OneVoice Movement

Facing the Elephant: Tough but worth it

From left to right: Rabbi Natan Levy, Imam Usama Hasan, OVE’s Education Director and General Manager Sharon Alsoodani, OVE summer programme attendee Ayesha Carmouche, and Canon Robert Reiss discuss UK interfaith relations and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on May 28. Joseph Benedyk also joined the panel via Skype. This is part of a greater conversation that is needed in British communities, according to Alsoodani.

By Sharon Alsoodani*

On May 28, almost one week after the appalling killing of a British soldier in the streets of Woolwich, citizens of London gathered to face an issue that the killer described openly as being part of the motivation for his act of terror.

For the past four years, I have been working with OneVoice to run a programme that deals specifically with the fall-out of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict within UK communities, schools, and universities. I work with organisations such as the Three Faiths Forum and the National Union of Students, who find that interfaith projects intended to help promote good relations are thwarted by an elephant in the room - namely conflict in the Middle East, including Israel-Palestine.

One way to deal with this is to try to ignore or avoid the elephant by agreeing from the outset that interfaith discussions will proceed as if it doesn’t exist. It seems to be a desperate attempt to have dialogue at least at some level because no one really knows how to face it. However, when violence escalates back in the region, any fragile foundation that has been achieved for interfaith relations is quickly smashed again and the respective communities fall back onto their polarised and, in some cases, extreme narratives.

I have worked in schools with a largely Muslim population where a conspiracy theory is rife among the pupils that the Freemasons and various other groups such as the Illuminate are in league with Israel and ‘the Zionists’ in a bid to achieve global domination.

From students with Jewish backgrounds, I have sometimes heard arguments that there is no such thing as the Palestinian people or that on various grounds, Palestinians have forfeited their right to a state of their own.

And through my work with some Christian groups, I have come across some highly partisan positions based on liberation theology on the one hand, or beliefs about the ‘end times’ on the other.

Of course, such ideas are not only to be found among religious communities in the UK, but also exist in the secular, political sphere. I have witnessed Israel-Palestine being turned into a microcosm of our classic left vs. right dichotomies. Each side’s ‘cause’ has been symbolically adopted by certain political groups such as the English Defence League who carry Israeli flags at their rallies, and anti-capitalist protestors who wear Palestinian kafeeyehs during their demonstrations.

Those who promote radical narratives are only able to do so because we, the moderate majority of British people, allow them to get a foothold. We need to be meeting together deliberately to face and talk about this elephant and to do so with as much effort, energy and regularity as the extremists. This is what we did on May 28.

Whatever our differing points of view on Israel-Palestine, the vast majority of our civil society are actually able to unite around two pragmatic principles out of a genuine concern for the people of the Middle East:

1. Any solution must meet the core needs and national aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians.
2. The only feasible solution is one acceptable to a majority of the populations on both sides.

The 40 attendees at the event came from a variety of religious backgrounds and heard about the successes of OneVoice Europe’s Outreach and Education Programme to date. They then engaged in their own dialogue session with a panel that included Rabbi Natan Levy, Imam Usama Hasan, Canon Robert Reiss, and two student participants of OneVoice’s youth leadership summer programme in the UK.

One participant wrote after the event: “I was very moved - very moved - by last night and those who took part. For me there was a profound honesty, a refreshing and very powerful simplicity and modesty in talking to us through their choice of thoughts and ideas. Real courage.”

This event is a model that we will continue to apply in UK communities, and I would like to encourage all groups involved in interfaith dialogue to take courage and face the elephant. For facilitation and support in holding such an event, please contact me: [email protected]

*Sharon Alsoodani is the Education Director and General Manager for OneVoice Europe.

Video highlights from "Time To Lead: A Blueprint for The Middle East"

Video highlights from OneVoice's panel event at 92Y entitled, "Time To Lead: A Blueprint for The Middle East."

Actor Jason Alexander, ASMA Executive Director Daisy Khan, Ambassador Dennis Ross, and OneVoice co-founder Daniel Lubetzky spoke at the event. The panel discussed the challenges and opportunities facing the peace process, and how collaboration between these sectors can provide new opportunities to move the Israeli-Palestinian process forward. Rabbi Jennifer Krause moderated.

