OneVoice Movement

From tents to town halls, Ahmad Sholi volunteers for national unity

OneVoice Palestine's Ahmad Sholi was recognized last month for his community organizing and volunteer work with an award from the Sharek Youth Forum.

New York, January 9, 2012—With the world's attention still rapt by the waves of unrest, protest and political upheaval gripping Egypt, Algeria and the region as a whole, Ahmad Sholi was busy trying to bring change to Palestine.

Ahmad was among those in the first surge of Palestinians who emerged in the leaderless and nameless movement, taking over city centers around the West Bank and Gaza Strip in makeshift camps on March 15 to demand reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas and a unity government.

"We felt, we still feel, like we were part of something great," Ahmad says, excitement in his voice as he recalls the atmosphere and camaraderie of the movement. "People around us may have thought it was pointless at first, but we believed."

The movement was, like other Arab Spring protests around the region, a youth driven initiative, with many of the people involved looking for a new form of political expression. Ahmad's involvement in the Palestinian national movement, though, began long before the tents went up on March 15.

Walking into a OneVoice session in Nablus three years ago, he was skeptical of the organization. "I heard talk of the two-state solution, of 1967 borders," he remembers of his understanding of OneVoice before the town hall meeting, "and I thought, what are we going to do about the other Palestine, about Haifa, about Yaffa?"

That meeting changed Ahmad's mind. "The Palestinians I met there told me to think long and hard about what I want and about what is possible," he remembers. "We have all lost people. In the second intifada we lost a lot of our youth. I lost many friends. We didn't gain anything. When I thought about that, I realized there must be another solution. We won't forget Palestine – but we need to live in peace, we need to end the occupation, we need our country."

And so Ahmad got involved: having completed OneVoice's advanced youth leadership training program, he led town hall meetings across the West Bank and recruited others to join the OneVoice network as well. Beyond his OneVoice involvement, he volunteered with a community service center in Nablus, working with children and the disabled community, before recruiting 30 people from his own community to volunteer and establish a local center in his own town.

His community organizing efforts were recognized last month when, along with OneVoice Palestine's Ibrahim Mubarak, he received an Awnah award for youth development and empowerment at a national ceremony organized by the Sharek Youth Forum in honor of 30 Palestinian volunteers and presided over by Salam Fayyad.

Underlying Ahmad's community work is a belief in the importance of individual engagement. This same idea, of getting youths politically involved, is what inspired his efforts with the March 15 movement. The camps, which sprung up in Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin and Tulkarem in the West Bank and in Gaza City in Gaza, borrowed much in organizational structure from similar movements in neighboring countries. But the impetus behind the movement, and thus the content, was markedly different.

"I wouldn't call it anger," says Ahmad, reflecting on the atmosphere in the camp, comparing it with more violent uprisings in Egypt and Syria. "We shared food and blankets. It was festive. But people were definitely frustrated."

The frustration that Ahmad refers to stems from the political division between Fatah and Hamas. Families, communities, towns, cities and the entire Palestinian national identity have been pulled apart by it.

And what happens when that division cuts too deep?

"We took to the streets to pressure Hamas and Fatah to reconcile," says Ahmad. "We came together on Facebook, built camps in the center of cities, we organized."

In other words: March 15 happens.

That the story of the March 15 movement – Ahmad's story – is not better known is understandable, if not excusable. In a region which saw four longstanding autocrats fall from power within 10 months, a preliminary agreement between rival political factions to work together may seem paltry in comparison. Yet, in many respects, the Palestinian movement was remarkably successful, no matter the field of comparison.

"In the first days in Nablus there were less than 10 of us. We draped a big flag like a tarp and slept under it," recalls Ahmad. "That first night was very cold. It rained. We could have ended the campaign and gone home right then. But we didn't – we stayed."

From less than 10 people during the first week, the camp in Nablus soon swelled to over 50. The camp site became a makeshift community center resembling the ones Ahmad volunteers in as protesters, mostly students like Ahmad, used their time in between studying for their own university exams, to hold classes for neighborhood children.

