OVP Executive Director Samer Makhlouf (center) tells the POMED audience about Palestinian nonviolent activities to resist the occupation.
By Tamar Schneck*
“The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind, at the same time, and still retain the ability to function,” said Mark Rosenblum, director of the Queens College Center for Ethnic, Racial and Religious Understanding, quoting F. Scott Fitzgerald.
Introducing OneVoice to the audience at the October 8 event at Queens College, Rosenblum explained that, to him, the quote means one should be able to see things that are hopeless and be determined to act otherwise. The audience, an eclectic mix of student groups from political, faith, and social justice organizations, listened attentively. This theme was repeated in presentations from OneVoice Israel Executive Director Tal Harris and OneVoice Palestine Executive Director Samer Makhlouf throughout the Washington, D.C. tour three weeks ago.
The tour kicked off at the J Street Conference on September 29 where Makhlouf and Harris spoke about OVP’s and OVI’s tireless work in challenging the hopelessness on the ground and inspire the Palestinian and Israeli peoples to support negotiations and look forward to a time of peace. Combined, Makhlouf and Harris were able to speak to nearly 3,000 people in just two sessions that day.
On October 2, at the Project on Middle East Democracy (POMED), Makhlouf explained the disillusionment of the Palestinian people, caused by the negative facts on the ground, such as settlement expansion. OVP works to combat this sentiment by acting nonviolently to fight against the injustice of the occupation and to create positive facts on the ground. He emphasized a recent event in which OVP mobilized hundreds of Palestinian activists to plant trees in an area east of Bethlehem to prevent Israeli land confiscation there.
Makhlouf explained that through nonviolent activism, such as the tree-planting, “we plant hope in peoples’ minds and hearts…this kind of activism shifts people from being negative and hopeless to being positive and full of hope.”
OVP also works to challenge people to think about the aftermath of negotiations. If they fail, what are the alternatives and next steps, and if they succeed, what happens the day after? Asking these tough questions can prompt a nationwide conversation.
OneVoice Israel faces similar challenges: after 20 years of peace talks that yielded very limited progress, people are dismissive and skeptical about the renewed peace talks.
To reach the apathetic and instigate the public’s interest, OVI seeks to amplify the voice of moderates in campuses and youth centers. These voices foster a constructive conversation around negotiations and focus on the positive effects of peace rippling beyond the immediate, opening up the entire Arab and Muslim world to Israelis for security cooperation, business, and travel. This voice must also be translated into direct support for negotiators to take the necessary bold steps, added Harris. It must also pressure decision makers to reject the pressures of spoilers such as the Yesha Council and the settlement lobby.
Although the negotiation room is filled with politicians, the voice of the youth in both Israel and Palestine is integral to ensuring the possibility of implementing an agreement.
Both Harris and Makhlouf emphasized that Americans, too, should proactively support negotiations in the face of hopelessness by reminding their politicians that Israeli-Palestinian peace is vital to American interests.
“We need you...Peace will be an image made up of a lot of pixels, and we can only aspire to be one bright pixel in that picture,” Harris said. “But we cannot take ownership of the entire outcome. It’s a collaborative effort.”
*Tamar Schneck is the Fall 2013 IEP intern.
Harris, left, and Makhlouf, right, address the Queens College (NY) students at their October 8 event.
A student asks a question at the diverse Queens College event.
Comments