OneVoice Movement

Doesn't Anybody Want to Talk About It?

Actor Jason Alexander collaborated with OneVoice activists on this video to reignite the conversation about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The two-state solution. The peace process. Return to negotiations. If these words lost their buzz, behind them still rests a simple truth: the status quo is unsustainable. That realization drives our network of 4,500 Israeli and Palestinian activists to take action and effect real change.

Emboldened by YOUR support, their numbers are rising, along with their courage and conviction to end the conflict. They know what it will take and hold the power to change the conversation, change their lives, change the future of their peoples. YOU can help them unleash that power. 

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Disengagement plagues the Bay Area Jewish community

OneVoice youth leaders Abigail Gottlieb and William Salameh address a group of 7^th grade students and their parents at Temple Sinai in San Francisco during the opening event of the Northern California tour last month.

New York, December 7, 2011—The Israeli-Palestinian conflict divides communities. This is nowhere more true than in the San Francisco Bay Area, where OneVoice wrapped up a Northern California speaking tour last month.

In a region known for its politics – the site of the free speech and anti-Vietnam war student movements in the 60s, the epicenter of feminist and queer activism in the United States, and, more recently, the location of the now infamous pepper spray incident – you wouldn't expect widespread disengagement on as contentious an issue as Israel and Palestine.

Yet while OneVoice has grown across the United States in recent years, the Bay Area remains a challenge. "We have a long way to go on campuses in the area," admitted International Education Program (IEP) Director Rachel Steinberg.

"Each region in the US is different," Shaina Low, IEP associate, told the 20 students gathered at Mills College to listen to Abigail Gottlieb and William Salameh share their personal stories last month. "The Bay area presents unique challenges for us."

The cause? Unlike other regions in the United States where inter-community polarization makes engagement a case of bringing different groups together to discuss the conflict – something the dual narratives presented by OneVoice Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders does well – the Jewish community within the Bay Area is itself plagued by political division. This internal division, Steinberg said, in turn makes wider community engagement with Muslim and Arab groups even more difficult.

"Whenever politics is brought up in the Jewish community, it's heated," said Rabbi Jacqueline Mates-Muchin of Temple Sinai in San Francisco. "It becomes so heated that no one wants to talk about it. Then you start to talk only within your limited community, making it much worse."

This problem in the Bay Area Jewish community is a well diagnosed one. The Jewish Community Relations Council initiated the Year of Civil Discourse to foster dialogue about the issues that usually turn people off within the community, Israel being one of them.

"We are cautious about bringing Israel up," said Ophira Druch, associate director of education at Temple Sinai. "The division around Israel comes from a good place: it's because we really care. We care enough to have a strong opinion. But it doesn't help."

This division in the wider Jewish community has found its way into the university campuses as well. With groups such as Stand with Us, Jewish Voice for Peace and Kesher Enoshi (Progressives for Activism in Israel) all vying to represent the Jewish body on Israel, Ryan Simon, a student at San Francisco State University, describes it as "a little war on campuses. The blatantly polarized environment has turned Jewish students off from engaging in a conversation they otherwise would."

All of this makes engaging with – indeed, even talking about – the conflict difficult. "What divides the Jewish community in and of itself is a major problem with how we relate to other faith communities," said Mates-Muchin.

This challenge, while hindering wider inter-community dialogue, presented OneVoice with its greatest avenue for growth in the Bay Area. OneVoice held more events with the Jewish community than in years previously, ensuring that the internal division that hampers wider engagement is addressed.

And the next step? "Interfaith events," said Druch. "We need to really open this conversation up. My neighbors, who are not Jewish, are also talking about Israel and I want to be able to talk with them. We don't have to come to consensus, because there is no consensus. We need an understanding."

"Abigail said something to me that was so powerful," recalled Mates-Muchin. "She told me not to get emotional about it, to try and help figure out what they should do next. That's the message we need. It shakes people from the self-serving debate about who is right and who is wrong."

If we can't talk here, where can we talk

San Francisco Law School professor Joshua Davis shows students gathered at the OneVoice event the rose he was given 25 years ago while in Palestine.

New York, December 1, 2011—"Lesson number one," Professor Joshua Davis said, as he opened a thick book and showed the roughly 55 students gathered at the OneVoice event at San Francisco Law School a dried rose from between the pages, "is don't give up."

That rose, he told the class, is over 25 years old. He was given it by a woman in Palestine as an apology. Studying in Palestine during the first intifada (uprising), his presence as an American Jew during a time of suffering angered one of his host's friends. One night in particular, he told the students, a fight broke out ending with the friend storming off.

She came back later that night to apologize and gave him the rose he still has to this day. "I took it and pressed it into the book," he told the class, gesturing to the thick tome A Complete Guide to William Shakespeare, "and in my head, this is cheesy, I thought as long as those rose petals survive there is hope for peace."

A hushed giggle spread through the students in response to Professor Davis' admittedly romantic sentiment. What he said next, though, recaptured the students' complete attention. As she handed him the rose, he recalled, she said "that it was right for me to be in that house, in Palestine, because if we can't speak to one another about these difficult issues than there really is no prospect for peace."

