OneVoice Movement

Christians, Muslims, Samaritans on their role promoting civil peace

Youths from the Christian, Muslim and Samaritan faiths on a field visit to the West Bank city of Bethlehem, part of a pilot program initiated by OneVoice Palestine titled The Role of Religion in Promoting Civil Peace.

New York, September 12, 2012—On a Wednesday evening in early July, the conference room at the historic Al-Yasmeen Hotel in the Old City of Nablus was bustling with chatter. A mixed group of 45 youths from the Christian, Muslim and Samaritan faiths had convened for a discussion on Islam’s role in promoting civil peace.

Mayor and Imam Omar Ishtayeh of nearby Tal village kicked off the conversation by briefly introducing some of Islam’s major precepts, before delving into comparisons to Christianity and Samaritanism in fostering interfaith understanding. After more than two hours of discussion, the event concluded with the young participants highly anticipating their next meeting. This was the third session of its kind under a pilot program titled The Role of Religion in Promoting Civil Peace, which OneVoice Palestine initiated in partnership with Generations For Peace to promote the co-existence of the three religions in Nablus.

One Voice Palestine has been developing a relationship with Generations For Peace for over three years, but this year has expanded the scope of their joint programs greatly, bringing events to five West Bank communities. The programs are tailored to address the needs of each specific community – from initiatives addressing gender issues and empowerment of women in Qalqilya, to social programming with disadvantaged children in Jenin, and interfaith dialogue in Nablus.

“Nablus is a melting pot with three religions mixed together, each promoting tolerance and acceptance of the other,” said Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine. “We wanted to shine a spotlight on the civil peace that residents enjoy, while also emphasizing that Palestinian national identity should prevail regardless of any religious background.”

African novelist Chinua Achebe first coined the term “civil peace” in 1971, which he used to title one of his short stories on life after the Nigerian Civil War.  The concept of civil peace and the necessary conditions to achieve it have since become central to conflict resolution and peace-building. In Nablus, the unique co-existence among the three religions has become a model of civil peace. While the majority of residents are Muslim, there are several hundreds of Christians and Samaritans living there today.

Samaritans consider themselves the true Israelites, with strict religious observances closely related to Judaism. Their total population stands around 750, roughly split between Mount Gerizim, near Nablus city, and Holon, south of Tel Aviv in Israel. It is believed that many Muslim families in Nablus are descendents of Samaritans.

To further the experience for the participants, OneVoice Palestine organized field visits in the city to the Greek Orthodox Saint Photina Church at Jacob’s Well, the Samaritan synagogue in the Old City, and the Great Mosque of Nablus, among others. The high attendance and enthusiasm shown by the youth motivated OneVoice Palestine to expand the field trips to Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity and Hebron’s Old City and Ibrahimi Mosque. The sites join the Samaritan synagogue as casualties of the conflict, sustaining at times extensive damage.

Two members of OneVoice’s local chapter in Hebron joined the group during their tour of the Old City to highlight the unique political situation they face, with a few hundred Jewish settlers occupying the city center and making life for its quarter of a million Palestinian residents unbearable. “It was very important to show our youth the urgency and need for creating political solutions to solve the current problems before we devolve from a political conflict to a religious one,” said Mohammad Asideh, OneVoice Palestine’s outreach coordinator.

The group, which grew to more than 50 by late July, also enjoyed an iftar, the evening meal that breaks the fast during the holy month of Ramadan, together and used the opportunity to evaluate the program and plan future activities. “Watching youth from different religious backgrounds come together and celebrate an iftar proved to me the importance of programs that emphasize religious tolerance and understanding,” said Asideh, who planned the evening. “Equally important, we engaged a large mixed group of youth eager for further involvement with OneVoice.”

