February 2004 is the month when the OneVoice movement achieved significant popular awareness among Palestinians and Israelis.
*** Public Negotiations Platform Officially Unveiled at IBM
*** Jason Alexander’s OV Visit Captivates Palestinians, Israelis
*** Media Frenzy
*** Politicians Rally Into The Night, Tacit Blessing from Sharon and Arafat
*** Israeli and Palestinian Heads of Student Movements -- First-Time Cooperation
*** Mike Medavoy, Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Kamran Elahian Host OneVoice
*** ACTION ITEM: Get 10 People to Vote at www.silentnolonger.org
***PUBLIC NEGOTIATIONS PLATFORM OFFICIALLY UNVEILED AT IBM
In a standing-room-only packed auditorium at IBM-Israel, the OneVoice public negotiations phase was officially launched on February 24, 2004. A robust web platform that will tabulate the votes of tens of thousands of Palestinians, Israelis and international participants was unveiled and exhibited as the central repository of data, in addition to other outreach platforms like newspaper ballots and membership canvassing drives.
Dignitaries, religious, and business leaders were in attendance, along with heads of scores of member organizations. Dozens of TV and news reporters crowded the press conference, as Jason Alexander provided a highly-lauded keynote speech (see below). The goal of the negotiations phase is to establish a mandate from the people that will force accountability on the political process for a moderate agenda of conflict resolution.
Tens of thousands of visitors have been visiting www.silentnolonger.org every day since last week. If you have not, do so now.
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*** JASON ALEXANDER’S OV VISIT CAPTIVATES PALESTINIANS, ISRAELIS
After two years of exceptional grassroots work, thanks to the daring and catalytic visit of Jason Alexander to Israel and the Palestinian Authority, OneVoice broke through and received extensive enough coverage to establish public awareness about the movement. Alexander surprised Israelis and Palestinians with heartfelt passion, humility, and precise articulation of OneVoice’s vision and process. Over three days, he visited artists and community leaders in Ramallah in spite of intense military activity during his visit, and packed auditoriums such as at Bar Ilan University, where overcapacity forced an additional 500 students to listen from outside the hall.
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*** MEDIA FRENZY
OneVoice and Jason Alexander were featured on every single Israeli and Palestinian newspaper, often on the front page, over the course of several days. And the top rated news programs and talk shows all featured interviews on OneVoice with Alexander.
The OneVoice Public Negotiations launch was featured, among others, by Al Jazeerah, Daily Star Lebanon, Arab News Saudi Arabia, Yediot Aharonot, Ma’ariv, Israel Ch. 2 and Ch. 1, Pal. National TV, Al Quds, Al Ayam, Al Hayat, Assenara, Newsweek, Time, CNN, Fox News, AP, Reuters, SF Chronicle, Daily News, USA Today, JTA, Palestine Media Center, Jerusalem Post and Arutz Sheva.
For OneVoice news articles in Arabic, English, Hebrew and Russian, visit the archive section: http://www.silentnolonger.org/wps/portal/.cmd/cs/.ce/155/.s/515/.r/2
Or visit:
Daily Star Lebanon/International Herald Tribune:
http://www.iht.com/pdfs/dstar/DS03-20_02.pdf
Jerusalem Post:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull&cid=1076992951304
Al Jazeerah and Arab News:
http://www.aljazeerah.info/News%20archives/2004%20News%20archives/Feb/24%20n/A%20Peopls%20Road%20Map%20for%20Peace.htm
USA Today (AP story):
http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/2004-02-25-george-pushes-peace_x.htm
SF Chronicle:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/02/28/ALEXANDER.TMP
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*** POLITICIANS RALLY INTO THE NIGHT, TACIT BLESSING FROM SHARON AND ARAFAT
Senior Palestinian and Israeli politicians representing a broad spectrum of constituencies interceded a couple days before the official launch of the public negotiations, to seek to achieve agreement on the initial set of questions that this extra-official process is to propose. The organization had recognized that the likelihood of achieving agreement on every word among all its Board members was not high, and it was prepared to proceed even if some Board members warned they would vow out due to disagreement with the content devised by the Council of Experts. But OV recognized that it would be far better if leaders from hawkish constituencies on both sides continued their engagement and participation.
Surprisingly, after a rally of negotiations, Imad Shakkour, Mofid Abed-Rabbo, Matan Vilnai and Mickey Ratzon announced at 1am on Sunday the 22nd, that they had achieved an agreement. This is particularly remarkable because of the range from Tulkarem leader Abed-Rabbo to Israeli General and Labor MK Vilnai, and from 35-year Fatah veteran and Arafat confidante Imad Shakkour, to Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade and Sharon ally Mickey Ratzon (Likud).
Newspapers reported that Sharon and Arafat gave implicit blessings to the public negotiations, each for very different motivations. Sharon was reported by the Jerusalem Post to appreciate the possibility of empowering the Palestinian people to demand a moderate agenda, while Arafat was reported by Arab sources to place great importance on the fact that the Israeli right is firmly involved in this peace process among the peoples.
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*** ISRAELI AND PALESTINIAN HEADS OF STUDENT MOVEMENTS GATHER, FIRST TIME COOPERATION
Overcoming enormous challenges, Israeli and Palestinian student leaders met for the first time to jointly endorse an active leadership role in the OneVoice campaign. Student leaders ranged from the Likud-affiliated President of the National Union of Israeli Students to the Fatah Student Leader at Bir-Zeit University. Large student and youth organization leaders participated, including heads of all Israeli and Palestinian University campuses, as well as Presidents of youth movements such as the 35,000-strong Palestinian organization, Friends Without Borders. Together with FWB, the National Union of Israeli Students, with 180,000 members, is an active leader in the outreach efforts of the public negotiations among the peoples.
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*** MIKE MEDAVOY, ROCKEFELLER BROTHERS FUND, KAMRAN ELAHIAN HOST ONEVOICE BRIEFS
Mike and Irena Medavoy, joined by Brad Pitt, Rhea Perlman, Danny Devito and Jason Alexander, hosted an important presentation on OneVoice in California. On the East Coast, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund was among those to host briefings. Kamran Elahian hosted Mohammad Darawshe and Daniel Lubetzky at a presentation to Silicon Valley business leaders.
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*** ACTION ITEM: GET 10 PEOPLE TO VOTE AT www.silentnolonger.org
If you haven’t joined the movement and voted yourself, do so NOW at www.silentnolonger.org.
Get 10 other people to visit the website and vote. Be part of the solution.
