OneVoice Movement

OV: Israeli Leaders Across All Mainstream Parties Unite on Campaign to Condemn Extremism and Incitement

In a rare bond of cooperation forged by the Israeli arm of the OneVoice movement, young and senior leaders of each of the mainstream parties agreed to jointly implement a campaign to uphold nonviolent civic discourse within Israeli society and condemn incitement and violence.  The product of months of work – with delicate one-on-one meetings with each of the partners and multiple break-through meetings among delegates from Likud, Labor, Shinui, Yahad, the National Religious Party (Mafdal) and Shas – culminated with an off-site three day seminar where 40 young leaders crossed ideological, partisan and personal barriers to transcend their differences and focus on the unifying need to discourage extremism.

The heads of the “Young Leaders” movements of Israel’s six major parties from left to right were the engines behind this undertaking.  They include Yoel Hasson, President of Likud’s Young Generation, Eran Harmoni, Labor’s Young Generation Leader, Aviel Aharon, Chairman of Shinui’s Young Generation, Uri Zaki of Yahad’s Youth, Shuky Zohar, the Secretary of NRP’s Young Generation and Elyashiv Rabin, the Secretary of Shas Young Leaders.  Each of the leaders recruited key figures within their movement to participate in the seminar.  Israeli Leadership Development Director Dr. Muli Peleg and his wife and conflict resolution colleague, Tzofnat Peleg, guided the discussion, organized by OV Program Director Gil Shemi, with support from OneVoice Activist Dima Yarmanko.

This activity was conceived against the backdrop of this summer’s upcoming Gaza disengagement. While the vast majority of Israelis (including most settlers) are dedicated to upholding democracy and respecting their government, Israelis fear that a small minority of radical extremists may seek to derail the will of the majority through violence and incitement.

“The goal of this effort is to establish a platform of public discourse, whereby different parties, ideologies and philosophies try to understand and acquaint each other without bickering and blaming each other,” remarked Yoel Hasson, who is also an aide to Prime Minister Sharon. “We are committed to finding common ground among Israelis – to unify us particularly on how we are to resolve our deepest disagreements – through respect and under the rule of law.”

Participants laid the foundations for a long term process aimed at nothing less than transforming Israel’s political culture into one characterized by mature civic discourse and devoid of incitement to violence or dehumanization of those who disagree with one’s views.  Plans include a joint declaration at a press conference, a grassroots campaign with a unifying slogan, and recruitment drives by each of the parties from North to South. The goal is to establish a civic contract that all Israelis will be encouraged to sign, advocating civility, respect and moderation above radicalism, dehumanization and violence.

Unlike the Grassroots Negotiations work that OneVoice shepherds in its joint Palestinian-Israeli track, this Civic Discourse & Anti-Incitement track of OneVoice focuses internally on Israeli society, just like the Democratization and Non-Violence track focuses internally on Palestinian society.  Dr. Peleg said: “Besides the important work with do with our Palestinian colleagues, we need to concentrate also internally – on the Israeli side – because without working on unity and solidarity against extremism among us we will be crippled to deal with the other side.”

Elyashiv Rabin, Secretary of Shas Youth, stated to his colleagues: “I came into this meeting skeptical, curious but skeptical. I leave hear today a believer. I believe in the possibility of Secular and Religious Israelis to coexist as one society. I trust that our Rabbis would approve of this initiative. I have smashed some of my preconceived notions this weekend. I hope you have too.”

Read reflections on this landmark joint effort against incitement from participants across the spectrum of Israeli politics: from NRP, Yahad, Shinui, Shas, Labor & Likud

Yoel Hasson, President of Likud Young Generation, added: “I think all the blessings and courage are due to One Voice for taking this bold initiative. This is what the country needs in these tumultuous times, and only a non-partisan such as OneVoice could have gotten us all together under one roof in those particularly difficult times. We should bring more of our colleagues in and open a nationwide campaign to carry our message across.”

.

