OneVoice Movement

Tzipi Livni: World will not accept 'economic peace' alone

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni addressed Tel Aviv University students on the importance of the two-state solution and spoke critically of the Netanyahu government at an event organized by OneVoice Israel and the Tel Aviv University Student Union on Tuesday.

Livni, head of the opposition party Kadima, said the current Israeli leadership had fallen behind in making difficult decisions.

"Those politicians who thought that the world would accept an 'economic peace', but not the real thing are finding out that no such thing exists," said Livni.

Livni stressed the importance and urgency of ending the conflict through a comprehensive peace deal. She told students that those working toward a final settlement of the conflict were the true defenders of the Zionist dream.

“When Israel only says 'no' and does not present its formula to ending the conflict, then the world will not stand by its side," she said. "There is no party that is more or less committed to security – this is not a political matter.”

Livni went on to rebuke the Netanyahu government's approach in handling the conflict.

“Any attempt to create solutions that are not leading to the end of the conflict is a historical mistake on behalf of Israel," said Livni. "Any postponement or an idea about a [Palestinian] state in temporary borders would leave the conflict standing and lead to further weakening of Israel's positions.”

Commenting on the issue of borders, Livni said it was dangerous to treat all Jewish settlements across the Green Line that divides Israel from the West Bank as equal.

"If we don't distinguish between the main settlement blocs and peripheral settlements and outposts, the rest of the world will not make this distinction either, and will continue to speak out against all Israeli settlements," Livni said.

The event was part of the OneVoice Movement's ongoing Town Hall Meetings initiative.

On December 22, OneVoice Israel held a meeting at Ariel settlement, during which former Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz addressed Ariel College students on his peace plan.

OneVoice Israel presented the poll commissioned by the OneVoice Movement in collaboration with Dr. Colin Irwin of the Institute of Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool at both events.

The main results showed that 74% of Palestinians and 78% of Israelis were willing to accept a two-state solution (an option rated on a range from ‘tolerable’ to ‘essential’). According to the data, 77% of Israelis and 71% of Palestinians considered a negotiated peace ‘essential’ or ‘desirable’.

"The youth leadership of OneVoice Israel is encouraged by the strong support it received from top Israeli politicians in Tel Aviv as well as in Ariel," said Tal Harris, coordinator of OneVoice Israel's town hall meetings. "We urge our leaders to take steps toward ending this conflict without delay."

Israeli and Palestinian town hall meetings are part of the OneVoice Movement’s ongoing Saying What Needs to Be Said initiative, whereby open discussions are held in the respective communities on the substantive issues of the conflict.

The OneVoice Movement has independent Israeli and Palestinian chapters working in parallel to appeal to the national self interests of their own societies with credentials enabling them to unite people within each society across the religious and political spectrum.

The OneVoice Movement is an international mainstream grassroots movement that aims to amplify the voice of Israeli and Palestinian moderates, empowering them to seize back the agenda for conflict resolution and demand that their leaders achieve a two-state solution.

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Impressions from Sderot

By Tal Harris

The name Sderot is synonymous with children’s schools under rocket attacks, deafening warning alarms and the adrenaline-fuelled run for your life that follows.

Sderot is Israeli solidarity, bringing people from all over the small country to support the city’s economy by shopping and its morale by cheering up traumatized children and other residents.

Trauma must be an understatement, I thought to myself while driving to the southern town, about a mile from the Gaza border. I’d experienced my own little trauma during the 1991 Gulf War when the Iraqi regime under Saddam Hussein launched rocket attacks on Israel. Remembering the anxiety I felt just from simply hearing a motorcycle engine revving in the street. But the attacks lasted for several weeks while in Sderot it’s been seven years. I wondered if the town’s residents would ever recover from their years of trauma.

OneVoice Israel's youth leaders are also personally confronted with the trauma the conflict leaves on children and innocent civilians in the Palestinian occupied territories. Moderate Israelis regret that this is the reality we are dragged into and have a strong yearning for a normal, secure, and humane existence. The will to live on both sides of the border is generally stronger than any trauma. Between the cracks that war leaves on people’s lives, some light manages to seep in too.

OneVoice Israel organized a town hall meeting in Sderot to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with the residents. We came to talk about it all, from Israel’s security needs to the mutual compromises needed on the settlements, Jerusalem and the Palestinian refugees. The conflict is a messy cocktail; shaken, not stirred.

The deputy mayor gave us a tour of the town. He’d seen it all and yet had his eyes wide open hoping for change. He said he’d host Hamas, or any other organization, in his home in Sderot if they sought true reconciliation. He passionately spoke about the destruction brought upon the town’s 20,000 residents of old and new immigrants, noting that people’s lives fell into the routine of war. It was important speaking to someone who could explain life in Sderot beyond the headlines and show the human cost of failed politics.

