Mayor Teresa Isaac speaks to members of the Women of Influence program at OVP in Ramallah.
As the eyes of the world put the secretive Israeli-Palestinian negotiations under a microscope, dissecting, analyzing, and predicting outcomes based on the failures of the past, the dedication by the grassroots gets overshadowed time and again.
OneVoice activists are helping to break this mold. They are underscoring the importance of these negotiations while providing their own peoples – Israeli and Palestine, male and female – with a platform for bold words and actions of support, making civil society a critical player in the outcome of a just two-state solution.
OneVoice Palestine (OVP) has already gained the recognition of two very important yet disparate internationals earlier this month who see the value in the work of our youth leaders.
Andreas Reinicke, the European Union’s Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process, met with OVP in Ramallah on October 8. This was Reinicke’s second visit to OVP’s offices this year and highlighted the ongoing and future campaigns that OVP will run in support of the Palestinian leadership at the negotiating table.
“There is a need to create a positive discussion around the talks and to utilize the media – social and traditional – to create support and personal responsibility to end the occupation,” said OVP Executive Director Samer Makhlouf. “We will be leading several activities in the next few months to bridge the gap between the leadership and the public in Palestine in order to explain the benefits of negotiations as a means to gain rights, not to lose them, and the options moving forward depending on the outcome.”
The following day, former Lexington, Kentucky (USA) Mayor Teresa Isaac visited OVP in coordination with the U.S. Consulate in Jerusalem. Isaac currently works as a consultant for the U.S. Department of State as a trainer for mayors and police chiefs, runs her own law firm, and teaches at Midway College. She not only wished to share her experience as a woman in a leadership position, but also about women empowerment programs in the U.S.
Isaac told the group about her experience studying law at the University of Kentucky and empowering women in her society to take leading roles in their communities. She also shared her experience during the years she served in office and the challenges she encountered trying to provide equal services for all citizens in Lexington.
The OVP team briefed Isaac on the work they are doing around negotiations, but similarly shifted the discussion to women’s issues. OVP youth leaders and other attendees were eager to share the challenges they encounter every day. Patriarchy, coupled with access to education, were the primary challenges to female empowerment in Palestine, the youth leaders told Isaac. A few shared individual stories about their struggle to take leading roles in the political scene in Salfeet and Nablus. They explained that they are trying to provide services for the community and encourage other women to speak up for equal rights.
Nisreen Shahin, executive director of the PeaceWorks Foundation in Palestine, was also present and thought the meeting with Isaac had a great impact on those in attendance.
“I noticed that the women who were invited by OVP were very passionate to hear about the experience of powerful women in a leadership positions,” she explained. “Local and international role models, such as successful women in politics and business coming to share their experience and lessons with young Palestinian women can have an immediate impact with inspiring results, even more so than training.”
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