TEL AVIV ONEVOICE SUMMIT CANCELLED IN SHOW OF SOLIDARITY, Adams Reaffirms His Support
Fringe Extremists Threatened Palestinian Staff, Performers
"A setback for 600,000 Moderates"
EXPERIENCE THE IMPACT OF ONEVOICE ON CIVIL SOCIETY IN PALESTINE AND ISRAEL: WWW.ONEMILLIONVOICES.ORG
Jericho/Tel Aviv, October 15, 2007—In a show of solidarity with OneVoice Palestine, the OneVoice Movement, and artists and celebrities engaged with them, have decided to cancel the OneVoice Summit due to take place this Thursday in Tel Aviv. Security threats late last week prompted the cancellation of a parallel OneVoice Summit planned for Jericho.
Fringe groups waged a slanderous campaign to incite threats against OneVoice staff and supporters claiming that a survey OneVoice release five years ago represented a policy document on final status negotiations.
The OneVoice Peoples' Summits, the first effort of its kind, offered an unprecedented opportunity for the Israeli and Palestinian people, in parallel, to propel and support their leaders in the quest to resolve the conflict in the wake of the Arab Peace Initiative and in the build up to the November Annapolis Conference. The Summits, and the work of OneVoice, are not an attempt to define the content of those negotiations, but to demand progress thereon.
OneVoice Palestine President, Dr. Fathi Darwish, has vowed to go on with the mission, "We are heartened by this show of solidarity. Now more than ever, we are determined to fulfill the OneVoice mission. I think that most Palestinian and Israeli moderates want to send a message, one message from both sides: We are fed up with the situation. We are facing a fringe minority of loud extremists, but they cannot stop our struggle to end the occupation through a two state solution—the only solution for two peoples."
Gil Shamy, Executive Director of OneVoice Israel, summarized the OneVoice approach, "The public does not have the power to implement resolutions, but it has the imperative to hold their leaders accountable—and to demand immediate, ongoing negotiations until an agreement is reached."
Over the past six years, OneVoice has gathered the support of over half a million Israelis and Palestinians. The organization remains committed to achieving their goal of uniting all moderates in the region and empowering the process from the grassroots.
A campaign of lies against OneVoice was launch by radical groups, including PFLP, who oppose the goal of Israel and Palestine living side by side. This then evolved into an intimidation campaign against those due to take part in the OneVoice Summit.
Nisreen Shaheen, of OneVoice Palestine, confirmed, "These lies are completely unfounded and the Palestinian people are being deceived by fringe movements whose existence is premised on the conflict. OneVoice is standing behind the President's platform."
Daniel Lubetzky, President of the PeaceWorks Foundation that helped conceive the OneVoice Movement, added "We are very heartened by the steadfast support of all the dignitaries and celebrities, like Bryan Adams, who committed to stay on board and join us as soon as we can re-group to fulfill our vision—for him to perform both in Israel and Palestine. This was a setback for 600,000 moderates. But our work will not cease till we achieve our mission of breaking the shackles of extremism and seizing back the agenda for moderates to live in peace."
In the meantime, as a response to the postponement, the group has already aligned a partnership with Yahoo! to highlight the power of the people. "We invite people across the world to join us on October 18, 2007 at 7pm Jerusalem time (1pm EST) at video.yahoo.com/onevoice to experience something they have not seen before," said Lubetzky.
About the OneVoice Movement:
The OneVoice Movement is a mainstream nationalist grassroots movement with over 584,000 (as of 10/13/2007) Israeli and Palestinian members, and 3,000 highly-trained youth leaders. It aims to amplify the voice of the overwhelming but heretofore silent majority of moderates who wish for peace and prosperity, empowering them to demand accountability from elected representatives and work toward a two state solution. OneVoice counts on its Board over 60 foremost dignitaries and business leaders across a wide spectrum of politics and beliefs, joining as OneVoice against violent extremism and for conflict resolution. Learn more by visiting our website at www.onemillionvoices.org.
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