OneVoice Movement

Tomorrow’s U.S. presidential election provides opportunity to take responsibility

New York, November 5, 2012–There is no greater privilege in a democracy than choosing one’s leaders. It is an opportunity for all of us as individuals to play our part in the political process. Tomorrow’s U.S. elections are fundamentally about our rights and our responsibilities as citizens. 

We are a Movement committed to empowering every individual to take action and create the necessary change to achieve a two-state solution. Our Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders work tirelessly to connect the grassroots with their leaders and begin to build a better future. For those of us in the international community who are passionate about ending the conflict, we must seize every opportunity to tell our leaders to prioritize Middle East peace and the two-state solution. 

The OneVoice Movement encourages our supporters to do the following:

1) If you are American, make sure you vote tomorrow! Each voice is important and plays a role in shaping the future!

2) Raise your voice and share your opinion about the issues that you are passionate about. Sign our petition, telling President Obama and Governor Romney to prioritize the two-state solution and a return to serious negotiations, and leave a comment telling us why this is so urgent.

3) Share the petition on your Facebook, Twitter, and other social media pages, and tell your friends to do the same!

Darya Shaikh, acting CEO of OneVoice, recently wrote an op-ed about the importance of grassroots work in Israel and Palestine and the role Americans have in helping to change the status quo. See below for her commentary.

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The Threat of the Unchanged Middle East

*By Darya Shaikh

On Monday night, millions of Americans sat down in front of their televisions and watched the two U.S. presidential candidates go head to head for the very last time before Election Day. President Barack Obama and Governor Mitt Romney faced off on foreign policy issues ranging from Iran and Libya to Afghanistan and China.

They spoke at length about 'the changing Middle East' and the threat it poses to the world. Yet despite overtures about strong leadership and upholding principles of peace, both candidates seemed to forget that one of the biggest threats in the Middle East today actually stems from the lack of change, that being the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Aside from a fleeting reference to the conflict, which you may have missed, neither candidate laid out concrete steps that could help get the Israeli and Palestinian peace process back on track. Neither the President nor Governor Romney seem to think that delivering a comprehensive and just two-state solution to the conflict is a U.S. priority.

The current stalemate and toxic status quo endangers not only the futures of the Israeli and Palestinian people but should be a grave concern to all of us, as Americans. Ending the conflict is -- as successive presidents have consistently affirmed -- a vital American national interest. Middle East stability is jeopardized by the ongoing conflict, and this affects a broad swath of U.S. political priorities, placing national security and the recovering economy in danger.

The American leadership, whomever is at the helm, has to be accountable to the thousands of Israelis and Palestinians who are waging peace every day. As the conflict continues to be used as a political football, tossed around by both parties in order to gain votes, it consequently grows increasingly disconnected from the voices and interests of Israelis and Palestinians, who are calling for strong American leadership to push the parties to take the necessary steps that will enable a return to serious negotiations, ending the conflict once and for all and ensuring a better future for millions.

There is so much unknown about the changing landscape of the region. However, what we do know is that every day that goes by without a two-state solution makes it harder and harder to achieve. The American government has been the broker of negotiations for decades. As such, it retains a moral imperative to serve as an honest, unwavering mediator, despite the current diplomatic challenges, which deserve not be minimized.

Ending the occupation and achieving the two-state solution based on the 1967 lines, in accordance with international resolutions and previous bilateral agreements, is the only viable, mutually acceptable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It is the only solution that fulfills the national aspirations of both peoples by establishing an independent Palestinian state at peace with the State of Israel. This is a policy of vital interest to Israelis and Palestinians, as well as to Americans. Unfortunately, as negative facts continue to grow on the ground, we are witnessing the rapidly growing distance between the reality of the present, and the ideal of peace.

As American citizens, we have a responsibility too. We have a role to play in making sure that we close this divide. We need to tell whoever is elected that achieving the two-state solution must be a foreign policy priority. An excellent way to do this is by signing the petition that the OneVoice Movement's American network initiated. OneVoice is grassroots undertaking working in parallel in Israel and Palestine to build political and grassroots civic capacity to bring both parties back to the table and ensure a viable, effective negotiations process with clear terms of reference and a limited timeframe that will fulfill the national aspirations of both peoples. This petition crystalizes that work and asks Americans to get behind it.