As the peace process remains deadlocked, keeping the two-state solution alive across the occupied Palestinian territories has required an infusion of creative initiatives by OneVoice Palestine. By combining social and cultural activities with their political work, they have been able to grow in reach. With 18 active chapters, from Bethlehem to Qalqilya, OneVoice Palestine's Youth Leadership Program has expanded by more than 120 members in the first six months, with a total of nearly 600 youth leaders working across the West Bank. The 50 plus youths who participated in the civil peace program are ripe to join OneVoice Palestine’s two chapters in Nablus.

Youths from the Christian, Muslim and Samaritan faiths on a field visit to Hebron's Old City, part of a pilot program initiated by OneVoice Palestine titled The Role of Religion in Promoting Civil Peace.

Abdullah Hamarsheh, director of OneVoice Palestine's Youth Leadership Program, introduces the pilot program titled The Role of Religion in Promoting Civil Peace to youths from the Christian, Muslim and Samaritan faiths.

The group from Nablus, which grew to more than 50 by late July, enjoy an iftar, the evening meal during the holy month of Ramadan, together and use the opportunity to plan future activities.

OneVoice Palestine attracts large crowds through creative initiatives

OneVoice Palestine drew hundreds from Hebron’s outlying villages for a trivia night at the public park in the West Bank town of Nouba.

New York, August 8, 2012—After breaking their fast, in observance of the holy month of Ramadan, hundreds converged at the public park in the West Bank town of Nouba on Friday for a trivia night organized by OneVoice Palestine’s Hebron chapter.

With the peace process deadlocked, keeping the two-state solution alive across the occupied Palestinian territories required an infusion of creative initiatives by OneVoice Palestine youth leaders. By combining social and cultural activities with their political work, they have been able to grow in numbers and reach. The success of their strategy was on full display during the contest, which drew people from Hebron’s outlying villages and kept them engaged late into the night. Palestine News Network along with two national radio stations covered the event.

“Such events allow us to introduce OneVoice’s youth-led grassroots activism to end the occupation and establish a Palestinian state based on the '67 borders to hundreds at a time,” said Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine. "We're upfront about the difficulty of our mission, but what attracts the crowds is the simplicity of our message: only a negotiated just resolution to all the final status issues will yield a permanent agreement that ends all claims."

OneVoice Palestine signed up more than 300 people to its mission in support of the two-state solution before the night ended. To ensure such a high attendance, the Hebron chapter reached out to private companies to co-sponsor the contest and offer prizes, which included a second-hand car for the first place winner.

"We're so thankful to the Hebron business community's generosity," said Nader al-Amleh, Aroub College dean of student affairs and senior youth leader. "The prizes contributed to public excitement for the trivia night, drawing a larger than expected number of people to hear OneVoice's message."

In a testament to the movement's ability to target youth, over 120 students from Al-Quds University, Hebron University, Palestine Polytechnic University and Palestine Technical College in Aroub participated in the event, fielding tough questions confidently. OneVoice Palestine has been hitting universities across the West Bank to recruit students for their chapters, and they have been winning them over in droves.

The chapters are the epicenter of OneVoice Palestine's two-state grassroots activism, engaging and providing spaces for new and senior youth leaders to meet, collaborate and create imaginative programming. With 18 active chapters, from Bethlehem to Qalqilya, OneVoice Palestine's Youth Leadership Program has grown by more than 120 members in the first six months, with a total of nearly 600 youth leaders working across the West Bank.

Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine, shares the movement's mission and work with hundreds from Hebron’s outlying villages during trivia night at the public park in the West Bank town of Nouba.

OneVoice trainees of Generations For Peace spark community action

OneVoice Palestine youth leaders put their training with Generations For Peace to practice, working with children in the West Bank city of Jenin.

New York, June 12, 2012—On a snowy day in March, Malaka Samara and two other senior OneVoice Palestine (OVP) youth leaders sat anxiously in a conference room at the Rocky Hotel in Ramallah, eagerly waiting for the others to arrive. Scheduled for that day, and already running late, was a Generations For Peace training seminar and refresher course for OVP participants.

