OneVoice Movement

OneVoice Israel Supports Netanyahu’s Return to Negotiations

 
Youth leader Shir Lachish engages passersby on Tel Aviv's harbor 

 

New York, April 30, 2010—OneVoice Israel youth leaders collected 1,000 signatures on pre-stamped postcards from residents of five major cities on Friday urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to immediately return to negotiations with the Palestinians.

 

OneVoice Israel staff and activists took to the streets in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Herzliya, Petah Tikva, and Be’er Sheva asking residents to sign a pre-stamped postcard with the simple message:  “Bibi, return to the negotiation table! We are with you.”

 

“Our goal is to create a moderate mass of citizens who want to end the conflict,” said Tal Harris, OneVoice Israel’s acting executive director. “Today, 1,000 citizens called for the resumption of effective negotiations and channeled their hope for a peaceful future directly to the prime minister’s office.”

 

Several Israeli politicians registered their support, including Ephraim Sneh, former deputy defense minister and member of Knesset, Alon Liel, former director-general of the foreign ministry, and Colette Avital, former member of Knesset. Israeli celebrities lent their name to the campaign, including singers Achinoam Nini, Mira Awad, and David Broza, and actors Sasson Gabai and Lior Ashkenazi.

 

"Netanyahu should enter negotiations not to just go through the motion, but from a sincere and true will,” said Colette Avital. “Now, with his growing support from within his party, it should be easier for him."

 

 
Colette Avital, former Knesset member, signs postcard calling on Prime Minister Netanyahu to resume negotiations

 

Skepticism and indifference among some residents balanced the enthusiastic reactions of many others happy to see OneVoice Israel’s activists raising awareness to end the conflict.

 

“The main thing is that we've done something today to end the conflict," said Adi Grady, a youth leader from OneVoice Israel’s Tel Aviv University student chapter.

 

Israeli Web sites Walla! and Nana10 reported on OneVoice Israel’s action, helping to spread the message to countless more citizens.

 

 
Adi Grady (front) and Danny Shaket (back) engage a passerby on Tel Aviv's harbor

 

Two Board Members Talk about Israel-Palestine Issues

 

 

  

The urgency of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is finally returning to the forefront of American foreign policy. Not only has our very own Dana Agmon blogged about Israel’s potential to become its own worst enemy, two OneVoice board members, Dr. Ziad Asali and Ambassador Martin Indyk, have recently written about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

The Guardian published an article by Dr. Ziad Asali, president of the American Task Force on Palestine, discussing peaceful Palestinian strategies. He notes that Palestinians are pairing essential top-down negotiations with bottom-up tactics in attempts to realize a two-state solution. He cautions that “these three new tactics – state building, nonviolent protests and economic measures – challenging the occupation, are no substitute for diplomacy, since this is a political problem that requires a political solution through a negotiated agreement.”

 

The New York Times published an opinion piece by Ambassador Martin Indyk, acting vice president for foreign policy at the Brookings Institution, focusing on U.S.-Israeli relations and the potential divergence of these two nations. He writes that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict would increase security in the Middle East because “curbing Iran’s nuclear program and resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict [is] two sides of the same coin."

 

Both men stressed that tough choices and even tougher compromises are essential factors for successful negotiations. Ambassador Indyk’s ends his piece by saying that Netanyahu must make a choice: “take on the president of the United States, or take on [the] right wing.” Dr. Asali asserts that both Israelis and Palestinians “must make significant compromises on all major issues, including Jerusalem” if anyone is to see a peace agreement.

Congratulations to Natalie Portman, Our "Green" Board Member

 

New York, April 21, 2010—The Independent recently announced the winners of their Green Awards. Experts from this environmentally conscious publication selected winners in several categories. The Independent's fashion writer chose Natalie Portman as Best Green Celebrity and acknowledged Natalie's limited-edition collection of vegan footwear by Te Casan as one of her noted contributions to helping the environment

Not only is Natalie designing this line of socially responsible footwear, she is also donating profits from the shoes to environmental charities.