OneVoice's Israeli activists recognize their role and mobilize in a different city each week, bringing residents and local politicians together to promote the two-state solution and countering the agenda of expanding settlements in the West Bank by calling for a settlement freeze. OneVoice's Palestinian activists embrace their role by leading community initiatives to transform frustration and hopelessness through non-violent activism. OneVoice Palestine pushes for national reconciliation and a two-state solution that ends the occupation, resolves all final status issues based on international resolutions, establishes an independent Palestinian state, and ends all claims.

Through this petition in the U.S., we can amplify the calls of OneVoice Israel for a settlement freeze and of OneVoice Palestine for a final status agreement that ends all claims, demanding that the American leadership -- whether Republican or Democrat -- commits itself to pushing this process forward.

We cannot substitute political rhetoric for effective policy towards conflict resolution in Israel and Palestine. We must seize back this conversation today so that President Obama and Governor Romney know that the majority of Israelis, Palestinians and Americans will not settle for anything less than real American leadership toward a just and lasting peace.

*Darya Shaikh is acting CEO of the OneVoice Movement. Her blog was originally published on The Huffington Post: http://huff.to/SiDBKH.

 

Amro Brighith talks New York-metro tour

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.

Or Kaner sees New York tour as a valuable experience

OneVoice Israel's Or Kaner speaking to a Rutgers-Newark class during the New York-metro tour.

New York, October 18, 2012 – With the second of the International Engagement Program’s fall tours in the books, OneVoice Israel’s Or Kaner gave us a behind-the-scenes look at his time in the New York-metro area. He sat down and talked to OneVoice about what he saw and heard from audiences members and why he would go on another tour in a heartbeat.

OneVoice: Hi, Or. It’s great to have you talk with us. Now that the tour is over, what can you say is the most memorable part of your experience in the States?

Or: It’s not when we were on a tour event, per say, but it was a great moment, nonetheless. I really liked when I heard Amro talking to his brother on the phone, telling him “this guy (me) is against settlements, he’s an ex-soldier and he’s cool.” I thought this was great to hear and I don’t think I will ever forget it.

OneVoice: Do you believe that you were able to make the audiences understand what you do on the ground and what needs to be done?

Or: I think so. I used a lot of buzz words; I tried to explain the situation using personal examples combined with other related and pragmatic examples from the Movement. Once I got into the flow of speaking with audience members, many from different backgrounds, I felt like I was influencing and seeing a change in them.

OneVoice: How can Americans help you achieve the two-state solution? What can they do here in the U.S.?

Or: First, they can help by pressing their leaders to pressure our leaders. Second, they have to believe in the two-state solution, and through this belief they can create their own chapters in their campuses, thinking together and creating a change within themselves. This is a moral obligation for all societies and especially for the United States, the strongest economic power in the world. The U.S. has done it before and I hope they can do it again.

OneVoice: Would you go on another tour again and why?

Or: Of course! It is a great experience: it improves your English, improves your self-esteem, and it feels great because you are reaching out to others. As a project manager, I interact with a lot of people, so working on a different continent and speaking with people of a different culture makes it really interesting and I would love to do it again.

Grassroots mobilization a hot topic on IEP New York tour

OVI's Or Kaner, left, discusses OneVoice Israel's collaboration with Knesset's Two-State Solution Caucus.

New York, October 17, 2012 – “In order to establish the change, you need to be the change.”

While this sounds like a proverb of old, it actually came from a New York City teenager on a Friday after school, when she and her peers stayed late to listen to OneVoice’s Amro Brighith and Or Kaner.

At the Marble Hill School for International Studies and Banana Kelly High School, one can sense a will, a desire to make a difference and a change in the community and beyond, much like what OneVoice’s youth leaders are doing in Israel and Palestine.

Youth empowerment is a large part of OneVoice’s success. Or, of OneVoice Israel, and Amro, of OneVoice Palestine, spoke to the high school students participating in after-school programs, run by buildOn, about the importance of youth leadership in making change.

