OneVoice Movement

OneVoice Movement

Formation	2002
Type	Non-profit Organization
Headquarters	New York, NY with offices in London, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, and Gaza City.
Website	www.onevoicemovement.org

The OneVoice Movement founded in 2002, is an international grassroots movement that amplifies the voice of Israelis and Palestinians, empowering them to propel their elected representatives toward the two-state solution.

OneVoice’s work is concentrated in Israel and Palestine, with offices in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, and Gaza City. OneVoice United States and OneVoice Europe, based in New York and London, connect local communities to the activists in the Middle East and engage with policymakers, building global momentum for realizing the two-state solution.^[1]

Mission

The movement works to forge consensus for conflict resolution and build a human infrastructure capable of mobilizing the people toward a negotiated, comprehensive, and permanent agreement between Israel and Palestine that ends the occupation, ensures security and peace for both sides, and solves all final-status issues in accordance with international law and previous bilateral agreements. The 1967 borders form the basis for the establishment of an independent, viable Palestinian state, with permanent borders and any modifications to be agreed upon by both parties. The movement recognizes that violence by either side will never be a means to end the conflict.^[2]

Difference from other Israel-Palestine peace groups

OneVoice Israel and OneVoice Palestine work in parallel with the mainstream centers in their own societies to ensure that the information and activism is organic and appeals to the national interests of both sides. OneVoice is not a dialogue group.^[2]

History

OneVoice was founded by entrepreneur Daniel Lubetzky in the spring of 2002 in the wake of the failure at the 2000 Camp David Summit and renewed violence between Israelis and Palestinians. OneVoice emerged from Lubetzky’s previous venture, Peaceworks,Inc., on the principle that economic cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians would result in stronger relations. OneVoice was to be a forum for moderate Israelis and Palestinians to express themselves and their desires for peace through a negotiated two-state solution.^[3]

OneVoice began as a citizen negotiations platform before embracing grassroots training and mass mobilization. Its Youth Leadership Program, established in 2004, trains Israelis and Palestinians ages 18–35 on conflict resolution, public speaking, political knowledge, and leadership development. Over 6,000 participants have been trained and took part in youth-led initiatives to date.^[4] OneVoice also engaged in several campaigns in the late 2000s to mobilize the Israeli and Palestinian grassroots and gage public opinion on the two-state solution and end to the conflict. OneVoice Israel co-founded the first caucus in the Israeli Knesset that supports ending the conflict via a two-state solution, and OneVoice Palestine supported the PLO’s quest for statehood at the United Nations General Assembly through an extensive town-hall meeting program throughout the West Bank.^[5][6][7]

OneVoice helped to establish the Knesset Caucus to End the Arab-Israeli conflict, which organized an historic meeting between the Knesset members and President Abbas, a visit by Palestinian legislators to the Knesset, and the February 16, 2014 visit to the Mukataa by 300 Israeli students.^[8]

More recently, OneVoice’s focus is challenging the hopelessness and apathy prevalent in Israeli and Palestinian societies by activating their network of volunteers through new initiatives, empowering individuals to take personal responsibility to end the occupation, and providing concrete, tangible facts on why ending the conflict is beneficial to their bottom lines.

Notable programs and campaigns

One Million Voices (2007)

Throughout 2007, OneVoice challenged Israelis and Palestinians to ask "What Are You Willing to Do to End the Conflict?" at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, OneVoice Youth Leaders presented video statements from Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Ramallah on the campaign to 2,000 dignitaries. Attendees included Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, then-Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, and then-Israeli Vice-Premier Shimon Peres.^[9]

Later that November, OneVoice led a delegation to the Annapolis Conference to express the support of the overwhelming majority of Israelis and Palestinians for the two-state solution and to demonstrate solidarity with the leaderships as they committed to reaching an agreement within one year. OneVoice launched a 365-day countdown clock for civic action and installed 11 digital screens – five in Ramallah and six in Tel Aviv – displaying countdown clocks set for one year: one year to end the occupation, one year to achieve an independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel, one year to end the violence and the conflict, and one year for citizens to take a stand in support of the negotiations.^[10]

Imagine 2018 (2008)

“Imagine: 2018” sought to transform apathy into inspiration among average Israelis and Palestinians by asking them to visualize what the region would look like in 10 years if a peace agreement were signed.