Later that evening, we held our town hall meeting at Cinematheque Sderot, with roughly 100 people in attendance, including local politicians and students from the nearby Sapir College.

At the reception preceding the discussion itself, OneVoice Israel youth leaders mingled with the attendees, sharing their personal experiences and making new contacts for the movement.

I moderated the discussion and presented the results of the poll commissioned by the OneVoice Movement, showing room for compromise on all issues. While Israelis opposed the existence of a Palestinian army, both Israelis and Palestinians were surprisingly accepting of an international force that would replace the Israeli army for security purposes after signing a final status agreement.

I expected the discussion to be very emotionally charged given the town had suffered from more than 7,000 rockets, but the audience balanced their feelings with equal measures of intelligence.

The audience wanted to know if they could ever trust the Palestinians with guns, especially since they felt violations of past agreements led to a hostile Palestinian police force. The audience also protested against the failure of the elected leaders, Israeli and Palestinian, at reaching a final agreement and for having settled with a mutually violated interim agreement. Obviously, this failure led to a chronic state of distrust between Israelis and Palestinians alike. Despite reservations, the audience became convinced that the majority of Palestinians were moderates seeking a normal life and that Israel would have to make far-reaching compromises for peace.

Our guest speaker, Yoram Binur, former correspondent on Arab affairs for Israel’s Channel 2, energized the crowd. His charismatic straight talk against the ignorance that Israelis (and Palestinians) often adopt when considering the substantive issues penetrated the audience.

Speaking about Palestinian political prisoners, Binur said, “Most of them are not a security hazard and simply age and study in the Open University when in Israeli prisons”. Commenting on Jerusalem and the need to divide the city, he asked the audience, “Who wants to have 300,000 Palestinians in 26 villages that surround the Israeli capital”.

Binur’s humor and extensive experience reporting in the West Bank and Gaza lent him credibility with the audience, allowing him to engage, rather than antagonize, them.

The Sderot town hall meeting shows that while there are still significant gaps between Israelis and Palestinians on the various core issues of the conflict, there is a greater desire to live and prosper on both sides. This makes it possible to discuss everything. One simply needs to challenge the people to talk about it all, rather than leaving it solely in the hands of the elected leadership. Because we dare to do so, I’m proud to be part of OneVoice Israel.

Please help us to continue challenging Israelis and Palestinians on the conflict’s toughest issues by considering a substantial year-end gift to the OneVoice Movement.

Tal Harris started as a youth leader with the OneVoice Movement and became the coordinator of its town hall meetings in Israel. He will moderate two high-profile town hall meetings in December, one with Shaul Mofaz, former defense minister, and another with Tzipi Livni, leader of the Kadima party.

Jason Alexander and Our Youth Leaders Visit Washington, DC

By Rachel Steinberg

I was thrilled to assist in coordinating a visit to Washington, DC for OneVoice Entertainment Council Member Jason Alexander and two of our most senior youth leaders, Arwa AbdelRahman and Guy Lupo.

Youth Leaders Guy Lupo (left) and Arwa AbdelRahman, and Jason Alexander

Our goal was to bring the voices of Israeli and Palestinian civil society to US policymakers and decision makers – demonstrating firsthand the importance of civic engagement in the peace process.

The day began with meetings on Capitol Hill. We met with Senator Richard Lugar, the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. In May, the senator cited the movement’s poll during a Senate hearing on the Middle East, saying, “There is substantial support within Israeli and Palestinian societies for a resolution to the conflict.”

The youth leaders wasted no time in highlighting the impact of our Town Hall Meetings on ordinary Israeli and Palestinian citizens, who largely accept a two-state solution. We were inspired by Senator Lugar’s commitment to ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Our second meeting was a briefing for staff in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations. Hearing the voices and opinions of our youth leaders -- in person, during an engaging conversation -- served as a stark contrast to reading about the conflict, or watching it play out on the evening news. In 2010, we will continue to bridge the information gap by presenting the growing popular support for the two-state solution and the strong consensus on both sides for US involvement.

At the House of Representatives, we met with staff in the Committees on Appropriations and Foreign Affairs. They heard Arwa’s frustrations over spending hours at Israeli checkpoints on her way to university and how the OneVoice Movement provided her with a positive way of expressing these feelings. Guy shared how he felt out of touch from the conflict until he did his military service and realized the impact it had on the daily lives of both Israelis and Palestinians. Since then, he has felt a need to work tirelessly to end the conflict.

Our final engagement was with existing and new supporters and friends from the OneVoice Washington Leadership Committee. As Jason spoke about trying to imagine his children having no future, as so many parents living through this conflict feel, he moved the room to tears.