“When I first told my family and friends that I will fix the situation in Palestine, they laughed at me because it seems hopeless,” Amro said. “But I don’t want my two-month old niece to live the way I do. I have to try my best because I am – we are – the future.”

Many of the high school student members of buildOn lead tutoring programs for young children, attend peer mediation training, and participate in community service projects. As one student at Banana Kelly said, “we need to try to influence people and hope to bring them back from the wrong path.”

This theme carried over through the last three days of the IEP tour in the New York-area. Discussions about the fear, apathy, and status quo in Israel and of hopelessness and frustration in Palestine regarding the lack of serious negotiations and the ongoing occupation echoed loud and clear with students at The New School, New York University, and professionals at a roundtable hosted by the United Nations Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC). Though the occupation makes Israelis and Palestinians unequal parties to the conflict, OneVoice believes that there is an equal responsibility on both sides to pressure the leadership to resolve the issues and end the conflict. 

The importance of building a bridge between the grassroots and influential organizations like the UN was not lost on the UN staff participants and the OneVoice youth leaders. All noted a need to cultivate relationships between the two in order to achieve common goals.

Outreach to young people is one way to establish positivity and knowledge early on, something OneVoice is already actively doing.

“OVI goes to high schools and middle schools as part of our outreach, and we discusses, educate, and remind the students what’s going on,” said Or. “But there are challenges, like getting permissions from parents, but we try to do these projects despite the opposition.”

Likewise, Amro said OVP has developed a strong partnership with Jordan-based Generations For Peace, through which Palestinian children are engaged in peace-building and community engagement through sports, an effort for which OneVoice Palestine was recently honored.

Ingraining the importance of grassroots mobilization from the young to the old is critical to influencing the political sphere, a key mantra for OneVoice and its volunteers.

“If we create a new political reality, the conflict will end,” said IEP Associate Shaina Low. “And if the people speak, the leaders must jump.”

IEP’s Big Apple tour brings OneVoice’s message to diverse audiences

OVP's Amro Brighith speaks to Middle Collegiate Church about his work to achieve the two-state solution.

New York, October 17, 2012 – Over 8 million people live in New York City. That’s 8 million pasts, presents, and futures interacting and intersecting every day.

From October 7-12, New Yorkers and New Jerseyans met two youth activists from Israel and Palestine who are working to build a viable two-state solution. Amro Brighith, of OneVoice Palestine, and Or Kaner, of OneVoice Israel spoke to their American peers about their work on the ground and the need for political pressure and assistance from everyday Americans.

“The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is an international matter,” Amro told students and community members across the city. “Your leaders have moderated between the two sides for over 20 years, and it’s time to put more pressure on the leadership to say what they have to say and do what they have to do [to finally end the conflict].”

During the first three days of the tour, youth leaders spoke to students at Rutgers, Columbia, and Princeton Universities, as well as parishioners at Middle Collegiate Church and members of the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy in a networking mixer. The participants, spanning the religious, ethnic, and political spectrum, served as a microcosm of the 8 million New Yorkers and signified the diverse interest in solving the conflict.

Although the focus of the tours and of OneVoice generally is work on the ground in Israel and Palestine, the question of what Americans can do was a popular topic throughout the tour, undoubtedly because of the upcoming presidential election.  At Princeton, one participant asked what Palestinians need from Israelis, and what Israelis need from Palestinians in order to reignite faith in the peace process and enable a return to negotiations, so the information can be forwarded to his congressman in Washington, D.C.

OneVoice’s efforts to address each society’s concerns was evident in both Or’s and Amro’s answers. Or believes that Israelis need to see a commitment to an end of claims after solving all final status issues from the Palestinians, while Amro sees a commitment to a settlement freeze from the Israeli leadership as an important step in the path to negotiations. All final status issues weigh heavily on the minds of Amro, Or, and their respective communities, and there is a realization that while the occupation makes the parties to the conflict unequal, there is an equal responsibility to resolve it.

“Each needs to show that the other wants serious peace, so negotiations can start and we can move forward,” said Or. “This is exactly what we do at OneVoice – we show our communities that there is a partner for peace on the other side.”