“As the snow came down, we thought we were going to be forced to postpone the meeting,” recalls Samara. “The roads were bad and transportation from cities across the West Bank wasn’t safe.”

Slowly, though, all 90 participants filtered into the room, lured as much by the scheduled events – team building exercises and trust games along with a review of their individual progress and a discussion of upcoming projects – as by the promise of time in the snow.

OVP has been working with Generations For Peace in differing capacities for over three years, but this training session marked the first time that volunteers from all five cities where the two host joint programs – Jenin, Qalqilya, Nablus, Bethlehem and Jericho – had come together at the same event.

“Everyone is engaged in the same overall project, but everyone is used to working in their own city,” said Mohammad Asideh, OVP’s outreach coordinator and one of the other trainers organizing the events that day. “It was a much needed opportunity to connect everyone with each other for the first time.”

Any organization’s success at breaking the lethargy and advancing a solution to the conflict – precisely OVP’s goal as they engage Palestinians and promote the two-state solution – depends as much on the commitment and dedication of its members as it does on the relationships they cultivate in local communities. And, by that standard, the well-attended training in Ramallah is indicative of the huge strides OVP has taken through their partnership with Generations For Peace.

In 2009, OneVoice members joined 77 other delegates from 17 different countries at a Generations For Peace international training camp in Amman, Jordan. Generations For Peace’s mandate – providing mentorship and training to youths from divided communities around the world, who then return to their communities and pass on their skills to others – made it a natural ally for OVP and their formal partnership was born the following year.

“We have many common values with Generations For Peace,” said Asideh, himself a participant in Generations For Peace’s advanced-level training camp earlier this year. “Peace-building, advocacy, partnerships, working with youth. These are all shared values between our organizations.”

The structure of Generations For Peace lends itself particularly well to OneVoice Palestine’s project of mass mobilization. Generations For Peace’s cascading structure – whereby youth leaders trained with Generations For Peace unique curriculum then cascade their skills, transmitting them to others – involves two levels of participation: delegates, who have completed Generations For Peace training, received extensive mentorship and begun to transmit their knowledge and skills to others; and Peace Pioneers, who are experienced in implementing events on the ground and have met mutually agreed upon targets.

That snowy day in Ramallah, Asideh and Samara were training delegates to add to the 150 OVP members across the West Bank already equipped to lead seminars on everything from public speaking and facilitation to the role of sports in peace-building. These 150 Generations For Peace-OVP delegates have, in turn, shared their joint message of conflict resolution with an additional 1000 participants.

“The partnership has grown over the years as both of our organizations have grown,” said Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine. “In the first phase we both maintained our own systems of training and targeting, and our own general outlooks. After reevaluating our work though, we have both adopted components of each other’s models.”

The latest phase of the partnership between OneVoice Palestine and Generations For Peace, dating to March 2012, marks the third chapter of their relationship and has seen the scope of their joint programs expand greatly, bringing events to five West Bank communities.

The programs are tailored to address the needs of concerns of each specific community. This means that the events vary from community to community – from seminars on the role of religion in politics complete with field visits to churches and mosques in Nablus, to initiatives to address gender issues and empower women in Qalqilya, and social programming with disadvantaged children in Jenin – providing practice and invaluable experience to OneVoice youth leaders eager to hone their public speaking, advocacy and engagement skills.

“For the community members participating in the events, the goal is to build bridges between people,” said Asideh. “But for us – for the OneVoice Palestine members leading the events – we get the chance to work in the field, to implement what we have learned in training.”

Beyond that, the events introduce OVP members to a wider cross section of Palestinian society, allowing them to interact with, learn from, and eventually speak with greater authority about all Palestinians.

For their part, says Jadranka Stikovac Clark, a board member of Generations For Peace and director of its institute, Generations For Peace has “been very happy with the past nine months of intensive programming in Palestine, both in terms of numbers of participants and the feedback received.”