Our two youth leaders left the audience energized when they shared how the OneVoice Movement’s 2006-2007 campaign -- “What Are You Willing to Do to End the Conflict?” -- compelled and drove them to act and to take personal responsibility to build peace.

During our celebratory dinner, I sat back and looked around the table at all of the faces: young and older, familiar and new, all excited and motivated by what they had just heard. I felt encouraged that the OneVoice Movement could reach out to so many people from so many different walks of life, all united in their desire to see peace in the Middle East.

In the end, there was nothing to worry about: All of the advance planning paid off -- with special thanks to all of our Host Committee members (especially our hosts Karen and Fred Schaufeld), and Arwa, Guy, and Jason.

Please help us to continue the work of OneVoice Washington by considering a substantial year-end gift to the OneVoice Movement.

Rachel Steinberg is completing her master’s degree in conflict resolution at Georgetown University. She joined the OneVoice Movement as government relations fellow in June 2009.

OneVoice Europe Engages Top European Leaders

By Joel Braunold

OneVoice Europe have been meeting with key decision makers and opinion formers in both Westminster and Brussels and recently put on an event for the UK Parliament.

On December 2, in the Palace of Westminster, OneVoice Europe brought two members of the OneVoice Movement to speak to a captivated crowd, in conjunction with the pressure group Progress. Nisreen Abdallah, our former Youth Leadership Program director in OneVoice Palestine, and Eran Schafferman, a senior youth leader from OneVoice Israel, spoke about their involvement in the movement, and explained what the OneVoice Movement is doing on the ground to end the conflict.

John Lyndon (left) of OneVoice Europe, Eran Schafferman, Muhammad Sarwar MP, and Nisreen Abdallah

The event was hosted by John Mann MP, chair of All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism, and Muhammad Sarwar MP, chair of Muslim Friends of Labour.

Mann stated that the OneVoice Movement has the support of his entire committee, and that the work the movement does is of critical importance in the region. Sarwar spoke of the OneVoice Movement’s “noble” work, and explained how it was one of the very few organizations that people from all political parties in Westminster are behind - a remarkable feat considering how toxic and divisive the conflict can often be.

The event brought together over sixty people from both houses of Parliament -from all the main political parties- as well as members of the diplomatic and nongovernmental community. Most of those in attendance were well used to discussing the conflict, but many remarked about how refreshing it was to have the voice of the grassroots present, encouraging moderation and pragmatism and instilling hope.

John Lyndon, executive director of OneVoice Europe, chaired and introduced the event, before Nisreen and Eran spoke in-depth about the work that OneVoice Palestine and OneVoice Israel are engaged in; from training the next generation of leaders, to engaging with communities across both their societies, building consensus and breaking taboos.

John Mann and Muhammad Sarwar both spoke before and after questions and answers, endorsing the movement and stressing how important it was to listen to the majority of voices calling for an end to the conflict, rather than the vocal minority seeking to escalate it. John Mann urged the OneVoice Movement to be “the makers of history”.

Outside of formal events, OneVoice Europe has been traveling to Brussels and briefing all three branches of the European Union: the Council, Commission, and Parliament.

In the Council, OneVoice Europe met with the staff of Javier Solana, the European Union’s High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy.

In the Commission, which forms the executive branch of the European Union, , OneVoice Europe met with the Vice-President of the European Commission Günter Verheugen, who is now looking for ways in which he can help the movement in its mission to end the conflict.

Joel Braunold (left), Vice President of the European Commission Günter Verheugen, and John Lyndon

In the Parliament, we have met with representatives of the major political parties, as well as with the office of the President.

As the largest external economic player to both Israeli and Palestinian societies, the European Union can play a major role in bringing an end to the conflict. OneVoice Europe is building a platform for the silent majority to be heard in every part of the European Union, strengthening the consensus behind two states, and showing solidarity with our staff and volunteers in the region.

Please help us to continue engaging top world leaders by considering a substantial year-end gift to the OneVoice Movement.

Joel Braunold is the political and media outreach coordinator at OneVoice Europe.

Our Brave Future Leaders

I’m proud that during these turbulent times, our youth leaders believe more strongly than ever in the OneVoice Movement’s mission. Negative feelings of despair and fear continue to turn into positive power and action.

I’m proud that during these turbulent times, our youth leaders believe more strongly than ever in the OneVoice Movement’s mission. Negative feelings of despair and fear continue to turn into positive power and action.

The brilliant and creative initiatives and activities implemented by the movement’s volunteers is a testament to the dedication our future leaders have toward achieving the goal of ending the conflict. This goal is not shared by the movement and its members alone; it is the desire of the people on the Palestinian street.