All of this changed how people saw the movement in Nablus: indifference turned to engagement. "The police," Ahmad remembers, "were suspicious of us in the first week and told us to go home. By the second week they joined us, sitting in the camp with us during the daytime."

The movement grew from a trickle of disaffected youths, something easily dismissible, to a torrent of frustration, calling for action, demanding change. In the months since the preliminary agreement was announced there have been further talks toward a unity government and elections in the West Bank and Gaza Strip in 2012, as well as murmurs of incorporating Hamas into the PLO, thereby including the entire Palestinian Diaspora in future elections.

Looking back on the movement, it's impossible to miss the pride in Ahmad's voice. "We did that – as youths, as people committed, as people involved in simple actions and community activities – we made a difference and pushed our politicians to end the division."

The next question – where is the movement heading – is more difficult to answer. "People are unsure of what will come next. There is mistrust that has been built up over years that is not easy to break," says Ahmad Omeir, OneVoice Palestine's communications officer and a participant in the Ramallah camp. "But the point of the movement remains: to have people gather around one flag. By bringing people together and demanding a national conversation and national representation, the movement compliments our efforts in OneVoice Palestine."

And, on April 27, as Fatah and Hamas announced an outline for reconciliation?

"Celebrations in the camp," recalls Ahmad. "But I went home to shower."

SLIDESHOW: OneVoice Youth Leaders in 2011

New York, December 22, 2011—OneVoice youth leaders came together in November to launch an online donation drive on the GlobalGiving site to fund the recruitment and training of 200 Israeli and Palestinian youths in grassroots activism.

From the start, the youth leaders set their sights on surpassing the challenge by raising $10,000. More than 60 supporters have already contributed more than $6,000.

"The training OneVoice holds for Palestinian youth equips us with the skills to effect change in our society," said Mohammad Asideh, senior OneVoice youth activist. "It creates agents of change before creating the change itself."

OneVoice strives to break the status quo of extremism, fatalism and political lethargy by building a human infrastructure capable of mobilizing the public to resolve the conflict. 4,500 Israeli and Palestinian youth activists form the backbone of the movement and hold the key for change.

Visit the OneVoice's GlobalGiving project page here.

Behind the scenes of the Northern California tour

OneVoice youth leaders Abigail Gottlieb and William Salameh spoke at San Francisco State University last November.

New York, December 15, 2011—OneVoice's Northern California tour concluded last month. Youth leaders Abigail Gottlieb and William Salameh, along with International Education Program (IEP) Associate Shaina Low, spoke at six public events, from university campuses to faith groups and high school classrooms, sharing their personal stories with about 400 people. After some much deserved time off, we caught up with them in Tel Aviv and Ramallah and asked them about their experiences on the tour.

OneVoice: What was an average day on the tour like?

Abigail: I would wake up relatively early and see Shaina in her bed with the computer on because she fell asleep in the middle of writing an email. Other than that, I don't think any day was quite like the next. We had days where we would just get in the car right away and drive to a day of meetings in the area and we had days where we had some bonding time over breakfast ... in general, though, there was a lot of driving, and a lot of meetings.

OV: Do any particularly tough questions from audience members stand out in your memory?

A: For me, it wasn't questions so much as statements from the audience that were tough. When I tell my personal story I mention that I am a Zionist. I know that word has a lot of connotations. There were a couple of times where people asked me what does it mean to be a Zionist or said that it had a negative connotation for them. I tried to do my best to make those people see that Zionism is a very broad concept and for me it means having a homeland for the Jewish people with a certain idea of what that homeland should look like, like social equality for its citizens regardless of religion, and that it should live in peace next to a Palestinian state. In short, that Zionism doesn't come at the expense of the Palestinian people.

William: This was my second tour and it was very different from the first one. It was much easier, actually, in terms of the questions I faced. I generally get harder questions from Arabs and Palestinians then from Jewish audiences, and this tour we spoke largely with Jewish groups.

OV: Was there an emotional toll,telling your personal story and listening to questions about such a political, yet intimate, subject?