While they maintain constant communication with their volunteers in Palestine, Generations For Peace will be sending a researcher to the West Bank next month to better assess the impact of their work on the ground and the direction of the programming in the future. And, as OneVoice moves to reopen their offices in Gaza and reposition themselves amongst the actors within Gazan civil society, Generations For Peace is considering following OVP’s lead and expanding their partnership to Gaza as well.

“We’ll continue so long as there is a need for programs that are tailor-made using local communities’ assets and needs,” said Clark.

The ultimate goal in mind for both organizations is a cohesive society better able to represent its constituent parts and put forth a national vision. On the road to national unity, though, it’s all about smaller victories.

“We work hard to make connections between people, that’s what many of the events are about,” said Mohammad Qadi, an OVP youth leader and Generations For Peace Pioneer.

“In Nablus, we use non-competitive sports in order to build relationships and awareness,” said Qadi. “We put players from different communities – from the city, from villages and refugee camps – on the same team, girls and boys mixed, so they build trust.”

While the unity government may have stalled in recent months, this bottom-up approach has been paying dividends, both for the communities it has touched and the OneVoice members leading the way.

And the result Qadi sees among the boys and girls he works with?

“They all want to play – so they forget about where they are from and the color of their skin. They play together. This is how we bring people together, to learn how to trust, how to make leaders, how to support each other.”

“Peace building [is a] slow process,” Clark stressed. That “there is a positive individual behavioral change thus reassures us that we are on the right track.”

A Palestinian girl from the West Bank city of Jericho participates in the Sports and Peace Program.

OneVoice Palestine youth leaders work with disabled children in Beit Sahour, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

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.

OneVoice’s Palestinian activists urge Israeli response to Arab Peace Initiative

Hundreds of OneVoice youth activists and locals, wearing flag caps of countries supporting the Arab Peace Initiative, released into Israel hundreds of helium balloons carrying the text of the regional peace plan.

Ramallah, April 28, 2012—From a village near Jenin that borders on the 1967 line, OneVoice Palestine youth activists and locals released into Israel hundreds of helium balloons carrying the text of the Arab Peace Initiative on Saturday, drawing attention toward this historic opportunity.

Hundreds of locals, wearing flag caps of countries supporting the regional peace plan, participated in the activity, which was co-sponsored by Jenin’s governor and the municipality, to mark the document’s tenth anniversary. They called on all Israelis to pressure their politicians into accepting the initiative as a framework for serious regional negotiations to achieve the two-state solution and end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Jenin Deputy Governor Ahmad al-Qassam, Minister of Prisoner Affairs Ashraf al-Ajrami, Fatah spokesman Mahmoud Labadi, and other municipal officials also attended the headline-grabbing event.

“We're urging the Israeli public to demand from their government a real response to the Arab Peace Initiative,” said Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine. “The document has never been withdrawn or rejected by any Arab state, but despite its apparent resilience, we cannot expect it stay on the table forever.”

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. Among Ariel Sharon’s 14 reservations to the 2003 Road Map, reservation #10 explicitly rejected the Arab Peace Initiative. Since then, it has lain dormant.

“Accepting the Arab Peace Initiative as a framework for serious regional negotiations is a far better approach than outright rejection wrapped in unsupportable assertions that Israel has done everything it can for peace over the past 64 years and the Palestinians have only been obstructionist,” said OneVoice CEO Howard Sumka.

The event is part of OneVoice Palestine's campaign, launched in February, demanding the Israeli government to halt its settlement policy and return to negotiations on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative. From tree plantings in Hebron and Bethlehem and distribution of flyers and bumper stickers across the West Bank, to an online campaign with banners on top local news sites – OneVoice Palestine is creating momentum for the peace plan.