Our youth leaders are ready not only to support their political leaders, but also to pressure them to reach an agreement that will help us, as Palestinians, live in prosperity and bring the Israelis the security they seek.

The number of Palestinian youth leaders joining the movement is on the rise. This gives me hope that we will have a better future where they will lead the change and play their true role in building an open, modern and developed Palestinian society.

Please help us to continue developing future Palestinian and Israeli youth leaders by considering a substantial year-end gift to the OneVoice Movement.

Samer Makhlouf is the executive director of OneVoice Palestine.

Looking for hope in an endless blame game

Link to original article on Progress Magazine

By John Lyndon - Executive Director of OneVoice Europe

As the old adage goes: ‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’

Nowhere is this truer than within the stifling, often toxic context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this part of the world, one person’s Independence Day is another person’s Naqba; one person’s occupation is another person’s homecoming; and one person’s response is another person’s precursor. Action and reaction, myth and reality - all have become blurred, as uncompromisingly subjective and mutually exclusive historical narratives stalk the land.

This, sadly, is often the reality one must work within when trying to make progress toward mutual compromise. Israelis and Palestinians largely define the last 62 years of their history in opposition to one another. Blame is passed around judiciously, and each sees the other as the ultimate reason that peace has been so elusive and progress so temporary.

When faced with a depressing reality such as this, a committed interlocutor really has to walk down one of two paths. Should you try and transform the reality to one more amenable to peace, common understanding and mature, collective responsibility? It is indeed a tempting thought. Israelis and Palestinians poring over each others’ perceived injustices, apologising where necessary and strengthening their ties through cooperation, collaboration, and joint reconciliation. The second choice however, is to accept the context as you find it. Israelis and Palestinians have reason enough to dislike, mistrust, and even hate one another. Instead of putting the very limited time, resources and energy now available into trying to make water flow uphill, why not devote all of your efforts toward achieving a deal that respects rather than seeks to transform each narrative?

The security threat Israel lives under is due - primarily, but not exclusively - to the fact that they occupy the West Bank and Gaza, and stand in the way of a Palestinian state. Palestinians - primarily, but not exclusively - have employed violent methods as a means to achieve said state, and end said occupation. This calculus is simple, and blessedly free from moral judgment or finger pointing: occupation and violence are two sides of the same coin. Ending one will bring about the demise of the other. This is one of the central beliefs of OneVoice, an international grassroots movement with over 650,000 signatories in roughly equal numbers both in Israel and in Palestine, and over 2,000 highly-trained youth leaders. It aims to amplify the voice of Israeli and Palestinian moderates, empowering them to seize back the agenda for conflict resolution and demand that their leaders achieve a two-state solution guaranteeing the end of occupation, establishing a viable independent Palestinian state, and ensuring the safety and security of the state of Israel - allowing both people to live in peace with all their neighbours.

By working in parallel, OneVoice can appeal to the nationalistic enlightened self-interest of Israelis, through the work of OneVoice Israel in Tel Aviv; and Palestinians, through the work of OneVoice Palestine in Ramallah. With chapters located across the length and breadth of both territories, OneVoice is building a coalition of supporters: secular to religious, left to right wing. For Israelis, it’s about building an understanding that the occupation hurts rather than enhances Israeli security, and poses a threat to Israel’s future as a Jewish and democratic state. For Palestinians, it’s about building an understanding that violence and extremism hurts Palestinian national ambitions, providing a convenient excuse to those who wish to perpetually delay the establishment of a Palestinian state. Building this realisation does not require Israeli and Palestinian agreement on the past, rather it highlights the shared and mutually reinforcing benefits of common understanding of both peoples’ futures: a sovereign and viable Palestinian state, living side by side with a secure Israel - both states at peace with all their neighbours.

Uniquely in the region in which they inhabit, both Israel and Palestine are democratic societies. There exists a mechanism within such societies to transform even the most corrosive reality, should enough public pressure is brought to bear. That is why OneVoice works tirelessly to highlight hidden consensus both within and between each society, mobilising ordinary people toward becoming genuine agents of change. Through Town Hall Meetings, public rallies, youth leadership training and ‘get out the vote’ campaigns, we aim to give the voices of moderation and pragmatism the volume and impact that their numerical weight deserves: 78% of Israelis and 74% of Palestinians are willing to get behind a two state solution. Whilst these people may never agree about what happened in 1948, 1967 or even in 2001 - they are in agreement about what must happen in 2010: a serious, committed, and successful push toward a two state solution and an end to violence, occupation and insecurity. With over 300,000 Israelis and 300,000 Palestinians signed up to this common understanding of what must come, perhaps the most important and transformative chapter in this entangled shared history is yet to be written.