OneVoice Movement

OVI’s Roundtable Peace Initiative – A Youth Leader’s Perspective

Roundtable participants take part in discussions in Tel Aviv on Sunday, June 23.

By Mattan Peretz*

On Sunday, I attended a political event that was a bit different than what I was used to as a youth leader with OneVoice Israel.

It wasn’t a demonstration in a square or protest outside the prime minister’s office. It wasn’t a lecture on a university campus or debate with representatives from across the political spectrum.

It wasn’t a community tour or an information booth to collect some signatures.

I attended an intriguing event that stood out to me as unique. The mass event – the Roundtable Peace Initiative – was attended by Israelis gathered in 11 cities and seated at 70 roundtables to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

At the center of each table sat Knesset members, journalists, security personnel, and people who invested the best years of their lives working on this political issue. There were also leaders of various peace organizations – 20 total – that co-hosted with OneVoice. Although we have different modes of action, we work toward similar goals, and coming together for this was a great experience.

The politicians, peace groups, and other officials were not the real centers of the discussions, however. The most significant aspect of the event was the participation of the general public – close to 2,000 Israelis – who decided to come and speak their minds.

It was not the type of event where the audience sat passively by or a spectator from time to time asked a question, which may or may not be answered.

At this event, each and every person who stood or sat around a table had a chance to ask, to attack, to challenge, agree, and/or disagree.

Guest speakers could not satisfy the crowds with short answers, or try to escape the stage and divert the discussion to a subject more convenient and easy when talks became heated.

The participants remained seated at the tables until the streetlights went on around ​​Beit Ariela (a Tel Aviv library) in an attempt to continue to provide answers to an eager public as night approached, and the political issues remained the center of public debates around dozens of tables.

Not every table discussion was the same: some were comprised of young people talking quietly and others had more intense debates. Participants moved from table to table, jumping in for a moment to hear and exchange a few words with the speakers and the public, while others sat together for hours, waiting to reach a conclusive resolution and end the discussion.

Although a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not reached at these tables, we did agree that the best ways to get out of the political stalemate are through dialogue, discussion, and negotiation.

But one may ask in response, “Negotiate? With whom?”

The answer is, “At first…ourselves.”

*Mattan Peretz is a youth leader in the Jerusalem Chapter of OneVoice Israel.

Women’s Issues Take Center Stage on Capitol Hill

OneVoice’s Rachel Steinberg moderates a panel discussion about women's human rights issues and women’s roles in promoting peace in Israel and Palestine on Capitol Hill June 4. Photo courtesy of Congresswoman Johnson's office. 

By Rachel Steinberg*

History has shown that the viability of peace agreements is an uphill battle - nearly half fail within their first decade of being signed. Faced with this daunting statistic, conflict resolution theorists and practitioners are tasked with hypothesizing around how to ensure a sustainable, lasting peace. Many draw the same conclusion: a framework for sustainable peace must include women in the process.

On Tuesday, June 4, I moderated a panel on Capitol Hill entitled, “Moving Forward: Addressing Challenges to Promoting Israeli-Palestinian Peace.” The panel discussion, hosted by Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson, focused on challenges to women’s rights and empowerment in Israel and Palestine and the effect these challenges have on the peace process. I was honored to be invited to moderate amongst a distinguished group of speakers: Salwa Duaibis (Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling, Ramallah), Lior Finkel (Israeli Director, Peace NGO Forum), Tania Hary (Gisha), and Betty Herschman (Ir Amim).

Congresswoman Johnson began the “A World of Women for World Peace” initiative in 2001 to bring greater visibility to the women who are victims of war and aggression and the women who facilitate peacemaking, peacekeeping, and peacebuilding activities in their communities.

As I prepared for this panel, at the forefront of my mind was the theory that more inclusive peace processes have a significantly increased chance of resulting in long-term sustainable peace. I know this not only because I am a conflict resolution practitioner, but because this is a guiding principal of OneVoice’s work to empower average Israelis and Palestinians to play a role in building peace and take an active role in the peace process.