This is but one example of Natalie's myriad outstanding committment to activism and change. As a board member and supporter of OneVoice, Natalie is a role model and a true leader. In addition to supporting OneVoice, Natalie plays an active role in raising awareness and funds for many other pressing social and environmental issues including microfinance, child malnutrition, impoverished women, and gorillas in Rwanda.

Linking the Palestinian Grassroots to their Politicians

OVP holds a political seminar with Nabil Shaath at the Rocky Hotel in the West Bank city of Ramallah

 London, April 20, 2010−­OneVoice Palestine brought 80 politically active youths to the West Bank city of Ramallah on March 26 to discuss with Nabil Shaath, former foreign minister and Fatah Central Committee member, the role of Palestinian youth in state building.

 

Shaath expressed delight at the opportunity to speak directly to the movement’s young members, some of whom are ambitiously seeking to become the future leaders of Palestinian society. He gave a personal sobering account of the situation on the ground, whereby Palestinians feel they lack a genuine partner for peace in Israel.

 

An increasingly hardened Israeli public coupled with continued settlement construction and expansion, Shaath said, have made resolving the conflict increasingly challenging, if not impossible. Particularly thorny were Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes and build-up of Israeli housing units in East Jerusalem, where Palestinians hope to establish the capital of a future Palestinian state.   

 

Shaath stated his belief in the path of negotiations, the land for peace concept, and the two states for two peoples solution. But, he saw no hope in reaching an end to the occupation under the current Israeli government. He insisted that Palestinian youth should not give up and stay the course toward ending the occupation and building an independent, viable Palestinian state. 

 

Half the session was devoted to questions and answers with Shaath doubling the time he intended to spend with the audience. He concluded by encouraging the participants to take part in civil nonviolent activities against the Israeli occupation, support the Palestinian Authority’s campaign to boycott Israeli settlements products, and strengthen relations with Israeli moderates.

 

Samer Makhlouf, OVP executive director, spoke about the historical role Palestinian youths have played throughout the struggle for independence.

 

“OVP plays a crucial role in mobilizing and strengthening the youth segment in Palestinian society to produce young political leaders capable of taking the initiative to end the occupation, build a Palestinian state, and resolve the conflict,” said Makhlouf.

  

OVP Executive Director Samer Makhlouf (left) and former Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath speak to youth in the West Bank city of Ramallah

OVP Participates in Conference on Strengthening Nonviolence

OVP's Ezzeldin al-Masri addresses audience at the conference on strengthening nonviolence in the West Bank city of Ramallah

 

London, April 15, 2010−OneVoice Palestine participated in a conference on strengthening nonviolence in the occupied Palestinian territories on Wednesday organized by the nonprofits Realizing the Dream, Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy, and the Center for Democracy and Community Development.

 

More than 200 people attended the conference. Martin Luther King, III, son of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. and founder of Realizing the Dream, spoke about his father’s nonviolent struggle to outlaw racial discrimination in the United States during the ‘50s and ‘60s. Realizing the Dream Executive Vice President Johnny Mack discussed the need to adopt nonviolent methods to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 

Jamal Zakout, senior advisor to Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, spoke about Fayyad’s unilateral state-building plan leading to a declaration of an independent Palestinian state by August 2011. He also discussed supporting all nonviolent actions against the Israeli occupation.

 

Leading a discussion on internal Palestinian violence, Lucy Nusseibeh, Middle East Nonviolence and Democracy founder, highlighted the need to confront internecine fighting.

 

OVP Youth Leadership Program Director Abdullah Hamarsheh spoke about internal violence and reconciling disputing factions in Palestinian society to foster national unity. He highlighted the movement’s role in promoting nonviolence among Palestinian youths and providing them with the tools to find peaceful means to end the conflict.

 

OVP's Abdullah Hamarsheh with Martin Luther King, III at the conference on strengthening nonviolence in the West Bank city of Ramallah

 

Ezzeldin al-Masri, OVP’s public relations director, spoke about the civil resistance campaign mounted by Hasan Mustafa that rescued the Palestinian village of Battir from destruction during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war and the demarcation of the Green Line in 1949.

 

“If we had had one thousand people like Hasan Mustafa, the Palestinians could have changed their fate and ultimately saved their towns and villages,” said al-Masri. “Negotiations are the best nonviolent method to end the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians.”

