OneVoice Palestine's Amro Brighith speaks to students at Banana Kelly High School's buildOn program.
New York, October 18, 2012 – The second of the International Engagement Program’s three fall tours has come to an end. With stops in New York City and New Jersey behind him, OneVoice Palestine youth leader Amro Brighith took time out of his busy schedule to talk about his experience and what he hopes to achieve upon his return home.
OneVoice: Amro, thanks for talking with us today. What did you think of the tour and how did it go?
Amro: I thought it was really great. This tour allowed me to exercise my public speaking and English skills, and talk about the Movement with people of different backgrounds. Of course, it was great to visit the U.S. for the first time, to visit New York and see how people live here. I think it was a really successful tour.
OneVoice: Does the success of this tour increase your motivation and make you want to continue to do your work on the ground in Palestine?
Amro: It really does. I was motivated before I went on tour, but it makes me want to work more to change the situation and to end the occupation, and it increased my desire to continue my efforts for the two-state solution. I felt here that a lot of people don’t know that much about the conflict and how we live our daily lives. So, I’d love to work more to do what I have to do to change the situation for the better.
OneVoice: What will you tell your friends and family about your experiences here when you get back home? What will you tell them about the Americans you encountered?
Amro: I’ll tell them I had a great time and it was a really exciting experience. I’ll tell my family that the Americans I spoke to listened closely to my personal story and asked some great questions. After hearing what I had to say, these Americans wanted to get involved and help end the conflict, too. Seeing that makes this tour very worthwhile.
OneVoice: What was the most difficult question you faced?
Amro: Actually, it was a comment. An older woman said that the Palestinians deserved the whole land, back to the 1948 borders. That’s a very, very sensitive topic. I told her, “thank you for your comment, but at OneVoice we look toward the future and we agree on the 1967 borders as the basis for a Palestinian state.” It’s with difficult questions or comments like this where the Movement’s message must get through.
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