*** 69.5% of Palestinian, Israeli Citizen Negotiators Agree on Formula to End Occupation & Terror ***
*** Seven Pillars Achieve Significant Majority Accord in OneVoice Platform So Far ***
*** Over 68,000 Palestinian, Israeli Citizens Engaged in OneVoice To Date ***
*** Three Elusive Proposals Evaluated at UK Gathering ***
*** Third Round of Popular Voting Gets Off the Ground ***
*** Rockefeller Brothers Fund Publishes Report on OneVoice by Stanford SCCN Fellow & Hosts Annual Board Meeting ***
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The second round of citizen negotiations among Palestinians and Israelis concluded late May, and the resulting votes from tens of thousands of ordinary citizens were evaluated at a meeting hosted by the UK Chapter of OneVoice.
Out of ten questions presented to citizen negotiators, firm majorities on both sides affirmed seven key pillars for conflict resolution, including concrete proposals on the demarcation of borders, disposition of holy sites, education and reconciliation, end to conflict, security, and the mechanism to end occupation and terrorism.
Sixty-nine and a half percent of all citizen negotiators agreed unconditionally on the formula to end occupation & terror (including 63% of Israeli voters and 76% of Palestinian voters). The specific language that was affirmed specifies “that Israel shall completely end the military occupation, within the context of a comprehensive peace agreement, and a cessation of all terror and violence on both sides, at which time all political prisoners will also be released.”
Firm majorities unconditionally supported the following seven out of 10 proposals:
On Two States: supported by 75.7% overall, by 75.6% of Israelis, 75.8% of Palestinians
On Borders: supported by 61% overall, by 64% of Israelis, 58% of Palestinians
On End of Occupation and Terror: 69.5, 63, and 76% respectively.
On Security: 59.5, 61, and 58% respectively.
On Holy Sites: 68.5, 63, and 74% respectively.
On Education and Reconciliation: 69, 62, and 76% respectively.
On End of Conflict: 67.5, 62, and 73% respectively.
Exact language of each proposal is available at http://www.silentnolonger.org
Thus far, over 68,000 citizens have participated in the OneVoice public negotiations platform, including twenty-five thousand in the first round that achieved agreement on the principles for reconciliation, and over 43,473 citizens in this latest round on the ten key pillars. Of the last 43,000 citizen negotiators, 23,453 are Palestinian and 20,020 are Israeli.
Two dozen foremost experts and Board members participated in the evaluation of the results and the formulation of revised proposals based on the feedback from the citizens. The often-tense and passionate proceedings were hosted by Lord Stone at the House of Lords. Delegates included scholars like Drs. Tamar Hermann, Rami Nasrallah, and Samuel Peleg, and government advisors and officials ranging from Mahmoud Labadi, Speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, to IDF General Matan Vilnai a leading member of the Israeli Knesset (Labor), and from Dr. Imad Shakkur, member of the Fatah Revolutionary Council and Advisor to Chairman Arafat, to Mickey Ratzon, Vice-Minister for Industry and Trade in the Likud party of Prime Minister Sharon.
Three Elusive Proposals were debated by the delegates at the House of Lords:
- On Settlements, which was supported by 66% of Israelis but only 23% of Palestinians.
- On Jerusalem, which was supported by 50.5% of Israelis and 41% of Palestinians.
- On Refugees, which was supported by 52% of Israelis and 64% of Palestinians, but which received complaints from many signatories that demanded more specificity and concreteness.
The proposal on settlements was revised to achieve more clarity and increase traction; the proposal on Jerusalem was left intact because research showed that the challenge was in clarifying to voters what it meant, through education that would overcome misunderstanding in the language of the proposal and symbolism, but that it represented good potential. The proposal on refugees was only slightly revised as participants could not agree on more detailed questions. So it was agreed that research will be commissions and alternatives will be tested in focus groups so that during the next round more specific alternatives can be evaluated.
The third round of popular voting has gotten off the ground as Israelis and Palestinians seek to engage tens of thousands of additional individuals to join the movement to establish a mandate from the people.
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The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) recently published a scholarly report on OneVoice by Stanford Center for Conflict Negotiation Fellow Nichole Argo. The report will be circulated to policy-makers, scholars, and decision-makers in Israel, Palestine, the US, and the Arab world. Those interested in obtaining a copy should contact:
US office: darya@silentnolonger.org
Palestinian office: coordinator@onevoice-palestine.org
Israeli office: raniat@pe1.org.il
RBF also hosted the annual meeting of the PeaceWorks Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Board members discussed the strategy for completing the second phase of the OneVoice public negotiations platform, and began strategizing and planning on the third phase: activation and accountability, which aims to mobilize citizen negotiators to propel elected representatives to follow the will of the people.