 

Video courtesy of 92Y.

OneVoice Israel and MKs launch biggest caucus in Knesset

Deputy Foreign Minister Elkin (Likud-Beytenu), speaking, at the Caucus launch. Seated from right to left: Tal Harris (Executive Director of OVI), Israeli Peace Initiative co-founder Koby Huberman, Lord John Alderdice, Binyamin Ben Eliezer (Labor), Hilik Bar (Caucus Chair, Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, and General Secretary of the Labor Party), and Itzik Moshe (President of Georgia-Israel Chamber of Commerce). Photo by Hadas Grinvald.

Click here to read OneVoice Israel Executive Director Tal Harris’ op-ed in The Daily Beast

Representatives of OneVoice Israel (OVI) and members of the Israeli Knesset convened in Jerusalem yesterday to launch the largest caucus in the 19^th Knesset: the Caucus to Promote Resolution of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, which calls for two states now.

Forty (40) Members of the Knesset (MKs) joined the Caucus, representing the Israeli political spectrum – drawn from both the governing parties as well as the opposition. The Caucus and representatives of Israel’s civil society assembled in the Knesset to debate the Arab Peace Initiative (API) and examine what opportunities might exist for restarting long-stalled talks with the Palestinians.

OVI helped attract an overflow crowd of over 500 people from all across Israel to the Caucus’ inauguration. Attendees were eager to ask the assembled MKs what they were actively doing to garner Israeli government support for the API.
 
Caucus Chair, MK Hilik Bar (Labor), opened the proceedings by declaring that ignoring the API was not an option.
 
“The Israeli government hasn't responded positively, nor has it responded negatively. The fact is that it hasn't responded at all. Every Arab and Muslim state supports this historic initiative, yet we remain silent for over a decade.”
 
[For a more fully fleshed out record of the various MKs remarks, please read the Jerusalem Post article here]
 
Addressing the hundreds of people who had assembled in the Knesset, Tal Harris, OVI's Executive Director said:
 
“What we assume is that there is a moderate majority in Israel and Palestine. Around 70% in both societies support a two-state solution, and this 70% ask themselves two questions: is it possible, and is it urgent? In Israel, unfortunately, many don’t feel the urgency. But they should. Time is running out. Regarding ‘is it possible?’ the re-affirmation of the API -- as well as 500 citizens here today calling for it to be engaged with -- should paint a very clear picture.”
 
Scores of OneVoice activists from around the country followed the event with a rally in Jerusalem’s Zion Square, calling on Netanyahu to engage with the API, and urging fellow Israelis to write on his Facebook Wall in order to ensure the message was received, loud and clear.

Women of Influence: Communication skills and strategic planning

Women of Influence communication skills and strategic planning session with Dr. Saker Jundya.

“If you can’t understand yourself, you won’t be able to express your mind and thus deliver your message to others.”

Wise words from Dr. Saker Jundya, a veteran trainer and management expert who led the second training session for OneVoice’s Women of Influence (WOI) project in Palestine.

OneVoice Palestine (OVP) hosted the three-day seminar in Ramallah on May 16-18, focusing on communication skills and strategic planning with Dr. Jundya. Twenty-three young women from five different cities in the West Bank were united by their desire for knowledge and the quest to improve the quality of life for their families and communities.

“Communication skills are rather vital for self-improvement,” said OVP project manager and WOI organizer, Malaka Samara. “Through the training, we will offer these young women the tools to be dynamic members within their own societies through non-violent activities, while taking a role in state building.”

During their coffee break, the young women were immersed in the discussions they had earlier with Dr. Jundya. “You can’t achieve if you don’t have a goal, and in order for you to reach this goal, you need to have a plan,” he explained. “Goals must be smart. They should be specific, measurable, achievable and, above all, realistic.” 

The WOI candidates contemplated those words, which stayed fresh in their minds as they broke into groups for a small exercise. The women were tasked to implement these concepts and come up with creative ideas to improve the quality of life for all women in Palestine.

The flow of ideas continued throughout the lunch break. The participants swapped stories and shared personal experiences from their communities. One could clearly notice through the way the young women observed and reacted to each other’s experiences that the training meant something to them beyond what the day’s activities provided on paper.

