OneVoice Movement

Dennis Ross, Young Israeli & Palestinian Leaders join as OneVoice Against Extremism

In the first gathering of its kind, over 60 young Israeli and Palestinian leaders joined forces to coordinate ways to support the peace process and confront violent actions that are threatening the chance for regional stability and peace. In an emotionally charged event in Jerusalem on March 21^st, Ambassador Dennis Ross, a member of the PeaceWorks Foundation’s Honorary Board, inspired future Israeli and Palestinian leaders to spread the voice for conflict resolution.

The break through event was planned for months and attempted in the past, but lack of permits, travel restrictions, threats, and political conditions had prevented it. The last planned gathering in late February was canceled amidst the last terrorist attack in Tel Aviv. This time, 14 Palestinians from Gaza and 27 from the West Bank joined 36 Israelis from across all sectors of society representing a broad spectrum of politics. Leaders in their communities, young people between 19 and 32 years of age were selected from the OV Leadership Development program over the course of months to participate in this seminal discussion.

While most participants had organized OneVoice workshops and town hall meetings in their own communities, many of them had never met someone from the other side. With this in mind, representatives from each side were asked to start by sharing cathartic experiences. “Participants shared very painful personal stories – about jail, beatings, explosions, body inspections, hospitalizations, losses on both sides – but what struck me is that they all would end pledging to work to change things once and for all,” said Nisreen Shaheen, Palestinian Executive Director. Listen to their stories. http://blog.onevoicemovement.org/one_voice/2005/03/voices_of_pales.html 

Where only months ago the professional staffs of both sides questioned whether the time was ripe for such a large and public gathering, the young leaders answered with a resounding yes, and demanded from themselves and from OneVoice sustained contact and concrete joint actions. “What impressed me the most was how hungry the leaders were for more coordination, for more interaction,” said Oriella Ben-Tzvi, Acting Israeli Executive Director.

Ford Foundation Grant enabled series of OneVoice Town Hall Meetings and Workshops on conflict resolution that engaged and energized thousands of Palestinians and Israelis over the last seven months and culminated in joint efforts vs. violent radicalism

A generous grant from the Ford Foundation enabled OneVoice to organize scores of town hall meetings across Palestinian and Israeli cities, villages, and refugee camps, which spawned off creative initiatives within both societies.  Originally conceived to enable Israeli and Palestinian citizens to hold structured debates on conflict resolution and to participate in workshops where citizens voted to craft ten pillars for conflict resolution, the process took a life of its own as citizens used the platform to discuss the power and imperative of civic engagement, generating results significantly beyond those originally conceived. Town hall meetings were held at university campuses, schools, restaurants, ballrooms in hotels, municipalities, and clubs, with anywhere between 25 and 200 participants.  While most gatherings targeted youth between 15 and 30 years of age, some were designed for more senior community leaders.  Participants included university and senior high school students, NGO heads, private sector and community leaders, as well as ordinary concerned citizens and activists. On the Palestinian front, workshops and town hall meetings were held in Jericho, Ramallah, Hebron, Jenin, Bethlehem, Qalqilya and refugee camps like Al Jazoun, even in Gaza and East Jerusalem.  While the core organizing concept for the town hall meetings was to educate citizens on areas for conflict resolution, topics evolved into salient issues such as the role of youth and of civil society organizations in enhancing democracy, expectations from the Abu Mazen government, reforms against corruption and the ‘anarchy of arms,’ personal empowerment, and non-violence as a strategic tool to achieve political objectives and a two-state solution. On the Israeli front, events were held from Sderot in the south to the Druze village of Hurfeish in the north, from Kibbutz Naaran in the Jordan Valley to the Alon Shvut settlement in Gush Etzion, as well as in all major universities, including Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Haifa University, the Interdisciplinary Center in Hertzliyah, Ben Gurion University in Beersheva, Netanya College, and Saphir college in the Negev.  Town hall meetings were also targeted at the Israeli Russian sector, including a meeting in Beit Berl, and at the Israeli Arab population, such as an event in Beit Zafafa. Several of these events were organized against a backdrop of challenges.  In Beit Zafafa, for example, an Arab town in the municipality of Jerusalem, Darin Khattab mobilized the community to call for peace and reconciliation in spite of serious tensions with a Mayor they feel has seriously neglected the town. Tangible outcomes from the workshops and town hall meetings included the creation of the OneVoice Leadership Development program, a “Friends of OneVoice” affiliation program, the joint meetings and working groups between Palestinians and Israelis (as well as some of the projects described in the next section).  The Palestinian OV town hall meetings also spawned off a “Democracy Day” campaign, the much-lauded Get-Out-The-Vote Presidential campaign that OV activists organized last January, a civil society committee to support reforms and progress against extremism and violence, a poster “reform, peace, and democracy” campaign in partnership with the PLC and the Taweel organization, and the buttressing of a Palestinian network for peace and democracy in conjunction with over 100 fellow NGOs.  The Israeli OV town hall meetings lead to the creation of a major cross-party undertaking (including the young leadership of Likud, Labor, Shas, Shinui, Yahad, and NRP) to strengthen civic discourse and discourage incitement and extremism within Israeli society, which will be detailed in the next monthly update.