A: You have a breaking point, everyone does, where it becomes emotionally difficult to keep going. And then you manage to get past it. I can only imagine it was hard for William to tell his story over and over and relive it each time. It must have been tough on him. It's that way for all Palestinians and Israelis, though. We talk about the conflict like we're diplomats but we're dealing with the future of our countries and ourselves. It is emotional and it is difficult and you don't really realize just how hard it can be until you're in the middle of it.

W: You have to repeat your story so many times. It starts off being very emotional and touching, but you can't help but lose some of the feeling part way through. For me, though, every time I tell my story I try to remember the details of what happened in Jenin. I became more emotional as the tour went on, remembering the scene over and over.

OV: Were there any challenges that came up during the tour that you weren't expecting?

A: On an emotional level, it was sometimes difficult to represent the government of Israel. People ask difficult questions and you're expected to answer on your governments behalf. And I'm thinking to myself: 'I'm not the government, I can't speak for or defend everything they do. But I want to answer the question and satisfy the people who have come to see us speak.' And in terms of representing OneVoice Israel, people would ask if I really believe that peace is possible. I do. And I answered yes every time. But the truth is, none of us really know what will happen tomorrow. We are working to make it happen but we're not sure ourselves. When you get asked that time and time again, you can start to doubt yourself. But after the tour, reflecting on everything I saw and learned, I feel more confident about the work we are doing and the peace process.

W: We spoke mostly with Jewish groups. When the people came into the events, they came with their ideas of what I will be like, what I look like, what Palestinians are like in general. And I had to deal with those ideas. After meeting me, though, I got the feeling that many people left with a deeper understanding of Palestinians.

OV: What are some of the lessons and messages you will be taking back to Israel and Palestine?

W: That American's support peace first and foremost and we need to show them that the two-state solution is the best option to achieve peace.

OV: William, this was your second IEP tour. How did it differ for you from the first?

W: My first IEP tour was an eye opener more then anything else: seeing an American audience, hearing how they think and what they are concerned about. This time recharged me. It's easy to forget that people are trying to help when you're in Palestine. My friends and family have told me that since I've come back, I speak much more passionately about the process then before.

OV: Did anything strike you about the differences between the American youth you me and your friends back home?

W: The biggest difference is how they see the conflict. Americans see it from above, from far away. For me, for my friends and all Palestinians, we live the conflict every day.

OV: What was your favorite meal on the trip?

A: William and I bonded over food. We both like doughnuts and one morning we wanted some for breakfast. We were in a rush that day and the place we were eating at didn't have any. I asked William what he was going to have and he responded pancakes, because they are the closest thing they had to doughnuts. So we both had some! I also like the Chinese food in Chinatown.

W: The ribs were my favourite!

Plight of refugees hits close to home for William Salameh

William Salameh talks with college students at an International Education Program event in Boston in early 2010.

New York, November 6, 2011—When he thinks back to that first town hall meeting, the laughter disappears from his voice. “It was very difficult. They accused me of not caring about them, of abandoning them and undermining their rights,” recalls William Salameh, now 28, of his first town hall meeting in Jenin three years ago.

Standing in front of an audience of Palestinian refugees discussing the right of return and advocating creative solutions is undoubtedly a difficult thing to do, no matter what the touted political benefits may be. For William, though, the issue hits much closer to home than for most. “I am a refugee like you,” he tells the room full of doubting men.

Some of those doubting men begin to listen.

“When I speak with refugees,” William admits, “I think of my grandfather.” William’s family was expelled from Jaffa in 1948 and has since resided in the West Bank city of Ramallah. When he broaches the topic of refugees – of what that word means to an individual, of what the land means to an identity and what the memories mean to a people – it is tinged with self-awareness.

“My father, my uncles, my aunts, they love Jaffa, they have Jaffa in their hearts,” he says. “But they left it when they were very young and their memories are collective memories that Palestinians all share.” A just solution, William continues, is not only about “refugees’ physical status, it is also about recognition, an apology and compensation for the emotional harm that has been imposed.”

And so, when William addresses a room of refugees discussing the ways to achieve a just solution with them, he does so as an equal, aware that whatever comes from the difficult but necessary process of negotiations does not apply only in some abstract way to an unfamiliar people. It applies to his family and himself.