“It is very important to accept the other,” said Fadya of Hebron as she practiced positive communication through building mutual trust in her group. “Self-control is a challenge, especially when the reaction you receive can be negative and in some cases rather insulting.”

Even toward the end of that training session, the discussion was still very much alive. The women cheered and motivated each other, and they inspired one another, looking forward to tomorrow’s session.

OneVoice invests in the grassroots: the people. The challenge was and is to create a group of strong, ambitious young Palestinian women with abilities to make positive changes in their communities. The groups of young women in the WOI program today have proven to be nothing less but energetic, self-empowered Palestinian women with a desire for a social change.

British communities to face "The Elephant in the Room" on May 28

Every summer, OneVoice holds a residential program for university students in London, which includes those who have just completed their A-levels and are about to go to university for the first time.

The course involves talks and workshops from politicians, religious leaders, university lecturers, and ordinary Israelis and Palestinians, covering topics around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict such as: the role of religion, the role of the US, EU, and UN, history and narratives of the conflict, economics and the conflict, potential solutions for the conflict, plus training in public speaking and debating skills.

             

In a promotional event on May 28, British community members are invited to find out more about how the young participants of this program have achieved something that is so elusive in interfaith relations – a constructive discussion about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Without seeking to agree, the students embark together on a program that so deeply engages them in the complexities of the issue that polarized black and white narratives actually become impossible to maintain.

Three speakers from the Abrahamic faiths: Imam Usama Hasan, Rabbi Natan Levy, and Canon Robert Reiss will join the panel for the event, which is expected to bring a ray of hope to an area of inter-communal dialogue that adults and young people alike normally fear and avoid.

To attend "The Elephant in the Room" or for more information, please contact Sharon Alsoodani: [email protected].

OneVoice gathers EU support in Brussels and Ramallah

Andreas Reinicke, European Union Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, along with the EU delegation, met with OneVoice Palestine in Ramallah May 7.

In a week where the United States started a new push for Mid-East peace, OneVoice sought to ensure another big player - the European Union – stepped up to play its role. 

On May 7, while OneVoice Europe (OVE) staff were in Brussels gathering support from politicians, OneVoice Palestine (OVP) youth leaders in Ramallah were paid a visit by Dr. Andreas Reinicke, the EU’s Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process.

Dr. Reinicke –  appointed by the EU to push for a two-state solution – chose OVP as the first civil society representatives he has met in the West Bank. In an hour-and-half-long discussion, Reinicke and OVP youth leaders seized the opportunity to quiz one another on the status of the two-state solution.

Reinicke wanted the view from the grassroots: what do Palestinian youth think of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s new peace plan? 

“The economic path to peace is good, but it must be followed by a very serious effort on the political level,” said Mohammed Asideh, OVP's field coordinator and senior youth leader. 

While Reinicke said he agreed, Samer Makhlouf, OVP’s executive director, wanted to underscore this point.

“Palestinians need a guarantee that Kerry is talking about real peace - and an end to the occupation - not just economic peace,” he said.

Dr. Reinicke was also keen to know what Palestinians want from the EU.  The youth leaders in the room had a long shopping list for Reinicke – more consensus across EU states that the occupation should end now; more pressure on the US to be a truly neutral mediator; a more visible role in negotiations by the EU itself; and for the EU to set the parameters of the peace process, based on the Arab Peace Initiative and international law.

As the meeting ended, Dr. Reinicke thanked OVP for its time and efforts in Palestine.

''It was a pleasure meeting all of you today," he told OVP. "I have written down some notes and I assure you your inputs were very valuable."

Meanwhile in Brussels, OVE was meeting MEPs from across the political spectrum – Greens, Socialists, and Conservatives – to garner support for OneVoice’s work in Israel and Palestine. Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP, former president of the European Parliament and a supporter of the movement since he hosted OneVoice youth leaders at a session of the Parliament, reiterated his support for OneVoice to keep pushing the political leaders toward ending the conflict.

John Lyndon, OVE’s Executive Director, and Anthony Silkoff, OVE’s Advocacy Coordinator, were told by Pöttering they could count on his support to increase momentum toward a two-state solution now, before it becomes too late.