Further, OneVoice works to engage marginalized parts of Israeli and Palestinian societies. This is evident in OneVoice Palestine’s Women of Influence training program, designed to empower, inspire, and activate Palestinian women to be business, civic, and political leaders, as well as to play an active leadership role in OneVoice’s efforts to end the occupation and achieve the two-state solution.

I felt the significance of this program as the panelists highlighted some of the unique challenges and violations of rights that women face in Israel and Palestine. They spoke about the challenges that the occupation and conflict impact, including access to education, family, healthcare, and politics; further, these issues greatly impact women.

Tania Hary also focused on the restrictions of movement for Gazans that prevent women from advancing their education and from being able to run businesses, and Salwa Duaibis pointed out that the biggest challenge women in the West Bank face to addressing their rights are the many and complex legal systems that prevent justice around issues like custody of children and violence against women.

As a result of these challenges and many others across Israel and Palestine, there is also a lack of women’s voices in positions of leadership. These organizations work to address these issues through education (local and international) about rights and violations, advocacy, legal aid, and service provision. I was incredibly inspired by the work that these organizations do not only on behalf of women, but on behalf of the societies as a whole.

I was struck by the panelists repeatedly pointing out the disproportionate effect that prolonged occupation and conflict have on women (and children). A common thread that several of the panelists raised was the fact that women are in a vulnerable position regarding violations of rights as a result of settlement expansion, which inhibits progress toward the two-state solution, and the resulting tension, violence, lack of service provision, and deterioration of socioeconomic opportunities.

To me, this points all the more to the need for women to have a voice in society AND at the negotiating table, both to address their unique needs and to speak on behalf of their societies as a whole. I’m proud that women are at the forefront of OneVoice Israel and OneVoice Palestine’s political activism to halt the growth of these negative facts and the ground and to end the conflict, as leaders and participants.

I was encouraged by something that Betty Hirschman pointed out - while there is still a long way to go to improve the human rights conditions of women, in this past January’s Israeli elections, there were more women elected to progressive parties than ever before. As a result, there is increasingly fertile ground for results to come from advocacy on issues impacting women.

Additionally, as Lior Finkel mentioned, in the last round of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations there were only two women in key positions in the negotiating teams - Hanan Ashrawi and Tzipi Livni. I believe that the empowerment OneVoice and the other organizations represented on the panel provides young women, as well as these positive steps within institutions, can change that level of representation as long as we all embrace our responsibility to push for them.

It was incredibly important for me to take part in such a conversation on Capitol Hill, to ensure that this discussion reached not only the ears of American citizens but also that of American decision makers. As the American policymaking community focuses its efforts on reviving the negotiations process, it is the responsibilities of all stakeholders to hear these messages and ensure that women have a seat at the table.

*Rachel Steinberg is the International Engagement Program Director at OneVoice.

Panelists (left to right) Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (organizer), Salwa Duaibis, Tania Hary, and Betty Herschman, with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky. Photo courtesy of Congresswoman Johnson's office. 

In Queens, high school students create ads for Israeli-Palestinian peace

One of the ads on display at The Young Women’s Leadership School in Astoria, Queens. Click on the image to view them all.

*By Shaina Low

Last month, I had the pleasure of visiting The Young Women’s Leadership School, an all-girls junior and senior high school in Astoria, Queens. I was invited by 10th grade world history teacher, Zander Lyvers. Zander and his students were in in the midst of a unit on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and he was in search of organizations working on conflict resolution that would share their work and also take the time to view and learn about the students’ projects.

Their unit began by looking at the inflammatory Islamophobic advertisements Pamela Geller’s American Freedom Defense Initiative placed in the New York City subways last fall. As a project-based school, Zander assigned the students to research the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and create their own advertisements that promote peace and reconciliation. In addition to creating the visual ads, students were required to conduct research on the conflict and complete proposals detailing their ad’s objective, target audience, and the issue that it was attempting to overcome.

During my visit, I had the opportunity to view slideshows of all the students’ projects and meet with pairs of students to learn more about the motivation and inspiration behind their designs. One recurring theme throughout the projects was a criticism of international intervention that is not directly accountable to the needs and interests of Israelis and Palestinians. One advertisement depicted early 20^th century British diplomat Henry McMahon as a puppeteer controlling Arab and Jewish leaders, implying that the conflict in the Middle East was one driven by Western interests.