Uri Zaki, head of Yahad’s Youth and OneVoice Leadership Council member was not able to attend the actual retreat because of primary elections within his party at the same time but he has been active in the overall undertaking since its inception and contributed this thought: “This is not about everyone adopting the same ideology, certainly not. Each time we meet we dive into fair dialogue, in which each side presents the other with its goals, worries, ambitions and fears.  Such discourse does ultimately minimize the threat of internal war, because once you get to know the people beyond the stigma and stereotypes, it’s much harder to hate them or dehumanize them – let alone shoot them – and easier to find shared convictions."

.

Dr. Tzofnat Peleg shared the following insight: “We held a very interesting meeting that in some ways highlights no less great divides between Israeli left and Israeli right as between Israelis and Palestinians."

.

Aviel Aharon, Chair of Shinui’s Young Generation, said: "This is the time of doing, not of talking. I believe that under OneVoice’s guidance and vision we could come out with a clear and unified message against violence and for the urgent need of resolving differences by dialogue however deep our disagreements may be."

.

Shuky Zohar, head of NRP’s Young Generation, shared: “I have never spent time with so many ‘leftists’ in my entire life. Above all, I enjoyed it. I was enriched. I want to thank One Voice for enabling that. Most importantly, we must continue this effort full speed ahead and not lose the momentum."

.

Eran Harmoni, Chair of Labor’s Young Generation, stated “One Voice should be praised for its effort. If it didn’t exist it should have been invented. Some of us met each other in the past, but never before we held such profound discourse with one another. I think realizing where we came from and why we are holding our views helps tremendously to empathize with the other and it would make the political demonstration difficult to escalate into violence."

OV Palestinian President Aided Summit of 50 Palestinian and Israeli Mayors, and Founds Palestinian Network for Peace

Dr. Fathi Darwish, President of the Palestinian branch of OneVoice, helped in the preparations of and provided a presentation at an unprecedented meeting among fifty Mayors of Israeli and Palestinian towns, held in the town of Jericho.  Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal and Nablus Acting Mayor Dr. Hussein al-Araj (who is also Deputy Minister for Municipal Authorities) were the two forces behind this initiative.  Dr. Darwish assisted Mayor al-Araj during its preparations.  At the meeting, Dr. Darwish also discussed with the different Mayors means to cooperate to bring the OneVoice platform and methodology to their towns.

To read the concluding declaration of the meeting, click here.

http://www.silentnolonger.org/wps/WPS_PA_501/Links/OV_mayor_declartion.pdf

In addition, Dr. Darwish’s team helped found a “Palestinian Network for Peace.” Meetings were held in conjunction with over 40 NGOs to devise a coordinated and concerted plan and agenda towards achieving peace and the end of occupation.

In partnership with Tawasul and the Palestinian Legislative Council, OneVoice-Palestine also helped organize a poster campaign where the three parties printed 24,000 posters that were distributed across all districts as part of a campaign supporting democratization.

OV Israeli Director Oriella Ben Tzvi Briefs 400 YPO Mideast Leaders in Dubai. Read about how leaders from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan offered support.

The Emirates Chapter of the Young Presidents Organization (YPO) – a network of more than 9,500 young global business leaders in more than 75 nations – invited OneVoice Israeli Acting Executive Director Oriella Ben-Zvi to speak about the organization, its mission and work to the over 400 participants in their recent retreat in Dubai.

Oriella was the only Israeli in attendance and shared the stage with moderator Riz Kahn (of CNN Q&A fame) and Yasser Abbed Rabbo, co-sponsor of the Geneva Initiative. Oriella's discussion of changes within Israeli society in recent months, and the increasing divisions between moderates and violent extremists – and OV's work to strengthen and amplify the voices of the silent majority – was met with incredible receptivity and genuine interest by members of the audience. Both in the question period following the presentation and in the days following, Oriella was approached by YPO members from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and Lebanon who shared their enthusiasm for the work OV is doing and the similar need in their countries to marginalize extremists and give voice to people with a vision for a better future. Through hand shakes and hugs, people expressed their support – and several offered their assistance in raising funds for both the Israeli and Palestinian chapters.