Separately, OneVoice Israel is complementing the effort though parallel action, igniting conversations about the Arab Peace Initiative across their eight university chapters, from Haifa to Sderot. Next month, they will mobilize people in the heart of Tel Aviv, bringing prominent public figures to make soap-box speeches while a giant ice cube containing the Arab Peace Initiative text slowly melts away. Working with the growing Two-State Solution Caucus, they will then deliver their message loudly in the Knesset.

Local and international media covered OneVoice Palestine's Jenin activity marking the tenth anniversary of the Arab Peace Initiative.

From a village near Jenin that borders on the 1967 line, helium balloons carrying the text of the Arab Peace Initiative were released into Israel by OneVoice activists and locals during the media-grabbing event.

Youth activists protest Israel’s seizure of Palestinian land

Hundreds led by OneVoice Palestine activists marched to the outskirts of Beit Oula village on Friday to peacefully protest against Israel’s seizure of Palestinian land.

New York, March 23, 2012—Hundreds led by OneVoice Palestine activists marched to the western outskirts of the West Bank city of Hebron on Friday to peacefully protest against Israel’s seizure of Palestinian land to build the controversial separation barrier and expand settlements.

OneVoice’s chapter in Beit Oula village, west of Hebron, collaborated with other local youth groups and mobilized residents to resist land confiscations by planting dozens of trees brought from across the West Bank and putting up a tent to maintain their presence indefinitely. They were also joined by Mayor Rateb al-Omla. The local Imam, Mohammad Osman, led Friday prayer, telling the crowd that action by OneVoice youth and other civil society organization maintains hope of achieving the two-state solution and establishing an independent Palestinian state based on the pre-1967 borders.

Skeptical of the prospects for peace given continued Israeli land grabs and unprecedented settlement expansion on privately-owned Palestinian land, residents nonetheless applauded the courage of youth in resisting the occupation through peaceful means.

Israel claims the 720-km (450-mile) barrier under construction since 2002 is a necessary security measure that prevents Palestinian attacks. Palestinians say the route cuts through their farmland and loops around illegal settlements. The activity took place on land slated for confiscation within the next six months.

“The seizure of Palestinian land whether for alleged security reasons or settlement expansion threatens the viability of any peace process,” said Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine. “Trust in the political process among Palestinians continues to slip as Israel fails to heed international calls for a settlement freeze. It is our role during this difficult time to mobilize the people to peacefully safeguard the two-state solution.”

Israeli soldiers in armored vehicles prevented demonstrators from entering certain areas and kept a watchful eye on them. The crowd, however, maintained their poise at all times and avoided the looming possibility of a confrontation.

OneVoice activists said they will sleep in the tent they erected and continue to plant trees in the area as a means to prevent Israel from claiming the land is not in use and, therefore, subject to confiscation. "This initiative is an important message to the whole world,” said Nader al-Omla, one of OneVoice’s activists who led the initiative. “We will stay in our land and we will not give in."

Palestinian media, including Maan News Agency and Palestine TV, covered the protest. It was the second of its kind carried out by OneVoice Palestine youth activists this year. Earlier in March, OneVoice Palestine protested pending land confiscations in Dar Salah, east of Bethlehem.

The local Imam, Mohammad Osman, led Friday prayer, telling the crowd that action by OneVoice youth and other civil society organization maintains hope of achieving the two-state solution.

Palestinian youth plant trees on land subject to an Israeli confiscation order

Palestinian TV covering OneVoice's tree planting activity on land threatened by Israeli confiscation orders on Friday outside Dar Salah, east of Bethlehem.

New York, February 28, 2012—OneVoice Palestine brought around 150 Palestinian youth on Friday to plant dozens of trees and Palestinian flags in a barren area east of Bethlehem under threat of being confiscated by Israeli military order.

This land is categorized as Area C under the terms of the Oslo Accords, giving Israel control over both the security and civil administration of the area. The Quartet – made up of the U.S., the U.N., the European Union and Russia – and other international actors have been pressuring Israel to give Palestinians more access to Area C land, which constitutes 60% of the entire West Bank, as a confidence building measure. Lack of access holds back Palestinian economic development and is a serious impediment to their ability to travel between Palestinian cities and towns.

