The organization describes itself as a "grassroots movement of Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of racism and segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership. A future of equality, justice and peace begins today, between us, through concrete, daily actions of solidarity to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and to achieve full civil equality for all Israeli citizens."
David Shulman, an Israeli scholar, writer and member of Ta'ayush, describes in Dark Hope: Working for Peace in Israel and Palestine (University of Chicago Press, 2007) the birth of Ta'ayush in Israeli activists' "solidarity visit to the Arab town of Umm al-Fahem" in the wake of October 2000 riots and the violent response of Israeli military and police forces. "Someone brought up the idea of sending food convoys into the occupied territories--direct, concrete, nonviolent action in a situation of severe crisis. That was the beginning" of Ta'ayush.
The movement, which is non-partisan and unaffiliated with any political parties, has since grown in membership and activism. One of its major, ongoing works is its campaign against Israel's "separation barrier" in the West Bank.
