OneVoice Movement

Malaka Samara: once a recruit, now a leader in OneVoice Palestine

New York, January 19, 2011—New youth leaders in Nablus now have all the skills they need to begin empowering moderates in their society thanks to a bright and tireless woman, who has been volunteering with OneVoice Palestine (OVP) for many years.

Malaka Samara, 32, holds degrees in Arabic literature and English; she has taught in schools in the West Bank as well as in Palestinian refugee camps; she has worked for OneVoice both in her own community and abroad on an IEP tour. All of that experience prepared her to take a more assertive leadership role when, on Jan. 15, OVP staff made the trip to the historically tumultuous West Bank city to conduct a training workshop for the volunteers in its newest chapter.

In Nablus, Samara faced the unenviable task of explaining the hard work that awaits OneVoice members, but her poise and enthusiasm were infectious. “The training was very constructive. It gave me so much self-confidence,” said Ola Aghbar, one of the new recruits. “Ms. Malaka gave us invaluable instruction on team-building and its importance in advocacy.”

Described by her friends in OVP as a shy, but courageous woman, Samara stepped out of her comfort zone to address a largely male audience with confidence and passion, while adhering to her conservative Islamic beliefs about modesty.

 
She was delighted about the chance to prove her leadership skills and pass on the extensive knowledge she has gained in her time as a volunteer. “Without my own training by OneVoice, I would never have found myself in this wonderful position and I am so flattered to be able to do something for the next generation of youth leaders,” she said.

Antwan Saca comes from the same crop of OneVoice graduates as Malaka and is now the media coordinator for OVP. He commented: “It is encouraging to see Malaka proving OneVoice’s belief that today’s recruits are tomorrow’s leaders. Since we are in the process of state-building, young people must be given the chance to contribute to that future state.”

Honoring MLK’s Legacy, International Leaders Voice Support for the Two-State Solution Caucus

New York, January 17, 2011—The launch of the first ever Two-State Solution Caucus in the Knesset received widespread international support from top leaders on Monday. 

OneVoice Israel (OVI)—the local arm of the international grassroots movement OneVoice—co-created the caucus with MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima), chairman of the State Control Committee and himself a former OVI youth leader. It’s the first time Israeli Knesset members unite under a nonpartisan body to advance a direct political solution with the Palestinians.

Former British Prime Minister and Quartet Representative Tony Blair commended OneVoice for helping establish the caucus. “To change the realities on the ground the grassroots need to be involved in the process,” he said, in a letter he wrote to the caucus. “I have pledged my support for this group for several years and am honored to continue to do so.”

  
The launch event coincided with the 25th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. People around the globe signed letters of support to the caucus invoking the hopes and vision of this courageous leader.

“Courageous political leadership, committed to the achievement of a two-state solution, is critical,” said American philanthropist Charles Bronfman. “I urge you to do everything in your power to promote a just and lasting peace... This is a vital necessity for the Diaspora, for Israel, and indeed for the entire Jewish People.”

Among the caucus members are MK Nino Abesadze, Zeev Bielski, Shlomo Molla, Nachman Shai, and Orit Zuaretz. It is supported by government ministers and Israeli opposition leader MK Tzipi Livni (Kadima). The aim is to forge a moderate bloc within the Knesset committed to the two-state solution and pressure the Israeli government to achieve this goal.

Many high-profile personalities signed an online letter supporting the caucus’ urgent mission, including Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, Ambassador Thomas Pickering, Rabbi David Rosen, Rabbi Abraham Soetendorp, Ambassador Philip Wilcox, and Dr. James Zogby.

Lord Greville Janner, chairman of the Britain-Israel Parliamentary Group and vice president of the World Jewish Congress, emphasized “the need for peace has never been greater,” and offered the caucus his full support.

OneVoice prides itself on being more than a grassroots movement. It is focused on bridging the gap between the people and their leaders--connecting bottom-up with top-down. Envisioning a tomorrow free from violence and conflict is only one part of its Imagine 2018 campaign. The other part lies in recognizing what it will take and not being afraid to act.

Knesset’s Two-State Solution Caucus launches amid political shakeup

 
MK Yoel Hasson (left), MK Tzipi Livni, and OVI Executive Director speak at the Two-State Solution Caucus launch event on Monday. 

New York, January 17, 2011—OneVoice joined opposition leader MK Tzipi Livni (Kadima) and several Knesset members in Jerusalem on Monday to launch the first ever Two-State Solution Caucus, amid major political shakeups that threatened to further deadlock peace efforts.