“We pose a question, and we let people speak,” William says of the process of town hall meetings. “We don’t tell people the solution. We open the door for people and ask them to think about these issues in different ways then they normally do.”

Although he never lived there, he admits, the birthplace of his father and grandfather will always carry a special meaning for him, regardless of the final outcome. “The history and the stories will stay in our hearts,” he told that first gathering in Jenin, “but we cannot hold onto that alone. There is a reality and we need to work with that to break the status quo and move forward in accordance with international resolutions.”

One of the benefits of breaking that status quo of political lethargy, fatalism or extremism that resonates with William and the people he has talked to at town hall meetings in Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Salfeet and Jenin is freedom of movement.

When the second intifada (uprising) began in 2000, William was studying at al-Quds University in Abu Dis, a town in the West Bank just east of Jerusalem. A commute that would have normally taken 15 minutes from his family’s home in Ramallah would take hours as the bus navigated increased road closures and scrutiny at checkpoints. Often William would arrive at university to find it closed for the day, in mourning for a student who had been killed. Eventually, William was forced to abandon his studies in Abu Dis, close to his family in Ramallah, and transfer to the Arab American University in Jenin.

Experiences like these led William to join OneVoice Palestine three years ago. Frustrated with the occupation and wary of succumbing to the hopelessness that seemed to paralyze so many Palestinians around him, the OneVoice Youth Leadership Program and town hall meetings provided a mechanism to channel his anger into a positive force for change. He has since spoken with hundreds of Palestinians advocating pragmatism and creative solutions within Palestinian national interests at town hall meetings across the West Bank and has come to the United States on a OneVoice International Education Program tour in early 2010.

But as much as William has used the platform of OneVoice to advocate a vision of the future, the programs he has been involved in have simultaneously shaped how he approaches the conflict.

William participated in a joint town hall meeting hosted by youth leaders from both OneVoice Palestine and Israel in Tel Aviv in late August. “We were able to support each other,” William says of the Israeli youth leaders. “Ultimately, a framework that is good for us is good for them too.”

And while the questions have not become any easier – Palestinians living within Israel remained wary at the Tel Aviv meeting that their struggle was being overlooked and when they found out that he was a refugee they gave him a poster outlining the right of return after the meeting – William maintains that the two-state solution remains in everyone's self interest, refugees included.

“When we achieve our statehood,” he told the Palestinians in attendance, “we will have a stronger tool enabling us to help you. With an internationally recognized Palestinian state, we will have a better chance of fighting for a just solution.”

William will join his Israeli counterpart, Abigail Gottlieb, in leading an International Education Program tour of Northern California from November 11 - 18.

Abigail Gottlieb hones her vision of the future through political simulations

Abigail Gottlieb, seen here posting a flier for OneVoice, will be leading an International Education Program tour of Northern California from Nov. 11 - 18.

New York, November 1, 2011—When you ask Daniel Gottlieb about his daughter Abigail's activism, he just laughs, knowingly: "It was only a matter of time, really," he says contentedly of her political engagement.

Daniel, along with his wife Adina Gottlieb, were themselves engaged social activists when they were younger. Awakening politically to a country reeling in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur war, "we were part of the entire feeling of the need to change the government," he recalls. "We tried our best to allow our children to grow up in a country without having to go to war," he reflects, almost sadly.

And while their generation failed — Abigail served two years as an operational clerk in the Air Force and her younger sister committed three years to public service through the Nachal program — Daniel is very proud of his daughter's engagement: "She is not hiding. She is doing what we tried to do."

Abigail, 24, has been involved with OneVoice for over a year and in that time she has participated in nearly every campaign, from Imagine 2018 to the establishment of the Two-State Solution Caucus in the Israeli Knesset, becoming one of OneVoice's most involved youth leaders.

Always interested in understanding all sides of the conflict, Abigail traveled to Konstanz, Germany, in 2009 to participate in a Middle East Simulation, which involved Palestinians representing the Israeli delegation and Israelis representing the Palestinian delegation. It was there that Abigail first heard of OneVoice and where she met Tal Harris, the executive director of OneVoice Israel who at the time was working as a coordinator for the simulation.