In cooperation with the Palestinian and Israeli ministries of education, OneVoice launched an essay contest in classrooms throughout Israel and the West Bank. From 2,500 submissions, winning essays were chosen on their potential to inspire citizens to build a future based on two states for two peoples. OneVoice asked leading Israeli, Palestinian, and Hollywood filmmakers to select one essay as the inspiration for a 1-5 minute short film. The “Boy and Soldier” and “Palestine International Airport” were among the winners of the contest, while "Israel & Palestine to Co-Host World Cup in 2018?" went viral.^[11]

At the end of the contest, OneVoice Israel received third prize in the Effie Awards’ non-profit organizations category, and the most creative and provocative essays from “Imagine 2018” were published in Hebrew and Arabic and disseminated to dozens of top Israeli and Palestinian leaders.^[12][13]

Saying What Needs to Be Said (2009-2010)

OneVoice partnered with experts in public opinion polling from Israel, Palestine, and the international community to develop an iterative methodology to gauge public opinion as well as engage the public in crafting a consensus on the issues at the core final status issues. Using the results of the poll, OneVoice launched a series of town hall meetings across Israel and Palestine, revealing the often private views of the majority in each society and demonstrating that there was a partner on the other side despite the recent violence.^[14][15]

I.M.P.A.C.T. and O&E

I.M.P.A.C.T. (Informing and Mobilizing Political Actors, Communities, and Thinkers), formally the International Engagement Program (IEP), works to build relationships with policy makers, influential communities, and thought leaders to foster an environment for a larger contingent of American citizenry to be informed of OneVoice’s peace efforts through community events, private individual meetings, conference participation, and delegations to Israel and Palestine.

The Outreach and Education Program (O&E) has delivered conflict resolution training to schools and universities and has facilitated community discussions on the conflict in the United Kingdom and Western Europe since 2011. It has engaged thousands of people in London, Birmingham, and Manchester through community, school, university, and religious outreach. O&E holds an annual summer residential program to empower outstanding UK students interesting in ending the conflict.^[16]

Peace, It Also Pays Off and shekel campaigns (2014)

“Peace, It Also Pays Off” was a OneVoice Israel campaign that reminded Israelis of the economic consequences of continuing the conflict and occupation at the expense of social and economic programs. The campaign asked Israelis to consider how they would rather spend 32 billion shekels—the amount the conflict costs Israel each year.

The data used for the social media and grassroots elements of the campaigns was based on analysis from Netanya College, the Molad Center, and the Adva Center. “Peace, It Also Pays Off” highlighted the positive impact an agreement with the Palestinians will have on the daily economic issues Israelis care about most—from affordable housing to food prices, from the job market to healthcare.^[17][18][19]

Prior to “Peace, It Also Pays Off,” OVI reacted to the January announcement of 1,400 settlement units with a campaign to urge Finance Minister Yair Lapid to back up his rhetorical support for peace with real action—ending financial transfers to the settlements and sending the money instead to deprived communities inside Israel. OneVoice Israel activists distributed 10,000 shekel notes with Lapid’s face, and called on him to stop financial transfers for settlement construction. This grassroots outreach was paired with an aggressive social media campaign, juxtaposing Lapid’s public comments in support of negotiations with a call to back those pledges with action.^[20][21][22]

Wake Up! What is Your Role? (2013-2014)

“Wake Up: What is Your Role?” seeks to mobilize the Palestinian mainstream to embrace their national responsibilities and support the Palestinian negotiators to secure an independent state. OneVoice Palestine kicked off the campaign with a 1,000 meter banner unveiling in the Jordan Valley in November 2013.

The “Wake Up” campaign was composed of youth initiatives, town hall meetings, political roundtables, and issue-based discussions. OVP also partnered with Wattan TV to broadcast debates on taboo and sensitive topics around the West Bank, and OVP youth leaders took part in radio shows to explain why they joined the movement and how their work is beneficial to the Palestinian cause. “Wake Up: What is Your Role?” aimed to break the state of apathy about negotiations and demonstrate that non-violent resistance can be successful in securing Palestinian rights while connecting everyday Palestinians to their leaders.^[23][24][25]

Controversy

In July 2016 it was revealed that the OneVoice movement received funding in excess of $300,000 directly from the US State Department, and used it to attempt to influence the 2015 Israeli elections and try to prevent the election of Benjamin Netanyahu. OneVoice notified Consul General Michael Ratney, the State Department’s top diplomat in Jerusalem, of its plans in an email, but Ratney claims never to have seen the plans.^[26]

See also

• Israeli–Palestinian conflict

References

External links

• Official site
• New York Times Interviews Ezeldeen Masri, OneVoice Palestine-Gaza, April 16,2014
• David Korn of Mother Jones cites OneVoice as against Israeli settler parody account of Secretary of State John Kerry