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About a block away from the Gush Etzion security checkpoint in the West Bank stands Ali Abu Awwad, a tall Palestinian with thick curly hair. Abu Awwad, who once spent four years in an Israeli prison, talks intensely with Shaul Judelman— a Seattle-born Orthodox Jew who now lives in a nearby settlement.

Along with Hanan Schlesinger, an Orthodox rabbi from another neighbouring Jewish settlement, Abu Awwad and Judelman are the co-directors of Roots, an organization dedicated to teaching nonviolence. The friendship of these natural-born enemies— here, in one of Israel's deadliest conflict zones— challenges the usual generalizations about Palestinian-Israeli relations. For a North American like me, it's a window into a little-known and underreported reality.

"Don't be pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli," Abu Awwad often tells his audiences. "Be pro-solution."

Here, in the midst of the Jewish Gush Etzion settlements, Abu Awwad plans to create a centre dedicated to peace. He envisions a place where where Israelis and Palestinians can meet each other, where "hate and suspicion are challenged and the enemy is transformed into a neighbor and a partner. Where despair and fear become hope and collaboration.”