A personal favorite was a reinterpretation of British graffiti artist Banksy’s “Balloon Girl” (see the image above). The young girl’s body is superimposed with the Israeli and Palestinian flags, and she is grasping a bunch of balloons. Each of her balloons has the flag of a foreign country. In the student’s view, these foreign nations have played a role in perpetuating or prolonging the conflict, rather than helping Israelis and Palestinians meet their needs and interests.

Encouraging Israelis and Palestinians to be less reliant on international involvement and to take responsibility for ending the conflict, the poster includes a quote from German writer Hermann Hesse which reads, “Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go.” This message, in particular, resonates with OneVoice’s message to empower ordinary Israelis and Palestinians to establish their own roles in conflict resolution, and without forgetting the past, find productive ways to move forward to ensure better futures for both societies.

During each of Zander’s three classes, I connected the students’ work with OneVoice’s by describing various OneVoice campaigns including OneVoice Israel’s headlines competition and OneVoice Palestine’s mural initiatives, both of which used advertising and mass media to promote the two-state solution. The students’ questions ranged from wanting to learn more about the challenges we face on the ground in Israel and in Palestine, to learning more about OneVoice’s unique focus on empowering youth to be change-makers and leaders in Israeli and Palestinian societies.

In each class, students asked about their own role and what they could do as New York City teenagers to make a difference and promote peace in the region. In our ensuing discussion, we brainstormed ways for them to get engaged—whether it is educating their families or peers about the conflict by screening a documentary or hosting a forum, meeting with their elected officials and telling them that the resolving the conflict should be a greater priority, or starting or joining club that is working toward conflict resolution.

Through IEP tours, I have visited countless university and high school classrooms across the county. In my experience, teachers often find it difficult to teach a unit on such an expansive, polarizing subject that covers over a century of history and simultaneously demonstrate the impact of the conflict on American foreign and domestic policy. Zander’s untraditional approach impressed me; not only were students able to see how the conflict directly influences discourse here in the United States, they were challenged to find creative ways to promote a peaceful resolution.

*Shaina Low is OneVoice’s International Engagement Program Associate.

Exhibition in Hebron displays historic accounts of Israeli occupation

Dr. Masri, with Dean Dr. Abu Louha and OneVoice Palestine executive director Samer Makhlouf view gallery submissions.

On June 12, 2013, OneVoice Palestine’s (OVP) Hebron youth activists co-hosted an art gallery marking the historic event of Al Naksa, also known as the 1967 or Six-Day War, in coordination with the Dean of Al-Aroub College, Dr. Muheib Abu Louha, and the Al-Aroub Students’ Council.

The gallery, entitled "Historical Account of the Bitterness of the Israeli Occupation," was the first of its kind at the college. The students contributed a number of Palestinian heritage pieces reflecting on historical struggle of the Palestinian people, beginning with photos from Al Nakba and ending with reflections of the future state, emphasizing the harsh reality of the Israeli occupation. About 90 participants from the college, Hebron, and neighboring towns took part in the gallery.

The students explained that the gallery embodied the daily suffering and tragedies of the Palestinian people caused by the occupation and settlement expansion in the West Bank.

OVP Board Member, Dr. Mohammed Al-Masri, along with Dean Abu Louha and Executive Director of OVP, Samer Makhlouf, inaugurated the event after receiving a big standing ovation from the students of Al-Aroub.

Makhlouf expressed his eagerness to work with the volunteers and college students, stressing the role of Palestinian youth in this physical and intellectual struggle with the Israeli occupation.

“The occupation continues to steal our beliefs and dreams of an independent Palestinian state,” said Makhlouf. “OVP and our volunteers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip will continue the road of state building and peacefully ending the Israeli occupation throughout all our activities.”