 

 
OVP's Ezzeldin al-Masri with Martin Luther King, III at the conference on strengthening nonviolence in the West Bank city of Ramallah

 

King and Mack both knew about OneVoice and recognized the movement’s pin when al-Masri and Hamarsheh approached them after their presentation. They expressed a desire to conduct joint activities. Zakout invited OVP to meet with him at the Prime Minister’s office.

 

Meeting and working with leaders of civil rights movements that champion nonviolent resistance renews OVP’s passion and energy to overcome the occupation and establish an independent Palestinian state living in peace and security with Israel.

OneVoice Israel Engages Bnei Akiva Members in Jerusalem

New York, April 14, 2010─OneVoice Israel conducted a workshop on Tuesday in Jerusalem for 40 members of Bnei Akiva, the most prominent religious Zionist youth movement, to discuss the compromises needed to resolve the final status issue of Palestinian refugees and their demand for a right of return.

 

Palestinian refugees who fled their homes during the 1948 Arab Israeli War and the Six-Day War of 1967 demand the right to return to their homes in Israel proper. Israel fears this would destroy the country’s Jewish character. This remains one of the toughest final-status issues that Israeli and Palestinian negotiators must resolve to end the conflict.

 

The audience expressed their worries about the potential ramifications of acknowledging the suffering of Palestinian refugees and wondered if such action would lead them down a slippery slope. They emphasized the lack of trust that would be needed to resolve the issue under mutually acceptable terms. Others highlighted examples whereby recognition of a people's suffering was sufficient to encourage big change in international affairs, citing acknowledgement of the Armenian genocide at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

 

The room was in agreement that the gap in the definition of the term Palestinian refugee between the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) presents an existential threat to the state of Israel.

 

UNRWA defines a Palestinian refugee as any person, and descendants of fathers, whose "normal place of residence was Palestine during the period 1 June 1946 to 15 May 1948 and who lost both home and means of livelihood as a result of the 1948 conflict." It also serves “refugees and people displaced by the Arab-Israeli conflict of 1967 and subsequent hostilities,” according to its Web site. The agency’s operations extend only to Palestinian refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, the West Bank, and Gaza.

 

The UNHCR definition, established by the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, is based on nationality, not a relatively short period of residency. Palestinian refugees that fall outside of UNRWA’s strict purview are protected by the agency.

 

Some members of the audience argued that legal reforms coupled with the tearing down of psychological barriers could present a solution for this taboo topic.

 

The attendees proved to be highly knowledgeable about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the substantive issues. The difficulty lay in convincing them of the moderate positions among Palestinians on issues such as permanent borders and security.

 

The 40 members of Bnei Akiva, a worldwide movement with 125,000 members in 37 countries, were mostly religious and had faith-based objections to making concessions. Discussing Jewish religious principles, including the lack of justification to die for land, softened their objection to evacuating Israeli settlements on occupied Palestinian territories.

 

Following a presentation of OneVoice’s poll highlighting the psychological element to the question of Palestinian refugees, there seemed to be space for compromise among this community that is traditionally perceived as right wing. OneVoice Israel was invited to coordinate further activities in the near future with Bnei Akiva.

Archbishop Praises OneVoice

The Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams praised the work of OneVoice after meeting representatives of the movement on his last visit to the Holy Land. The Archbishop of Canterbury is the most senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England and the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion. 

In a warmly worded message of support the Archbishop placed great store in the work that the OneVoice movements does to, “offer an alternative way to respond to the suffering and hostility that blights so many lives in Israel and Palestine.”

Dr. Williams praised our mission saying; “You offer others – young and not so young – the hope that to work, pray and press for peace, for justice and for reconciliation is not only worthwhile; it is right.” 

He finished by saying, “We know that change is also possible in the Middle East. I believe that it will come about, at least in part, in response to voices like OneVoice which insist that people need not be divided by history, by religion, or by politics. Divisions and enmity can give way to reconciliation and peace.” 

The OneVoice Movement will continue connecting concerned world leaders such as Dr. Williams with the grassroots of the region to try and push for a swift and immediate end to the conflict.