The caucus was conceived and co-created by OneVoice Israel (OVI)—the local arm of the international grassroots movement OneVoice—and  MK Yoel Hasson (Kadima), chairman of the State Control Committee and himself a former OVI youth leader. It aims to forge a moderate bloc within the Knesset committed to the two-state solution and keep pressure on the Israeli government to achieve this goal.

“We, at Kadima, are committed to setting out a genuine vision, not like the double dealing you have seen from other MKs today,” said Livni, in her remarks to the caucus. "The only way to ensure a democratic Jewish state is through the idea of two states… The public will support this when they realize that this is a clear Israeli interest, not a matter of right or left.”

Minority Affairs Minister Avishay Braverman, a staunch supporter of the caucus, cancelled his speech at the event following his resignation. Two other Labor Cabinet ministers quit their positions, taking the party out of the hawkish coalition government.  

“Barak abandoned the Labor Party long before his resignation when he joined forces with a leadership utterly complacent about the urgency of the peace process,” said Braverman. “In the vacuum created by this government, civil society in Israel, including the commendable effort by OneVoice Israel in setting up the caucus, has stepped up in defense of the two-state solution and Israel’s long-term security.”

Stalled peace talks and increasingly hard-line government positions left many Israeli politicians disillusioned and eager to restore conviction in the principle of two states for two peoples.

Among the other caucus members are MK Nino Abesadze, Zeev Bielski, Shlomo Molla, Nachman Shai, and Orit Zuaretz. All of them have united under a nonpartisan body to advance a direct political solution with the Palestinians.

“We all know the outline of the agreement, but what is missing is a courageous leadership that can make the hard decisions both here in Israel and the Palestinian Authority,” said Caucus Chairman Hasson. “Both parties need to recognize that we aren’t going to get our full dream, but together we may be able to get the best part of it.”

OVI is supporting the event to bolster the existing political will in Israel to end the conflict, witnessed recently by the meeting held between a delegation of 100 leading Israelis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah.

“We deserve more than a government that threatens to fall apart if you dare to present a political program,” said OVI Executive Director Tal Harris. “You can be sure that most Israelis and Palestinians are prepared for a genuine compromise in order to end the conflict. We are here to support a government that will lead us on such a political process and it is incumbent upon us to reject any government that will avoid making a decision on this matter.” 

Dozens of OVI youth leaders participated in the event. Representatives from the American, British, Jordanian, and Japanese embassies, along with the heads of top Israeli civil society organizations attended the launch at the Knesset’s Jerusalem Hall.

Quartet Representative Tony Blair, Lord Greville Janner, honorary vice president of the World Jewish Congress, and American businessman Charles Bronfman all wrote letters supporting the caucus’ urgent mission. Former Palestinian Authority Minister and senior Fatah member Sufian Abu Ziada also expressed his support for the caucus.

OneVoice Palestine sees trust flourish in harsh conditions

New York, January 12, 2011—OneVoice Palestine (OVP) returned to the site of a famously emotional town hall meeting on Jan. 5 to continue the important work of building consensus and confronting pessimism within Palestinian society.

In a valley northwest of the West Bank city of Nablus lays the municipality of Asirah ash-Shamaliyah. Named after the firewood that residents historically gathered from its large forests and sold, Asirah is the combustible mixture of emotions, beliefs, and politics that one could expect from a town frequently raided by Israeli forces.

It was this difficult environment that led OVP Executive Director Samer Makhlouf to select it as the venue for a town hall meeting in August of last year. “I insisted on it,” Makhlouf said, “We had a similar experience in Salfeet and now we have a very active and committed chapter there.” He was also aware that the process of changing hardened opinions is more akin to a marathon than a sprint. His suggestion to return to Asirah six months on was met with enthusiasm by the town’s mayor.

If that first encounter had been cautious, this time OVP youth leaders addressed the audience with the hard truth that, while the status quo is dire, there is an imminent danger of it worsening if Palestinian society does not embrace the notion of a two-state solution sooner rather than later. If the previous audience had been fragmented and hostile, this one was receptive and hopeful with a small minority of extremists that was soon speechless.

OVP was delighted to find that the seed it planted back in August had flourished, but is acutely aware that ongoing attention will be needed if it is to grow into a sturdy tree. Further trips to Asirah are planned and it could soon be home to a new OneVoice chapter.

The choices made by OVP in this town hall meeting were brave and made possible by the trust bestowed upon them by the participants. The vast majority showed determination and resolve to approach the task at hand—with one stipulation: Israel’s willingness to do the same. The people of Asirah have placed their faith in OneVoice; it is now OneVoice’s responsibility to repay that faith by showing them a willing partner on the other side.

