OneVoice Palestine is taking to the streets of the West Bank and Gaza to bolster support for the peace process by emphasizing that everyday Palestinians have a part to play in ending the occupation and establishing an independent state.
The “Wake Up! What is Your Role?” campaign, launched last year in the midst of the U.S.-led negotiations spear-headed by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, is energizing the centrist Palestinian mainstream to take their future into their own hands and support the Palestinian negotiators. To launch the campaign, hundreds of activists gathered in the Jordan Valley to raise a 1,000-meter banner stitched together by OVP chapters in Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, Jerusalem, and Jericho. Written on the banner were the core national principles that are the basis for Palestinian negotiators. The PLO's Chief Negotiator, Dr. Saeb Erekat, addressed the activists while Jericho Governor Majid Fitani and Lieutenant Colonel Atef Naser looked on during an impromptu public meeting.
The “What Is Your Role?” campaign has five components: youth-led initiatives on campuses and in communities; public town hall meetings with Palestinian influencers; TV talk shows on Palestinian national television with live studio audiences and street interviews; radio shows on popular stations in the West Bank; and Siaseh (or “Political”) Cafés where activists get together to talk politics. Each medium reinforces facilitates open, candid discussions between average Palestinians and their leaders and provides a vehicle for non-violent activism and public engagement in the political process –making OVP’s campaign a unique and important part of the grassroots efforts needed for a successful outcome.
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