Focusing on the platform established by the Arab Peace Initiative, the simulation was intended to motivate the young participants to take a leading role in ending the conflict. Despite the focus on the future, Abigail found that many people were too rooted in past wrongs to even begin talking about the right way forward.

Inspired by the simulation and about to begin a master’s degree in public policy at Tel Aviv University, she began volunteering with MK Shelly Yachimovich (Labor). On paper, the two make a perfect match. Yachimovich, the leader of the Labor Party, matches Abigail’s level of engagement as one of the most active members of the Israeli Knesset. They also share a common journalistic background, with Abigail working for the Israeli Web site Walla! and Yachimovitch working in print and broadcast journalism before transitioning into politics.

Despite their commonalities, though, something was missing for Abigail. “The conflict isn’t the main issue for her,” says Abigail. “She’s more focused on domestic and social issues. For me, the conflict has to be dealt with at the same time and on the same level as domestic issues. They are connected.”

Which brings us back to the simulation in Germany: on the last night of the event, she raised the problem posed by the failure to move beyond history to Ilan Halevy, a Jewish member of the PLO in attendance. "It took a lot of courage," recalls Harris. "He was nasty to her in response. He drove her to tears in the middle of the gala."

"I was disappointed with his answer," says Abigail, "I didn't see the point of continuing this, either in the simulation or in real life, if people weren't going to move on from the past." But if this event brought Abigail to her lowest point, it also showed her the way forward. She saw the dangers of remaining tethered to the past and the opportunities embodied in the OneVoice vision for how to move forward. "Other participants from the conference, Palestinians included, came to me and told me that my question was legitimate."

In her own way, Abigail represents the possible paths of the conflict itself: confronted with the intransigence of many, she could have gotten discouraged, she could have retreated into a history riddled with injustice as some Israelis and Palestinians have done; but she chose rather to draw inspiration and strength from the experience, and to work for peace.

"She was willing to move on," says Harris, "she didn't lose faith and has become a more fervent ambassador for the two-state solution because of it."

Abigail will join her Palestinian counterpart, William Salameh, in leading an International Education Program tour of Northern California from November 11 - 18.

Thuraya invests in human capital to envision a Palestinian state

Thuraya Aghbar (second from the left) holds a Palestinian flag to show tourists in Bethlehem the need for a Palestinian state in the United Nations.

New York, October 31, 2011—Huddled on the ground of her family’s kitchen in Nablus, Thuraya Aghbar returned the embrace of her four siblings to avoid stray bullets, as she first confronted the vivid reality of occupation at 14 years old. 

This night that Thuraya, 21, says she “will never forget” was during the second intifada (uprising), a period of increased violence between Israelis and Palestinians. Without electricity, water, or the knowledge of when the gunfire on her street would end, Thuraya’s moment with death awakened her desire to eliminate fear in Israel-Palestine. 

“I don’t want anyone else to experience that fear that we had at that time,” said Thuraya. “When I have children, and for my little brothers and sisters, I want this [occupation] to end.”

A senior majoring in electrical engineering at An-Najah National University, Thuraya finds value in her education to advance the Palestinian state that she avidly promotes in all parts of her life; whether diving into engineering books on fuel conservation or leading Palestinian political activism.

“I joined engineering because it solves the problems in helping to build a society,” Thuraya explained.  “If you want to build a state, you need human capital, and people who can design the country.”

Defying the trajectory of most of her peers, Thuraya aspires for a master’s degree and in time, a doctorate in international relations to teach as a college professor. However, Thuraya’s reputation is not only one of academia, but also of her intentional investment in the lives of fellow Palestinians.

“The thing I love about Thuraya, she wants to do something,” said Mohammad Asideh, OneVoice Palestine (OVP) youth council delegate. “She realizes the reality, and she wants to see a place in the future for both [Palestinians and Israelis].”

In this desire to “do” and not wait to see change, Thuraya previously volunteered with Tomorrow’s Youth Organization, hosting sports programs for Palestinian children in a Nablus refugee camp. She worked to bridge the frequent divide between Palestinians and those living in the refugee camps.