OneVoice youth activists from chapters throughout the West Bank met in Dar Salah and then marched to the hills overlooking the Jordan Valley, which have been threatened with confiscation. Senior OneVoice youth activist Ibrahim Mubarak initiated the activity, bringing members of the nonprofit he leads, Nibras for Youth Generations, to join as well. Several national media organizations covered the activity, and highlights appeared in print media and on TV, even on a day that saw violent clashes in other parts of Palestine.

“This is an effort to preserve this Palestinian land, part of the Bethlehem governorate, under threat of confiscation from the rightist Israeli government,” Samer Makhlouf, OneVoice Palestine’s executive director, told the Palestine News Network. “The message, under the heading ‘This is Our Land, Leave Us Alone,’ called for the recognition of a Palestinian state based on ’67 borders.”

OneVoice Europe’s executive director, John Lyndon, was present at the activity. “It is inspiring to see so many Palestinians take to this windy, rainy hillside and firmly declare both their opposition to expanding Israeli settlement, and their commitment to the two-state solution,” he said. “OneVoice Palestine has shown today that mobilizing youth in a positive and constructive way can have an impact both locally and nationally, as can be seen from the number of people here lending a hand, and the significant media coverage that our efforts have generated.”

OneVoice Palestine hopes to spread this initiatives to other areas facing Israeli confiscation orders.

OneVoice youth activists from chapters throughout the West Bank met in Dar Salah and then marched to the hills overlooking the Jordan Valley.

Senior OneVoice youth activist Ibrahim Mubarak, who conceived of the tree planting initiative, poses with a child during the activity on Friday, east of Bethlehem.

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Footage courtesy of Palestine News Network.

A view from inside OneVoice Palestine

OneVoice Palestine's senior youth leaders meet in Ramallah to discuss political obstacles and outline their street campaigns and activities for 2012.

New York, December 30, 2011—Challenges abounded as OneVoice Palestine (OVP) staff and senior youth leaders met in Ramallah to discuss several political obstacles and outline the street campaigns and activities they will carry out in the coming year. Two issues took center stage in their discussion: the Fatah-Hamas reconciliation and Israel’s settlement policy.

A reconciliation agreement could pave the way for Palestinian elections in 2012, giving OneVoice Palestine the chance to advocate for the two-state solution. “A lot of people think that with the reconciliation the situation on the ground for Palestinians will become better and easier” said Abdullah Hamarsheh, director of the OVP’s youth leadership program. “While that is the hope, we have to read the situation rather than see it. There are people lurking in the dark waiting to perpetuate the situation and we should be ready for them.”

OneVoice Palestine recognized the importance of ending factional divisions as a precursor to ending the occupation, establishing a sovereign Palestinian state, and as a result achieving lasting peace in the region. They launched major activities across the West Bank last March to channel the energy on the street into a cry for national unity.

Despite the initial push, the talks between the two rival parties stalled for months. Recent progress has left many OneVoice Palestine youth leaders hopeful for a resolution. “Reconciliation efforts now are more serious than ever,” said Bashar Shweiki. “We should embrace these steps as a means for strengthening and widening the base of support for the two-state solution.”

Adding to the difficulty of OneVoice Palestine’s advocacy efforts is Israel’s settlement policy and attacks by settlers in the West Bank that threaten the possibility of achieving a contiguous and viable Palestinian state. Israel recently approved the construction of hundreds of units on occupied Palestinian territory, eliciting condemnation from the European Union members of the UN Security Council last month.

“We call on the Israeli government to reverse these steps,” the statement by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal said. “The viability of the Palestinian state that we want to see and the two-state solution that is essential for Israel's long-term security are threatened by the systematic and deliberate expansion of settlements.”