OneVoice Europe Executive Director John Lyndon (left) and Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator Anthony Silkoff (right) with Dr. Hans-Gert Pöttering MEP, former president of the European Parliament, in Brussels.

OneVoice youth leaders showcase women’s activism on IEP tour

OVI’s Elanit Green addresses Religion, Empowerment, and the Role of Women in Nationalist Movements class at Yale University as Dr. Sallama Shaker and OVP’s Malaka Samara listen on.

It wasn’t that long ago when Malaka Samara’s family members were jailed or killed during the Palestinian intifadas. It also wasn’t that long ago when Elanit Green’s mother was at the sight of a suicide attack in southern Israel and neither knew each other’s fate.

Notwithstanding difficulties in living amidst the Second Intifada and beyond, these two women displayed some of the strongest mental fortitude and determination seen among their peers when they decided for themselves that the status quo – occupation, violence, and paralyzing fear – is not what they want to live with.

From April 8-16, Malaka, 35, and Elanit, 26, told their stories and shared their roles as peace activists to over 600 audience members in New York City and Southern California. While the tour spanned about 3,000 miles and encompassed over 20 events of varying diversity, both women managed to bring a sense of the familiar, a sense of what it’s like for women to work for peace in Israel and Palestine.

Malaka spoke about the difficulties of living under occupation—restrictions in movement, lack of economic opportunity, and confiscations of Palestinian land. Elanit described the current reality in Israel – since most Israelis do not feel the conflict on a daily basis, many have become indifferent to solving the conflict and fear changing the status quo.

Standing crisply at the podium to scan her American audience, Malaka introduced Women of Influence, the new program she is leading in OneVoice Palestine.

“I started Women of Influence because I think that it’s important for every Palestinian to take an action to end the occupation, and women are some of the most important Palestinian citizens you can imagine,” she explained. “They are mothers, they are wives, they are sisters, and they are daughters. And in every household you’ll find a woman. They educate the new generation, the future leaders. If they are not aware of the political situation they are not able to make the necessary improvements in our community.”

OneVoice has offered opportunities not only for resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but also for progress on social and political issues facing the Israeli and Palestinian societies. For Malaka, it is highlighting the importance of empowering women leaders in Palestine to work to end the occupation. For Elanit, who is politically active on and off Ben Gurion University’s campus, it is voicing the connection between the social justice issues inside the Green Line and government spending on settlements that keep the occupation in place.

“[What was missing from the social justice protests in 2011 was that] all of the power and energy behind the protests didn’t have a political link and Israelis didn’t ask where the money was going,” Elanit explained. “We haven’t had any negotiations for years now, and we’re frozen in our political situation.

“So in 2012, OneVoice pointed on those links that were missing and tried to connect the economic situation to the fact that we’re frozen in negotiations,” she continued. “We’re spending so much on security and settlement expansion. OneVoice tried to create the link and say that because we’re frozen in negotiations is part of the reason why we’re having so many economic problems. We need to freeze the settlements to unfreeze the negotiations.”

The two speakers came to the U.S. not only to share with American audiences their experiences and efforts, but also to engage the various communities in the U.S. toward peacebuilding, which ignited discussion on universal women’s empowerment.

In New York, Malaka and Elanit took part in a women’s NGO meeting at the United Nations, addressed progressive rabbinical students at Yeshiva Chovevei Torah, networked with young professionals, and reached out to students at Fordham Business School, New York University, Columbia, and nearby Bard and Yale.

Malaka and Elanit also traveled to Southern California, where they spoke at two events hosted by the Islamic Center of Southern California, as well as with J Street Young Professionals and students at Occidental and Santa Monica Colleges, University of Southern California, University of California-Irvine, and California State University-Long Beach.

Elanit and Malaka, now home in their respective communities, will continue to push for an end to the occupation and advocate for the two-state solution. If the memories of their difficulties surface again, as they often can, these young women will take comfort in knowing their present work will make the future a better place for their peoples.

Malaka Samara addresses UC Irvine’s conflict resolution class.

Elanit Green addresses an anthropology class at Santa Monica College.