In order to achieve such goals, the youth leaders stressed the parallel nature in which they work to influence their societies, as well as the importance of political and religious inclusion in such talks.

“I speak to many kinds of people at our town hall meetings,” Amro said. “We have supporters from many political parties; we even have security forces attending our meetings. Our Gaza office just reopened and we are training youth leaders to talk to Palestinians living there. We need to reach out to as many people as possible.”

The situation is not that different in Israel, Or explained.

“We’re trying to work with everyone in the Israeli political spectrum– from the ultra-Orthodox and settlement communities, and to those on the far left, while not giving up our principles,” he said. “It appears that the right wing has taken over Israel. Yet, we give all a stage to speak their minds while letting them hear our beliefs. This is how we try to influence and this is how it needs to be done.”

Ahmad Omeir reflects on New England tour

OneVoice Palestine's Ahmad Omeir during the New England IEP tour in September.

New York, September 27, 2012 – The International Engagement Program (IEP) wrapped up its first tour of the fall semester, visiting schools, houses of worship, and social justice groups throughout New England from September 10-13.

IEP Director Ahmad Omeir of OneVoice Palestine shared with over 800 participants his most memorable experiences working on the ground and called on Americans to help him achieve a viable two-state solution.

We recently spoke Ahmad over the phone and asked him about his tour.

OneVoice: What was your most memorable part of the tour?

Ahmad: I think the event at Eitz Chayim Synagogue was the most memorable for me because I knew going in that I would receive most of the questions, and I wanted to let them see a sense of hope from the Palestinian side. Many of the participants said this was an eye-opening experience and it allowed them to see a new face of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

OneVoice: What can average Americans do to help you on the ground?

Ahmad: There are two things Americans can do. First, have an open mind in how they see the conflict and not be biased based on what is in the media. Second, they need to realize that to answer their interests they need to see the conflict in a balanced way. Therefore, Americans need to urge their leadership to be balanced in its moderation of the Palestinian-Israeli negotiations; saying what needs to be said and taking the necessary steps that will permanently end the conflict.

OneVoice: Did this tour reinforce your belief in the two-state solution and how will it motivate you to continue your work?

Ahmad: There is a very high sense of skepticism and despair [surrounding the resolution of the conflict], and I have my own stories that reflect these feelings. But my experiences with the occupation push me and keep me going forward and I shared that with the audiences. For instance, as we spoke to the school-aged children, I noticed they were asking very good questions, which shows that on the educational level there is an important, positive step taken in regards to teaching them about the conflict. And in the end, this helps us on the ground.

OneVoice: What do audiences have to look forward to in the final tours of this academic semester?

Ahmad: They can expect to see more devoted youth leaders committed to ending the conflict. They will see it is a personal responsibility and comes out of a sense of urgency. I hope that the new audiences can see the two-state solution as in the international community’s interest to resolve ASAP.

IEP’s New England tour kicks-off U.S. election-themed semester, Part 2

Ahmad Omeir, center, of OneVoice Palestine, tells a student group about his work on the ground.

New York, September 25, 2012 – When Carl Hobert told a group of 50 students to stand if they’d ever lost a friend or family member to gun violence, nearly all of them stood.

Also standing were OneVoice staff members Israeli Adva Vilchinski and Palestinian Ahmad Omeir.

Hobert, of Axis of Hope Center for International Conflict Prevention, looked around at the students of Fenway High School. “Take how you relate,” Hobert told the students, “and build a bridge to how they relate.”

The time spent with Hobert and the students was just one of many impactful events of the International Engagement Program’s (IEP) New England tour. Over 200 people heard Adva’s and Ahmad’s message earlier in the week, and IEP continued to emphasize the parallel programs of their respective offices, as well as IEP’s “call to action” campaign, targeted at the next American president.

Day three of the tour saw the youth leaders at the Educating Global Citizens class at Boston University, the Harvard College Interfaith Council, and finally Tufts University’s J Street U group event.