“Thuraya wants to learn, and she has a desire to do volunteer work inside her community,” said Asideh, who encouraged Thuraya’s participation in OVP. “I saw in Thuraya a very good opportunity for OneVoice to develop this girl and her knowledge.”

Through the introduction of her university acquaintance, Ahmad Shouli, Thuraya became involved in OneVoice  activites that included representing OVP at the Young Presidents’ Organization Forum in Amman. Now OVP is one of the many avenues where Thuraya advocates the call to service and Israeli-Palestinian peace.

“If you are white, red, green, whatever your color, your religion, whatever you are, you are a human being at the end,” said Thuraya.

Thuraya will join her Israeli counterpart, Shir Lachish, in leading an International Education Program tour of London from November 5-11.

Imagining a future of peace with Shir Lachish

OneVoice Israel’s Shir Lachish partnered with OneVoice Palestine’s Mohammad Asideh in an April 2011 speaking tour of the Midwest where the two youth leaders advocated for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

New York, October 31, 2011—Shir Lachish, from OneVoice Israel, reflects on her experiences as a youth leader during the Midwest speaking tour in April 2011 and what can change if we imagine peace for the future of Israel.

OneVoice: What is your first significant memory of partnership with the Palestinian side? What did you learn?

Shir: Probably at the Parent’s Circle. I learned how important it is to look at the future because we have to let the past go... [Israelis and Palestinians] have such different views about their history. The gap is wider than I thought.

OneVoice: How have you personally witnessed grassroots activism?

Shir: You can see it in the Arab Spring. All the nations are taking responsibility for what is going on in their nation. And you can see it in Israel as well—not regarding the conflict but regarding social rights and social justice. People learn that it’s not just me in this country, but I can make a difference, and I can make a change.

OneVoice: What have you learned after partnering with OneVoice Palestine’s Mohammad Asideh during the Midwest speaking tour?

Shir: I think going with a Palestinian partner, I’ve worked with Palestinians before, but working with a Palestinian for almost 24 hours a day, it made me more understanding toward the Palestinian side.

OneVoice: How did this experience make you more understanding toward the Palestinian side exactly?

Shir: It was because I knew his side about everything. Having the whole story, having the whole story in front of you, with a person you like, a person you know on a personal level, rather than a person you don’t know.

OneVoice: How would achieving peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict impact your life?          

Shir: There would be less money invested in the conflict…More money is going to be invested in things like students. And that would eventually go back to me…On a personal level, I could go to Ramallah. I heard a lot about it. It would be very great to finally be able to go there.  I would love to meet Mohammad Asideh in Nablus. He told me all about the tasty kanafe they have. It is nice to have this option.

OneVoice: What would peace look like for those living in Israel?

Shir: Safety. It is the main thing for people here. You are always scared looking around you. This feeling of paranoia will go away [if peace were achieved].

Shir will join her Palestinian counterpart, Thuraya Aghbar, in leading an International Education Program tour of London from November 5-11.

19-day detainment does not detain Anas’ efforts to know Israelis

Anas Ashqar discusses with Italian tourist, Lorenzo Maguirilli, the Palestinian bid for statehood within the United Nations outside Bethlehem’s Nativity Church.

New York, October 3, 2011—Anas Ashqar had returned from a grueling month of manual labor producing marble in his brother’s stone factory at Barta’a, when he encountered Israeli soldiers at a checkpoint, who confiscated his identification without explanation.

“I was in shock, and I had a weird feeling. Then they told me they were going to arrest me, and I asked why,” said Anas, 27. “I was unafraid because I knew that I was innocent.”

Falsely accused of being affiliated with Islamic Jihad, Anas was handcuffed, blindfolded, and led into a cell where he spent the subsequent days and nights of his 19-day detainment. Tossing and turning on a yellowed mattress worn with the foul stench of mildew, Anas’ only hope during each restless night was the integrity of his innocence. Only after a series of polygraph tests determined his story, Anas was released without apology.