And with that, Professor Davis introduced OneVoice youth leaders Abigail Gottlieb and William Salameh.

Sharing their stories with people at San Francisco State University, Netivot Shalom, St. Andrews, Temple Beth El, Temple Sinai, the Kehilla Synagogue, Mills College, and a buildOn high school classroom in Oakland on the Northern California speaking tour, Abigail and William's stories began and ended in parallel. They both spoke about their grandparents: William's were forced to leave Jaffa for Ramallah during the Nakba and Abigail's survived the Holocaust. They proceed on divergent paths from there, with Abigail sharing her experiences as an activist working to maintain the character of the state of Israel and William sharing his experiences working to end the occupation and establish an independent Palestine.

Yet in the end, they come to the same conclusion in much the same fashion: a two-state solution, they agree, remains in both of their peoples' best interest.

And, like the Palestinian woman who confronted Professor Davis 25 years ago, they are willing to have the difficult conversations needed to get there, even within the extremes of both societies. "We were invited into a settlement," Abigail told the roughly 40 people gathered at the Kehila event hosted in St. John's Presbyterian Church, "to explain what we do because the settlers wanted to engage with us and we wanted to engage with them."

Likewise, William affirmed that OneVoice Palestine works with all Palestinian stakeholders. "Hardliners," he said, "are our largest challenge. We work to bring those groups under our umbrella."

"We see photos of suicide bombers and settlers in the media," Abigail continued. "We don't see photos of William and I. That's why we work to amplify the voice of the moderate majority – we are larger than the extremists yet they seem louder."

Before he handed the floor to Abigail and William, Professor Davis recalled what was going through his mind as the Palestinian woman gave him the rose. "I thought it was incredible that with so much understandable anger she could come to that conclusion," he told the class. "I hope that will be a theme for tonight. If we can't talk here then how can anyone talk and how can there be progress."

OneVoice decries All for Peace radio shutdown

Broadcaster Eyal Raz (right) and technician Nasser Abu Hadwan (left) work at All for Peace's radio station before its November 17 shutdown. Credit: Sebastian Scheiner/AP/Press Association Images.

New York, December 1, 2011—All for Peace radio, once streamed to over 30,000 Israeli and Palestinian listeners eager for an alternative news source, had their license revoked by Israel in the latest wave of government checks on leftist organizations.

Until its closure on November 17, All for Peace radio operated as the only joint Israeli-Palestinian station in Israel. It was forced to shut down its Israeli frequency following an order from the Ministry of Communications amidst allegations of illegal licensing and incitement.

In response, Mossi Raz, the co-director of All for Peace, has asserted that the station broadcasts from Palestine where it is not bound by Israeli laws governing radio stations, and that they are considering their legal options to get the license back while they continue to broadcast online. The first step in their legal battle will come on December 4 when they are set to petition the Israeli Supreme Court.

Many in Israel see the move as part of a broader trend by the government to restrict left wing organizations and curb left wing voices.

"It's tragic," said Tal Harris, OneVoice Israel executive director and former host of a weekly program that brought regular Israelis and Palestinians, as well as politicians and activists, together to discuss the conflict. "Instead of civil society enabling the elected leadership to move forward [by] setting an example of dialogue and on air-negotiations when we host Palestinians, [we] are being stopped by the government."

Founded in 2004, All for Peace broadcasts in Hebrew, Arabic and English from East Jerusalem-Sheikh Jarra and has sought in all of its programs to expand people's understanding and end the occupation through promoting both Israeli and Palestinian narratives. This platform, though, resulted in accusations from government officials, including Likud member Danny Danon, that the station "incited" against Israel.

"It was a shock for us, we did not expect it," said Raz. "The Communications Ministry acted, and it is part of the attack on the democracy of Israel [along with] legislation limiting the sources of funds to peace organizations."

The closure of the All for Peace station comes as Netanyahu's Likud government is pursuing new legislation aimed at stifling political opposition. The legislative efforts include lowering the burden of proof in libel suits brought by politicians against the media, transferring Supreme Court selection from an independent panel to the Knesset and a draft bill intended to limit international funding for NGOs. The last effort, which if passed will impose a 45% tax on foreign funding for NGOs who do not receive government grants while allowing those who do unfettered access to foreign funds, has many activists worried that particularly vocal groups may be targeted.

These efforts, though, have not been without a backlash. While All for Peace continues to broadcast online, OneVoice Israel is leading the protest against the station's closure by hosting high profile speakers, such as members of Knesset, to draw attention to the government's plans and increase exposure for the Web site.

"We are trying to show that business is better than usual," said Harris. "We are trying to maintain good content and more people are now listening [on the Web site] than were listening on the radio station."

Although the station is struggling to stay afloat without financial endorsements from advertisers, Raz remains optimistic and encourages those opposed to All for Peace's message to tune in.

"Right now the media is telling [Israelis and Palestinians] exactly what they want to hear," said Raz. "The truth is that we are somewhere in the middle. We want Israelis to listen to the Palestinian message. And we want Palestinians to listen to the Israeli message. We want to serve the organizations that fight for peace, freedom and human rights."