OneVoice Campaign to Respond to Alarming Survey Results

One Voice recently commissioned a survey of Israelis and Palestinians that revealed that 65% of both populations do not foresee peace in the near future.  The OneVoice movement, which was born during a darker and even less optimistic period in Israeli-Palestinian relations, will respond to these alarming survey results at its upcoming Annual Board meeting taking place May 22-25^th in Jerusalem where the 2006-7 ‘You Can Make a Difference’ campaign will be launched.

 

Leading Israeli, Palestinian and international businesspeople, activists, politicians, and religious leaders will be in attendance and will make a public pledge to promote moderation and negotiations among both sides.

“The main challenge we face is breaking the cycle of indifference and lack of vision.  If people don’t see the opportunity to reach an agreement, then they won’t be able to be moved towards action that will end the conflict.” said OneVoice Israel’s Executive Director Gil Shamy.   

His Palestinian counterpart, Executive Director Nisreen Shaheen added:  “OneVoice's  main goal is to wake up the stagnant masses to action for the sake of a different future.”

The main results of the survey reveal:

· Approximately 65% of both the Israeli and Palestinian population feels that it is not possible to reach a final agreement with the other side within the next four years.

· 73% of Israelis believe that they personally cannot have any impact on the conflict. While 45% of Palestinians believe they cannot have any impact on the conflict.   

· On both sides, approximately 45% believe that the media gives more attention or over exposure to extremist voices.

 

Daniel Lubetzky, Founder and President commented that “The numbers reflect the growing desensitization among both peoples, after seeing a bloody past and living a shaky present.  What we need is to focus them on a concrete future where they can play a role in taking their lives back.”

At the Board meeting, OneVoice will unveil a campaign to combat the problem and provide Israelis and Palestinian with the necessary tools to excerise their civic power to impact their future.  The OneVoice Can Make A Difference Campaign is designed to engage individuals to take responsibility over the issues central to the conflict.  Through Citizens' Negotiations, Town Hall meetings, Leadership Training programs and Public Awareness events, OneVoice will transfer ownership over the agenda back to the people.

 The One Voice Movement's Israeli-Palestinian survey was conducted in conjunction with the Israeli research institute "Ma'agar Mochot" and the

Palestinian Center For Public Opinion.  The survey was conducted through phone interview among 535 Israeli and 535 Palestinian interviewees over the age of 18 randomly chosen and representative of each society.