Influential Israeli daily publishes a feature on OneVoice’s Imagine 2018 campaign

New York, January 6, 2011—Featured in the National News section, the article includes in-depth interviews with OneVoice Israel Executive Director Tal Harris and Imagine 2018 coordinator Daniella Shlomo in which they discuss the program so far, as well as their own hopes and dreams for 2018.

The Imagine 2018 campaign is OneVoice’s latest initiative being carried out in parallel in Israel and Palestine. The aim is to shake people out of apathy. By imagining how their lives may change for better or for worse in the future, people will have taken a vital first step toward achieving a peaceful solution and avoiding the usual pitfalls of cynicism, disillusionment and fatalism.

Haaretz reporter Jonathan Kahan writes that “many young Israelis from a spectrum of political movements are investing their time and energies on a daily basis—with the goal of solving the conflict.”

Thus far the campaign has engaged the Israeli grassroots through a wildly successful Facebook application, as well as prominent figures in Israeli politics, journalism and entertainment through the publication and distribution of an Israeli daily newspaper from 2018.

Haaretz, meanwhile, also devotes a large part of the piece to discussing the Imagine 2018 campaign OneVoice Palestine is running, offering a window through which Israelis can look and see that they have a partner for peace.

Read the Haaretz article.

Interview with Gal Bareket, winner of the OVI Headlines Competition

New York, January 6, 2011—OneVoice Israel’s (OVI)  headline competition—an online invitation to write headlines for a mock newspaper from 2018—concluded on December  15 and, two days later, the winner has been announced as Gal Bareket, a recently-joined member of OVI’s Tel Aviv University chapter.

The headline competition is the online component of a OneVoice grassroots campaign that is sweeping Israel. The competition asked users to put themselves in the shoes of a journalist from the future; what events would they be asked to cover in 2018? The tone of the submitted headlines ranges from fascinating to poignant, from witty to tragic. The Facebook application used by the campaign then arranges the headline on a newspaper front page with a choice of iconic images. That web page has received 50,000 visits and 350 submitted headlines from a population forty times smaller than that of the United States.

  Gal Bareket’s headline received over 950 “Likes”—a stamp of approval from Facebook users—and can now be seen on bus shelter billboards all around the country, along with the other nine most popular entries. Upon the announcement of Gal’s success, Dana Sender, Youth Leadership Program director in Israel, said “nothing makes me more proud than to watch one of our own Fellows win the contest and represent the movement abroad.”

 

Bareket's headline in a Tel Aviv bus shelter

Bareket’s prize, in addition to online fame, is to embark on a diplomatic tour of the United States and Europe to represent the movement. He spoke to us about his imminent trip and the experience so far.

OneVoice: How do you feel now that the competition is over?

Gal Bareket: I feel free at last! It took a lot of time and campaigning to get people to vote for me. I’m also very happy to win such an amazing prize. To go on a diplomatic tour of Washington, D.C., London, and other parts of Europe as a representative of OneVoice is such a great opportunity.

OV: What is the  meaning and inspiration behind your headline?

GB: The headline, lite rally translated as “Two, together always,” is a parody of a commercial slogan from Cha nnel 2 news in Israel. It’s very catchy when you hear it in Hebrew. I took the slogan out of its or iginal context and used it to reflect on the fact Israelis and Palestinians share a piece of land and there’s no w ay to change that fact. The solution, as I see it, rests in the two-state solution.

 

Before I settled on the picture of the two children, I wanted to use the image of a band-aid over the Middle East. I think it’s a powerful image as well. I finally decided on the picture of children because of my belief in working toward peace and change through education. My mother is a teacher. The western world sees the term peace, shalom, as such a romantic idea but that’s not necessarily how other people see it. Achieving a peace agreement will only be the beginning. It is the next generation, or that of 2018, which will be on the other side of the thaw. Only then will we have the possibility of a “warm peace,” one in which rehabilitation is possible.

 

OV: What is your role at OneVoice?

GB: I joined OVI a little over a month ago as a youth fellow in the Tel Aviv University chapter. My role is to contact policy-makers and community leaders and convince them to lecture and become involved in informing young minds on the peace process.

 

OV: Why did you decide to get involved with OneVoice?

GB: The reason I got involved in OneVoice is because of their objective approach to the situation. I’m quite interested in politics and really support OneVoice’s stance of not giving their own solution to the problems between Israel and the Palestinians, but instead offering public support to those in government.

I see OneVoice as an opportunity to raise awareness. People don’t really know the core subjects that stop the peace agreements from happening. 

 

OV: What did you think about OVI’s use of Facebook in creating awareness?

GB: Facebook is a very important tool and can help bring awareness to the people. This is just the beginning. We need recognition and it’s a great tool to do that. The movement has been existence since 2002 and I only heard about it this year. 