“We should lead more demonstrations asking the Israeli government to take serious steps to move the peace process forward,” said Mohammad Asideh, OVP’s outreach coordinator and a former youth leader. “We shouldn’t rest until we achieve the two-state solution based on international resolutions, within clear terms of reference and a set time frame.”

Such reactions not only reflect the reality of the current situation, but also reveal the deep-seated desire to move past the status quo to a better future. “We have a major role, especially with a growing base of supporters,” Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine, told the youth leaders. “We must do all that we can to reach more people and make sure our message is heard loud and clear.”

OneVoice Palestine activists spread word on Palestinian state

OneVoice Palestine youth leader Ahmad Omeir speaks with an Italian tourist in Manger Square on why her country should support the Palestinian bid in the UN and what it means for the two-state solution.

New York, September 21, 2011—United behind the mantra ‘independent state,' OneVoice Palestine (OVP) youth leaders stood on the forefront of change in this week’s OVP campaign to spread support on the upcoming Palestinian bid for statehood.

Much like their Arab Spring predecessors, Palestinian youth, both men and women, assembled as activists collecting on college campuses and bustling Palestinian holy sites to renew anticipation for a brighter Palestinian future embodied by a sovereign state within the United Nations. Their support for the Palestinian bid comes with the primary intent to mobilize thousands of Palestinians behind the two-state solution. Their activities will lay the basis for nonviolent and constructive responses in the aftermath of the vote.

“The youth are the future for Tunisia, Egypt, and Palestine. They negotiate the future by deciding what Palestinians want,” said Mohammad Asideh, OVP youth council delegate.

Negotiating this future for Palestinians, OVP youth leaders took to the streets in an OVP weekend outreach to Bethlehem’s Manger Square distributing flyers with the logo 193 plus one – the number of UN member nations with the addition of a Palestinian state. International tourists joined this conversation as OVP youth leaders urged visitors to push their government in support of UN recognition.

“We came to Bethlehem today to send a message of regards to the countries who decided to support Palestine as well as to encourage those who have not yet decided,” said OVP participant Mohammed Zaid.

In tandem with the Bethlehem outreach that affected an estimated 1,000 individuals, OVP also launched a signature drive at Al Quds University in Jenin appealing to the distinctive climate of the university on Saturday.

“The majority of the university is women, so it is important for them to have a role in the discussion,” Asideh said.

Desiring to engage the female demographic, OVP youth leaders collected hundreds of signatures from students waiting up to ten minutes in line to show support of a future Palestinian state. Partaking in heated discussions with peers, OVP youth leaders also elaborated on the necessity for peaceful approaches to achieving statehood.

“Palestinians want to see progress. They want to see change. We are at a juncture, it can get worse or it can get better,” Samer Makhlouf, OVP’s executive director, said on the need for Palestinians to continue nonviolence regardless of the UN’s decision.

Makhlouf spoke at a women’s empowerment event in Salfeet on Sunday where guest speakers Fadwa Barghouti, wife of political prisoner Marwan Barghouti, and Najat Abu Baker, Palestinian Legislative Council member, were in attendance. Allowing women a place in the deliberation within the West Bank, this event encouraged the estimated 250 women present to have a voice in their community for promoting a Palestinian state.

“The role of women must be greater and broader,” said Abu Baker. “The voice and the role of women is important to carry the message, and I urge that their role not be artificial. I appeal to Palestinian women to engage in political action and empower themselves.”

As the world watches the Palestinian bid unfold, OVP has continued to rally support empowering the diverse demographics of Palestinians to hope for change.

“There is big hope and expectations are increasing,” said Makhlouf. “Even in the best case scenario, it doesn’t mean that there will be no more war, settlers, or occupation, but this UN bid represents a big step.”

OVP Executive Director Samer Makhlouf (center) sits next to Fadwa Barghouti and PLC member Najat Abu Baker at a public event for women in Salfeet.