“We have a common goal but we need to achieve it in different ways,” Adva said of OneVoice Israel and (OVI) and OneVoice Palestine (OVP) during the Tufts event. “What I see as the most important thing about our partnership is not that we need to do things together...but that we can separately do pragmatic things that will put more positive steps on the ground. I'm not trying to do dialogue. I'm trying to show there's a partner on both sides.”

The fourth and final day reached over 560 people, and included stops at Beaver Country Day School, Brandeis University, Brookline Workmen’s Circle, and the aforementioned Fenway High School. The dominant discussion was what Americans can do to help promote the two-state solution.

One comment from a Brandeis participant challenged American involvement in spearheading efforts to push parties to the table. IEP associate Shaina Low, in response to such criticism, reaffirmed America’s role in resolving the conflict.

“The American government has…a lot of influence,” Shaina said. “At OneVoice, we can say that all of our calls for the American public are coming directly from Israelis and Palestinians, who are in the majority of their societies. Maybe it’s not a vocal majority, maybe it’s a silent majority, but it is the majority.”

Ahmad jumped on this theme when he addressed the Workmen’s Circle later that day. “You [as Americans] do have a role,” he said. “Help the American leadership say what needs to be said, and to support Israelis and Palestinians with our work on the ground.”

IEP’s New England tour kicks-off U.S. election-themed semester, Part 1

Adva Vilchinski (far right) of OneVoice Israel explains to Middlebury College students her role in ending the conflict.

New York, September 25, 2012 – Professor Tamar Mayer believes that the world lives in the “seventh day” of the 1967 or Six-Day War, and will continue to unless something is done to change the dynamic.

“The majority of the population on each side [of the conflict] has been born into this unacceptable status quo,” said Mayer, director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs at Middlebury College. “And it is wholly appropriate that those who were born during the “seventh day” of the 1967 War lead [the change]. Our guests today fit this bill.”

Middlebury was just one of the many stops in the first tour of the International Engagement Program’s(IEP) fall semester. Staff members Adva Vilchinski of OneVoice Israel (OVI) and Ahmad Omeir of OneVoice Palestine (OVP) told over 800 New England participants – from schools to community members – that Americans can support their efforts on the ground while helping impact American foreign policy and help achieve Middle East peace.

From Sept. 10-13, Adva and Ahmad explained that Americans can play an important role in solving this conflict by participating in IEP’s “call to action,” which pressures the presidential candidates to put the conflict high on the agenda when one of them is elected.

The tour started with a visit to Middlebury and then Dartmouth College on the first day, followed by a Middle East Politics class at UMass-Lowell and a J Street event at Eitz Chayim Synagogue on day two.

“We believe at OneVoice Israel that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not something which belongs to the left or right,” Adva said when asked about partisanship during the Dartmouth event. “It's something for all the people because ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is good for all Israelis no matter how you vote.”

Ahmad told audience members that the US has a continued role to play in reviving the two-state solution.

“When you try to work with change, and try to bring change into [Palestinian] society, it’s a long and difficult process,” said Ahmad. “You need to mobilize people. You’re shocking people out of their apathy, out of their despair and skepticism…by trying to show them that by creating positive facts, by getting them invested personally, that there is chance to actually achieve that solution. [And] what we need from the moderator [the US] is to be honest and neutral and help us have the right environment to move forward with the negotiations in a limited timeframe.”

Throughout the events, Adva offered her experiences in activist mobilization, outreach, and countering the pro-settlement expansion agenda, while Ahmad spoke about what a successful two-state solution needs: an end to the occupation and of all final status issues based on international resolutions, along with the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

Adva and Ahmad’s message was not lost on the days’ participants, but rather echoed and enhanced early and often.

Professor Mayer told the Middlebury audience that Adva, Ahmad, and their OneVoice peers “are engaged in peace and consensus-building efforts, working within their national communities to end the conflict.”

“They are committed to a two-state solution based on the June 4th, 1967 lines that will guarantee an end to the occupation,” she said. “They are Israeli and Palestinian activists who have dedicated themselves to working towards change and a better future for their societies.”

Outreach and Education Program links Palestinian and UK women’s groups

New York, July 30, 2012—Recognizing women’s role in peacemaking, the Outreach and Education Program, led by OneVoice Europe’s Sharon Alsoodani, plans to connect UK women's empowerment groups with women in remote Palestinian community.