Painting a new ray of hope for Palestine in 2018

 
OVP youth leaders and volunteers paint mural in Nablus.

By Elizabeth Cook*

The bus to Nablus, a city in the northern West Bank, picked us up from the OneVoice Palestine (OVP) office in Ramallah. Soon the bus would be filled with the sounds of joy and laughter, which echoed throughout our hour long journey.

It was a beautiful Friday morning in early December and we were all heading to the community park, which was to be the site of our mural. This mural would be the second of several that OVP is creating as part of its Imagine 2018 campaign. This campaign invites Palestinians to creatively envision what life would be like in a free and independent Palestine if a peace agreement were to be reached today.

As we passed settlements, soldiers at surveillance towers watched us from above. Two volunteers visiting from Chicago were with us, witnessing for themselves the reality of the occupation. The two Americans sat beside two Palestinian OVP volunteers who have never known a life without Israeli military presence. Regardless, spirits remained high and we sang and clapped to songs in Arabic.

Once we arrived, everyone gathered in a circle to introduce themselves. We met Samih Abu Zakieh, an art teacher from Hebron, the largest city in the West Bank. Zakieh is the author of the art education book, “100 Ways for Peace in Palestine.” Samih led a brainstorming session to get our creative juices flowing. He told us to actively envision our understandings of what a Palestinian state would be like.

OVP youth leaders and volunteers brainstorm for the mural. 

As the youth leaders were getting started, Samih told me, “the purpose of art is to improve imagination. Life becomes much harder without anything to imagine. The aim is to attain value in art, to build friendship, to have dignity, and to respect one another. Like civil resistance and non-violent forms of expression, art helps us dream of a future homeland and peace.”

The feeling in the air was one of unity and strength. We were stronger together.

The mural was soon filled with many creative and beautiful drawings, which depicted a thriving Palestinian state. The mural included scenes of a future gondola that would enable transportation between the two mountains engulfing Nablus, a peace dove, and the Dome of the Rock, which many Palestinians cannot access.

When I asked Samih if we should draw the wall that separates Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, he replied, “on this mural there are no walls. We do not want to imagine walls today. Here we are building bridges for peace.”

I wanted to paint a scene of the coast of the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians in the West Bank long to catch a glimpse of their homeland’s ocean. Instead, OVP Public Relations Director Ezzeldin Masri, who is from Gaza, suggested that we paint orange trees to signify the delicious fruit grown there. I helped paint the sun, representing a new ray of hope for the year 2018.

Dima Halu, 13, is a volunteer from Ramallah who was born in Kenya and returned to the West Bank four years ago. She painted olive trees on the mural and said that in the year 2018, she imagines walking on free streets, entering Israel again, and visiting her family’s old home there.

“OVP tries to replace the feeling of desperation and hopelessness with a feeling of hope and aspiration,” said Ezzeldin, in between brush strokes. “We try to place the notion of a state in the minds of Palestinian people; a state of mind the Palestinians have never experienced. This is the hope for the Imagine 2018 campaign.”

*Elizabeth Cook is a Canadian volunteer with OneVoice Palestine.

Volunteers painting the mural on the wall of a community playground.

OneVoice Israel breaks in the New Year with Big Brother housemates

New York, January 3, 2011—OneVoice Israel (OVI) hosted a high-profile mixer on December 29, welcoming the New Year with the cast of Big Brother—Israel’s most popular reality TV show.

Big Brother, the Israeli version of the US show of the same name aired on CBS for the past decade, compels a group of strangers to live together in a house for around three months. Guests who fail to abide by the “house rules” or fall foul of the other participants are evicted until, at the end of each season, the last man or woman standing takes home a cash prize. The Israeli version of the show is in its third season and has risen to unparalleled levels of popularity, turning its guests into bona fide celebrities.

OVI Executive Director Tal Harris and Program Coordinator Daniella Shlomo mingled with the cast and prominent figures from the business world and professional sports in a swanky Tel Aviv restaurant, while taking the time to explain our Imagine 2018 campaign.

Former housemate Aviv, 26, a computer specialist, offered an interesting vision of a Big Brother house in 2018, filled with Israeli and Palestinian contestants in equal numbers. The current housemates are also a diverse group and Aviv’s sentiments were echoed by plumber Bentsi Shani, 46, while Shlomo remarked that the entire cast had been very receptive to the OneVoice mission.

This mixer, covered by Israeli lifestyle Web site Yofi and business publication Globes, is another example of how the Imagine 2018 campaign is capturing the imaginations of Israelis from all walks of life.

 

 

 

OVI Executive Director Tal Harris with Big Brother housemate Sarah Levin