Palestinian Grassroots Perspective: UN Vote Offers Glimmer of Hope

By Samer Makhlouf*

Qalqilya Governor Rabeeh al-Khandakji (left), Palestinian Legislative Council member Walid Assaf, and OneVoice Palestine Executive Director Samer Makhlouf speak at a Qalqilya public meeting about Palestinian statehood.

At first glance, it may appear that Palestinian support for our leadership's bid for statehood at the UN is something obvious or simple. In truth, the situation on the ground is far more complicated.

OneVoice Palestine is the only civil society organization running a campaign to educate the people about the UN initiative, explaining to them the benefits while tempering expectations. We are using traditional grassroots tools with social media platforms to bring people into a constructive conversation about what it will take to end the conflict.

Last Thursday, we held the first of several planned town hall meetings in the West Bank city of Qalqilya to talk about the Palestinian UN bid and its effect on the two-state solution. Nearly 200 residents crowded the hall. An elderly woman wondered if her jailed son would be released once Palestine was recognized. A farmer asked if his confiscated lands would be returned. Another worried about compromising refugee rights. The comments ran the gamut and left me convinced that our campaign was incredibly important.

On hand to answer questions with me that day were Qalqilya Governor Rabeeh al-Khandakji and Palestinian Legislative Council member Walid Assaf. We all stressed that only good faith negotiations, with clear terms of reference and a limited time frame, will produce a mutually acceptable and equitable resolution that sees two states for two peoples. Those same words have been stated repeatedly by President Mahmoud Abbas to local and international media.

In Palestine, the battle lines have been drawn. The overwhelming majority of those in favor of the September bid are pragmatic proponents of the two-state solution. Those opposed belong to two camps: either with Hamas and others who call for one state or with those who claim it will undermine the issue of refugees.

Although we realize the potential risks of the UN initiative, we strongly believe that the consequences of abandoning it are far worse - for both Palestine and Israel. If President Abbas were to withdraw now, it would undercut his leadership. It would fuel the disillusionment with the two-state solution on the street and fan the flames of absolutists. Backtracking now, we all felt, would dash the dreams of millions that desire an independent state - based on the 1967 lines and free from occupation - and need the affirmation of such a reality.

Regardless of the outcome at the UN, our campaign in Palestine is providing a much-needed platform for people to take nonviolent actions that advocate reviving the peace process and returning to negotiations. We're countering extremists on both sides that promise to exploit all of us and plunge our lives into chaos.

This week, while we campaign in Bethlehem, Jenin, Salfeet, and across the West Bank, we will be risking for hope over fear and giving Palestinians and Israelis a chance for a better future.

*Samer Makhlouf is executive director of OneVoice Palestine. You can follow him @samermakh.

A resident of Qalqilya raises a concern over the topics addressed in the wake of the UN deliberation on Palestinian statehood.

OVP Field Coordinator Abdullah Hamarsheh (right) answers questions from inquiring youth after the Qalqilya panel discussion.

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Listen to the Guardian Focus podcast entitled, ‘What will UN recognition of a Palestinian state mean?,’ featuring OneVoice Palestine Executive Director Samer Makhlouf.

Transcript of Samer Makhlouf's comment:

My name is Samer Makhlouf. I am the executive director of OneVoice Palestine movement. September vote for Palestinians means hope, and I don’t really agree with what some Israeli politicians say, that this is a unilateral action and that it is an alternative to negotiations.

After twenty years of useless negotiations, the Palestinians reached a conclusion that the international community should be part of setting the references for these negotiations. The reason why these negotiations did not produce any tangible outcome or did not end the conflict because every time the Palestinians are asked to compromise the compromise.

The September vote does not at all contradict with the basic concept that we all advocate for, which is negotiations. I think that the Palestinians are also intending that they will go back to the negotiating table. Abu Mazen and the Palestinian leaders clearly said that this is never an alternative for negotiations, and he said that our first, second, and third option are negotiations. So, they will come back to negotiating.

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