A recent graduate from the Arab American University with a major in English translation, Anas had plans to explore the world and work as a translator in Australia. However, after his detainment, Anas’ movements were restricted for six months whereupon his career opportunity in Australia disintegrated.

Even after such a traumatic encounter, Anas still does not claim any bitterness toward those responsible for his false charges.

“I have nothing against the Israelis because of what happened to me. It happened because of other Palestinian collaborators,” Anas said. “I have nothing against Israel, and I still don’t. I treat people as human beings.”

Anas, who had not been involved in peace efforts before his imprisonment, began his involvement in OneVoice Palestine (OVP) after his longtime friend and roommate, Ahmad Omeir, invited him to an OVP introductory session.

“Anas is the kind of person who is calm and would like to be pragmatic,” said Ahmad. “He was really interested in finding a platform to effect positive change.”

Despite Anas’ distressing detainment, he now knows Israelis as his peers. Anas will be traveling on a New York speaking tour from October 10-20 with Gabi Avner, a OneVoice Israel youth leader, where both will speak on the need for a two-state solution.

“People should hear both narratives from Palestinians and Israelis,” Anas said. “They should know that there are many Palestinians and Israelis on both sides that are willing to live in peace and security and put an end to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

Anas will join his Israeli counterpart, Gabi Avner, in leading an International Education Program tour of New York City from October 10 - 20.

Maryland teenager’s Israeli army service leads him to OneVoice Israel

Gabi Avner encourages the public in OneVoice Israel’s July “Help Bibi” campaign to write suggestions for the Netanyahu administration on what a viable Israeli peace framework should look like.

New York, October 3, 2011—Reporting to the crowded Reichan-Barta'a checkpoint for his call to duty, Gabi Avner scrutinizes the congested flow of spices, ripened produce, and goods that sharply contrasts from the quaint suburbs of his distant hometown in Maryland.

Gabi, 26, who was raised a short distance from the affluence and power of Capitol Hill, grew up with what he describes as “never anything missing.” However, in his life as a high school student wrestling and playing football, the desire to see the place of his heritage grew stronger.

“What drew me to Israel is that I see it as an unfinished project. It’s such a young country, a young endeavor, a work in progress,” said Gabi.

After taking a semester to study abroad in Israel, Gabi never could have anticipated he would live in Israel long term. With such encounters as making plans to visit Café Caffit in Jerusalem the same night a suicide bomber planned an attack, Gabi unexpectedly found American life to be more trying.

“When I found myself back in the US, I missed the feeling of not living amongst my people,” Gabi said. “Identity was never much of an issue in the US, but when you are in a place where day-to-day your identity is an issue, it changes your perspective.

Taking this transformed perspective to Israel, Gabi desired to be what he calls a “full-fledged member of society” and made the life changing commitment of entering into the Israeli army.

For Gabi’s parents this voluntary service did not come as a shock. “I understood that he wanted to be involved and not just somebody on the sidelines. This was the way to do that,” said Phil Avner, Gabi’s father.

During his two and a half years in the army with such responsibilities as patrolling the Lebanon border, conducting night raids and monitoring checkpoints, Gabi began to encounter a Palestinian narrative that led to his current involvement in OneVoice Israel (OVI).

“My time in the army made me realize that we will not come out of this situation through any type of military victory,” said Gabi. “I was proud to serve my country, but I knew at the same time that this was not a situation that I would want for another generation or two.”

Following his service, Gabi partnered with OVI’s campaign for a two-state solution and promoted a more feasible Israeli-Palestinian coexistence to peers from the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya and later the Ben-Gurion University, where he recently completed his master’s degree in the politics of conflict.

“I like that I can work toward my goal of attaining a two-state solution as a proud Israeli Zionist in an organization that recognizes the importance of my identity as an integral part of making peace and not as a barrier to it,” Gabi said.

Gabi will join his Palestinian counterpart, Anas Ashqar, in leading an International Education Program tour of New York City from October 10-20.