While hard questions were asked about Israeli governmental policy; about the headlines that always seem to feature militant settlers; and the too often soft spoken majority of peace seekers, many felt that OV offered a unique and important model for Israel, Palestine and other countries to follow.

OneVoice Board member Ahmed Alfi, an American-Arab business leader who is an active member of YPO and YPO-PAN, enabled this encounter and we are very grateful for his exceptional leadership on this and other fronts.

Americans can Sign on to the CALME Campaign: Support active engagement by the US Administration to help Israelis and Palestinians reach a comprehensive peace agreement.

After too many years of devastating violence, recent developments in the Middle East have created an unprecedented opportunity to help Israelis and Palestinians achieve a negotiated two state settlement. United States’ national security interests are best served by stable, secure, and democratic states of Israel and Palestine living in peace and respect. The Campaign for American Leadership in the Middle East (CALME) seeks to demonstrate the American public’s strong support for this end, and for the leadership of President Bush in helping the parties reach it.

OneVoice and the PeaceWorks Foundation are active members of the campaign and fully endorse it.  Please take advantage of this unique opportunity to have your voice heard by joining a bipartisan group of prominent Americans in signing this letter to President Bush to show your support for U.S. involvement in resolving the conflict. 

Click the link to sign the petition: http://www.mideastcalm.org

What Motivates You to Pursue the OneVoice Mission? This month’s answer is by Dr. Samuel (Muli) Peleg, Israeli Director of OneVoice’s Leadership Development Program

-- The Opinions Expressed in this Section are Purely Personal.  Over the following months we will ask a wide array of OneVoice members to provide us their perspective.  By definition these will be very personal stories and, given the broad nature of the movement, the underpinning political philosophies will vary greatly.  What is remarkable is that in spite of all these different narratives and backgrounds, they all join as OneVoice against violent extremism --

I decided to specialize in political violence and terrorism because on April 16, 1974, on a visit to my uncle in Naharia, the house was attacked by a terrorist group coming in from the sea. The family next door was assassinated and we escaped through the back door. I was 16. Instead of sinking into rage and hatred, my interest was oriented towards why? How could people do such horrendous deeds and what grievances propel them? Such motivation shaped my research agenda and my socio-political activities in peace movements and political awareness initiatives.

In March 4, 1996, my beloved teaching assistant and former student, Taly Gordon, was killed by a suicide bomber in Dizengof Center. I was the chief speaker at her eulogy. She was a Peace Now activist, like me. But terrorism is brutally unselective. My book Spreading the Wrath of God was dedicated to her. Her pointless death pointed me even more in my quest for conflict resolution and reconciliation to end this evil cycle.

I became the spokesperson for Peace Now and an advisor to the Peres Institute of Peace. I became one of the closest consultants to Yossi Beilin, the catalyst of the Oslo Accord and the Geneva initiative. My academic articles as well as my press columns deal with conflict resolution and bridging cultural, psychological and communicational gaps. I believe that beyond the strategic, economic, political and geographical differences between Palestinians and Israelis stretched the intangible abyss of mistrust and mutual de-legitimization. It is to the conquering of this challenge that I devote my earnest devotion. I wholeheartedly believe in the feasibility of success in this task and I wand relent. 

Over the last few years, I sensed that extremists were winning the fight, partly because of a lack of political leadership, but also to a significant extent because the people themselves were not standing up and making themselves heard.  The vacuum was being filled by the most destructive forces and, with all the ordinary citizens on either side mute, each side was sensing only the monstrosity of the other.  It became clear that if this conflict is ever going to be resolved, we need to stop dividing ourselves between left and right and across party lines, and we all need to unify for what is a common cause to most everyone: a better future of peace, security, dignity and respect for all the people in the region.  Only by gathering the people from the ground will we ultimately prevail.