבה

We must not only end the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, but also acknowledge the Nakba. Since 1948, the State of Israel and its military displaced who Palestinian communities from their homes during the Nakba and settled on their lands, in an ongoing process of ethnic cleansing, dehumanization, and violent dispossession. Palestinian refugees and their families deserve to return to their land. Any struggle for justice and peace in Israel/Palestine must acknowledge this fundamental right and work towards its realization. A vision that acknowledges that 15 million call the land between the river and the sea "home" cannot be predicated on frameworks of ethnic cleansing and mass displacement — not of Palestinian and not of Jews. The only path forward is alliance and action among all people who resist ethnocracy, oppression and racial supremacy, and who fight to support life, freedom, equality, justice and dignity for all.