The students stressed the need for the youth to recall Palestinian historical events that have had the greatest impact in shaping the overall picture of the conflict in the region. They argue that these historical events are of great value in shaping the future of the independent state. It creates a vision of what is important and what is not through looking back at key moments in Palestinian history. The volunteers also expressed their thanks to OneVoice for the trust given to them to organize the exhibition, in hope that it gave visitors a bold picture of Palestinian history through the occupation.

Local villagers also participated in the event at Al-Aroub.

Despite appearances, two-state solution makes headway in Israeli and British parliaments

Youth Leaders Ofek Arieli, left, and Maya Peretz, Jerusalem Regional Coordinator, collect Facebook "Wall" posts in Zion Square after the Caucus launch on May 20.

By Anthony Silkoff*

Back in February, I was in the lofty gallery of the House of Lords as members heaped praise on the activists of OneVoice Palestine and OneVoice Israel, who work tirelessly to revive a two-state solution. Three months later, I traveled to a very different parliament – the Israeli Knesset – to see OneVoice Israel doing just that. 

The Knesset is now in its 19^th session, and like most national parliaments, it has caucuses – or lobbies – made up of its members. Until OneVoice established a two-state solution caucus in the 18^th Knesset, there had never been one, and the largest caucus was advocating for "Greater Israel," pushing for the annexation of the West Bank. On May 20, OneVoice’s Caucus for Ending the Israeli-Arab Conflict launched, and this time it is the biggest caucus in the Knesset, demonstrating the growth of OneVoice’s parliamentary outreach and an increased support for two states in the Knesset.

The differences between the brash, modern Knesset, and the genteel, antique House of Lords couldn’t be starker, even from the outside. From certain angles, the concrete-pillared Knesset looks positively Soviet, while the neo-gothic spires of the Lords give it the whiff of a bygone era. 

On the inside, Knesset members have no time for the formal etiquette demonstrated by the House of Lords. Indeed, the heckling, name-calling, and general fracas of the Knesset got so bad a few years ago that incoming MKs were subject to a five-hour course on how to behave in the chamber.

So, as I joined 500 onlookers in a packed Knesset auditorium, there was plenty of cheering, booing, applause, and heckling at various points as MKs lined up one after the other to forcefully criticize their government’s response – or rather, lack of one – to the Arab Peace Initiative (API).  

Former police investigator Moshe Mizrahi, now a Labor MK, got the crowd cheering with his visionary statement that the API could, if seized, benefit the children of Israelis, and their children’s children. Zahava Galon (MK for Meretz) struck a chord too, as she told the audience that PM Benjamin Netanyahu was foolish for ignoring the API.

It wasn’t only MKs from the traditional ‘left’ who made this case. One of the most striking speeches of the day came from Yitzhak Cohen, of the ultra-orthodox Shas party. Cohen told those assembled that the API was good for Israel, and invoked an ancient Greek legend to compel Netanyahu to “turn every rock” to achieve peace.

However, booing followed the contribution of Ze’ev Elkin, who is not a member of OneVoice’s caucus, but the Deputy Foreign Minister. Elkin, of the Likud party, gave the government’s position and a list of excuses for why the API should be ignored, for example the “mentality of the Arabs.” The more he spoke, the more excuses poured out, the more he was heckled.

While booing and heckling don’t sound very polite, I believe they are – in Israel, at least – the sound of progress. Here in the UK, there is often talk of disconnect between voters (or non-voters) and the politicians who are supposed to represent them. In Israel, where there is no constituency system, this disconnect is even more obvious; there are few, if any, chances for citizens to hold their representatives to account. OneVoice Israel is bridging this gap with events like this, where the voters are able to question – and heckle, when necessary – their representatives. 

Back in Europe, the role of supporters of OneVoice should be to capitalize on this momentum. Finally, the two-state-willing majority of Israelis is represented in a strong Knesset lobby and the task now is to translate this will into real political action to end the conflict and end the occupation of Palestinian lands.

By uniting members of the Knesset with the Israeli grassroots, uniting Palestinian Authority members with the Palestinian grassroots – and uniting both with members of parliaments and publics across Europe – the call for two states will be even more powerful.

*Anthony Silkoff is OneVoice Europe’s Advocacy and Outreach Coordinator.