Repairing American’s misconceptions about the conflict

By Shaina Low*

Photo Credit: Mustafa Staiti

Halfway through my first week at OneVoice, I told a friend of mine about my new position in the movement. As I explained to him OneVoice’s mission, he asked, “Wait a minute. Who’s occupying who? Are the Israelis occupying the Palestinians, or are the Palestinians occupying the Israelis?” Anthony’s lack of information, I know, is not uncommon among Americans. In talking to him further, I learned he was fearful of trying to find out more about the conflict because it is such an emotional and divisive topic.

While briefly explaining to Anthony the barebones of the 1967 War and the roots of the occupation, I experienced a moment of euphoria when I knew I had chosen the right career path in OneVoice’s International Education Program.

I’ve been passionate about informing others, particularly Americans, about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2008. As an undergraduate student at Columbia University, I participated in a delegation with the Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace (FFIPP) and forty other American and European university students.

FFIPP’s two-month program included an intensive weeklong orientation with visits to Holocaust museums, destroyed Palestinian villages, Kibbutzim, and refugee camps and countless meetings with NGOs and activists. Following this crash course on the conflict, I had the opportunity to intern for four weeks at The Freedom Theatre in Jenin Refugee Camp, and another four weeks at Beit Hagefen Arab-Jewish Center in Haifa.

My experience that summer was life-changing, and many of my preconceived notions about the conflict were shattered. I had traveled to Israel twice in the previous year, but this was my first experience in Palestine, and I was worried of how being Jewish would affect Palestinians’ perceptions of me.

My first day of work at The Freedom Theatre, Mustafa, one of the employees sat down to introduce himself. Within minutes, he cupped his hand around his mouth, as if sharing a dark secret, and whispered to my three fellow interns and me, “Jonatan is Jewish,” (referring to the theatre’s co-founder and manager.) Unsure of how to respond, after hesitating a few seconds, I whispered back, “Me too!” For only a second, an expression of pure surprise crossed Mustafa’s face, before turning to sheepish embarrassment. Instantly, the five of us all burst out laughing. From that moment on, I was open about my religion, and it was never an issue.

American media, particularly in a post-9/11 world, tends to compartmentalize the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into an East versus West paradigm, presenting it as a religious war, driven by unrelenting jihadists battling with “Judeo-Christian values” and conspiring to “throw the Jews into the sea.” In truth, I learned, the conflict is political—two parties arguing over the same strip of land.

Realizing that misinformation and a lack of knowledge were the greatest impediments to widespread US support for resolution, when I returned to Columbia that fall, I made it my priority to reach out and share my newfound knowledge with my peers. By drawing on my personal experience living in both Israel and the West Bank, when challenged I was able to speak authoritatively and confidently about the realities on the ground.

Upon graduating with a degree in political science in May 2010, I returned to Jenin to serve as The Freedom Theatre’s resource development coordinator. Frequent travel in the region resulted in a network of friends that spanned national, religious, and political spectrums—expanding my overall understanding of the conflict.

With the ability to move (relatively) freely between Israel and Palestine, I was consciously aware of my position as an American outsider, and frequently solicited the opinions of Israeli and Palestinian friends, acquaintances, and strangers about what—if any—role America should have in solving the conflict. The responses were varied; some felt that the US exercises too much influence in the region, while others felt that the Obama administration needs to be more forceful in demanding a return to negotiations. Although opinions differed on the amount of authority the US should have in resolving the conflict, almost everyone I spoke to felt that America does have a role. 

When I returned from Jenin, nearly six months ago, I searched for a job that would not only build on my experiences in Israel and Palestine, but also allow me to reach out to American communities and inform them about the conflict. What drew me to OneVoice, specifically IEP, is the opportunity to connect average American citizens and university students with Israeli and Palestinian youth in order to hear their stories firsthand.

I know that Anthony’s question is only the first of many concerning the conflict that I’ll be fielding in my role as IEP associate, and I’m looking forward to sharing with Americans across the religious, ethnic, and political spectrum what I learned about Israel and Palestine and OneVoice’s work in the region.

*Shaina Low is the International Education Program associate. She joined the OneVoice team in mid-August and will be organizing the speaking tour with youth leaders Eyal Shapira and Obada Shtaya in Washington, DC from Sept. 16-23.