Members of the Palestinian Security Forces, community members, and OVP youth leaders in Hebron.
OneVoice Palestine’s (OVP) community is fully engaged in supporting state building in Palestine, and it’s catching the attention of respected organizations.
On August 22, OVP co-sponsored a public meeting with the Palestinian Center for Research and Strategic Studies (PCRSS) to discuss a national security law proposal in Hebron.
Over 60 members of the security forces and community leaders discussed the law proposal entitled, “Developing Modern Legislation for the Palestinian National Security Forces.” It is dedicated to promoting and facilitating the structuring of civil-military relations in accordance with fundamental democratic principles.
Director of PCRSS, Dr. Mohammad Almasri, took the stage and explained to the audience the benefits of creating a legislative law for the Palestinian Security Forces. He said that the importance of such projects comes from its promotion of democracy and human rights through developing legislation for the security sector in Palestine.
OVP supports state building on such principles.
OVP's Executive Director, Samer Makhlouf, and the youth leadership Program Director, Abdallah Hamarsheh, attended the meeting with a significant portion of OneVoice's chapter in Hebron.
Similar to OVP's public meetings program, the event aimed to connect and engage Palestinian leadership with local communities to create a valid discussion over democracy in Palestine and transparency of legislation through public engagement.
“We believe in promoting the culture of democracy in Palestine,” said Dr. Almasri, “and by engaging the public with community leaders and decision makers, we can create a culture of debate that enhances democracy among public and private sectors and ultimately contribute to state building in Palestine.”
Democracy and legislation were not the only subjects discussed during the event. Makhlouf took the opportunity to speak to the current negotiations while promoting positive participation in supporting the Palestinian leadership’s efforts to achieve peace.
“The feedback we received can easily be described as hopeless,” said Makhlouf. “The general mood among the participants is skepticism and apathy, but we need to continue working to achieve an end to the occupation and the conflict.”
Makhlouf explained how vital these talks are to the lives of Palestinians: "We need to move forward and focus on building our independent state. Ending the occupation and the conflict are a priority, but it has to be in accordance with international resolutions for Palestinians to fully embrace their rights.”
A negotiations update: The Palestinian leadership attended a meeting with Israeli officials on September 2 despite the recent events in Qalandia refugee camp. Three Palestinians were killed by the Israeli military, while settlement expansion announcements continue, particularly in Area C near East Jerusalem. Despite all of this, the Palestinian leadership continues to show a huge commitment to ending this conflict. The skepticism among Palestinians is growing around the reality of a viable comprehensive peace agreement, but the work of OVP remains in installing hope and building consensus among Palestinians to continue supporting viable talks based on the 1967 borders and international resolutions.
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