Israeli and Palestinian activists call for more interaction and cooperation and adopt Dennis Ross’s idea to pair I-P leaders on speaking tours in their communities, along with other initiatives

Ambassador Dennis Ross encouraged the activists to form small bi-national teams that would travel through Israeli and Palestinian towns to speak to audiences about the fears, challenges and hopes of each side. Unanimously the leadership members adopted this idea, while cognizant that permits and travel restrictions make this a difficult plan to implement. Other participants agreed to ongoing meetings with the idea of forming working groups to develop and implement concrete activities that will pull in greater numbers from each side.

A number of additional projects are being planned:

• Activists are partnering with PeaceWorks Productions to create a documentary that highlights voices from people on the ground;

• YPO-PAN and the YPO (Young Presidents Organization) Israeli and Palestinian chapters are coordinating ways to advance their shared mission, including through a “Champions” project being designed to pair up OV activists with YPO leaders on concrete projects;

• the OV network will be deployed to support the dissemination of the Gandhi movie in Arabic, which is being produced by OV Board member Kamran Elahian;

• OVI and OVP leadership group activists are helping organize a project to Make The Dead Sea Come Alive which will be unveiled soon;

• Public Service Announcements against extremism are being planned;

• the PeaceWorks Foundation in conjuction with several international organizations is launching an International College Outreach Program to send OV Israeli and Palestinian activists as Ambassadors for moderation and concrete constructive engagement, to discourage polarizing partisan diatribe and the extremist dehumanization that is overtaking campuses worldwide;

• a Global Televised Town Hall meeting is being planned with key media partners;

• the Palestinian arm of OV will continue with a democratization drive;

• OVP will also organize Town Hall meetings to discuss sensitive issues for conflict resolution;

• the Israeli arm of OV will drive to forge consensus against extremism and incitement & establish a framework for civic discourse among all mainstream parties

• OVI is also designing an innovative internet advocacy and education campaign

• Last, OVP and OVI are designing Strategic Contingency Plans and preparing the human infrastructure for rapid-response mobilization of their communities at the appropriate time.

VOICES OF PALESTINIAN AND ISRAELI ACTIVISTS AGAINST EXTREMISM

From Farah Jabareen, a 20 years old Palestinian student at Birzeit University who is an activist in Fatah Youth, to Lilach Dachoach, an Israeli woman from Rishon Letzion whose brother was seriously injured as a soldier in Gaza; from Darin Hatab, a Palestinian Israeli woman from Jerusalem who spoke about the personal challenges of being a minority in Israel, to Baha'a al dana a 24 year old Palestinian student from Nablus University who was arrested by the Israeli army for 20 days in 2003 and is nevertheless a committed peace activist; and from Eran Berkowitch, an Israeli Kibbutz member active across Israeli society, to Walid Wahdan, a Palestinian from the Al Jazoon refugee camp near Ramalla studying at Bir-zeit University who was in jail for seven years yet is a strong OneVoice activist, all of these young OneVoice leaders expressed a commitment to co-existence and a commitment to active engagement against extremism. Come visit as they share their stories in this space.

OV Leadership Development Program: Call for Trainers and Speakers

The OneVoice Leadership Development Program is in full swing.  In less than 6 months, hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian activists have been trained on the art of conflict resolution.  Still, the program needs to deepen the skill sets of activists on the ground to ensure that a human infrastructure against extremism is properly developed.  This practical training program aims to provide grassroots leaders with improved public speaking, leadership, community organization and mobilization skills, and test those skills against actual activities that activists must organize.  The power of the model was proven when in January hundreds of Palestinian OneVoice volunteers and supporters organized an unprecedented Get-Out-The-Vote campaign that touched the lives of millions, through public service announcements, festivals, caravans of democracy and other innovative activities.  Over the next several months, other ambitious undertakings are planned and will require maximum preparation.  Dr. Fathi Darwish, onevoice@p-ol.com, President of the Palestinian OneVoice movement, and Dr. Muli Peleg, pelegmt@inter.net.il, who heads Leadership Development on the Israeli side, are welcoming experts world-wide to meet and train OneVoice activists on the ground.  Of particular utility is training that deepens the following skills: Community Organization, Grassroots Mobilization Non-violent Activities for Change Conflict Resolution Public Speaking, Persuasion, Communication Skills Leading and Motivating Trainers and professionals in this field are welcome to contact the above.

OV Entertainment Council Music CD: Submit A Song or a Connection!

The OneVoice Entertainment Council is compiling a music CD of American, Palestinian and Israeli artists. Several artists and distributors have already pledged participation. Additional suggestions for Mideast or Western artists should contact Ann Cusack at +1 310-889-9924 or rose7mag@earthlink.net.  In addition, submissions are now being accepted for a hymn for the OneVoice Movement.  The winning composition will be performed and recorded by music icons and hopefully inspire millions of people to stand up against extremism.  Questions or submissions may be directed to Suzanne Bach at suzanne@silentnolonger.org or at +1 212 897 3985 x213.