Since visiting the Women’s Association of Qalqilya early this summer, where several of OneVoice’s top women youth activists volunteer, Alsoodani has been exploring establishing a relationship for them with Lotus Life, a London-based young women’s empowerment group, to share with each other their efforts and experiences.

“Witnessing the desire among the women of Qalqilya in shaping their community and political landscape, I’ve returned to London with renewed motivation to amplify their work,” said Alsoodani. “I’ll be facilitating cross-border and cross-cultural communication that will make the global impact of our voices stronger.”

The Women’s Association of Qalqilya, founded in 2010 and now 55 members-strong, empowers women of all ages in the city to assume a greater role in civil and political life. They’ve been focusing on creative means of combating the dramatic effects of Israel’s controversial separation barrier, which almost completely encircles the city and results in political disenfranchisement as well as severe poverty.

“Our connections with the outside world have not been good in Qalqilya,” one middle-aged woman told Alsoodani during her visit. “But we are starting to build relationships, which will enhance the progress and development of our town.”

At a town hall meeting that OneVoice held late last year in Qalqilya’s city hall, over 100 participants discussed the best way to invigorate the city’s stalled economy. Meanwhile, at their latest meeting, Women’s Association members and OV youth activists raised the issue of municipal politics and how to best use the upcoming elections to advance social causes.

“We have to stop looking always toward the past,” said Azil Nazzal, a top OneVoice Palestine youth activists and Women's Association volunteer, during her presentation at the meeting. “We have to start planning what we want for the future and make it happen.”

And it is in that message — recognizing the pain of the past while refusing to let it dictate the future — that OneVoice Palestine and the Women’s Association of Qalqilya have become natural allies in the effort to mobilize Palestinians across the West Bank.

Meanwhile, back in London, members of Lotus Life are receptive to learning firsthand from them about the actions they're taking on the ground to end the occupation and improve the quality of life for Palestinians.

For starters, Alsoodani plans to run a Skype session, connecting the two groups and giving the Women's Association of Qalqilya their sought after link to the outside world. Whatever the forum it takes — whether  concerned with political, social or economic issues — the end result of such initiatives is greater ownership for the embattled residents of Qalqilya over their futures.

ACT NOW: Raise American support for the Arab Peace Initiative

New York, May 3, 2012—The International Engagement Program (IEP) launched a call to action last month, asking Americans to support OneVoice activists in Israel and Palestine by engaging their own politicians to revive the Arab Peace Initiative. ACT NOW.

Exactly 10 years ago, the 22 Arab League member states came together in Beirut to propose a peace plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arab Peace Initiative offered a comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. It represented an abrupt about-face, from the League's refusal to engage with Israel to the potential for a new era of regional stability and cooperation. While not an end-point for negotiations, the document sets a positive new starting point.

Unfortunately, Israel never accepted the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for peace discussions.

The timing of the call to action coincides with parallel campaigns taking place in Palestine and Israel, both of which have the Arab Peace Initiative as their focal point.

Using social media, community programming and appeals to political leadership, OVI and OVP are mobilizing their communities around the regional peace plan. While OVI is raising awareness and demanding a response to this historic opportunity, OVP is using the revitalized discussion about the document to transform popular frustration into a unified call for the two-state solution.

The call to action, unveiled during IEP's recent Southern California tour, is designed to complement these campaigns, using social media to reinsert the Arab Peace Initiative into the American political parlance concerning the conflict. ACT NOW.

Americans are being asked to bombard the social media feeds on Twitter and Facebook of Members of Congress who exert influence on foreign affairs and hold a tremendous responsibility toward resolving the conflict.

Leaders of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Subcommittees that focus on the Middle East are being targeted, using the hashtag #EndtheConflict.

Learn more about the Arab Peace Initiative and what you can do to support this historic document and break the deadlock here. UK supporters can also highlight the initiative to their Members of Parliament by visiting ACT NOW UK.

Twitter user @YonahLieberman fulfills the call to action, messaging Senator John Kerry to ask him to support the Arab Peace Initiative.