Daniel Lubetzky

Today several friends forwarded to me an email from a Palestinian Boycott group called PACBI and from a gentleman named Haithem El-Zabri, one of the people that are core organizers for the anti-OneVoice efforts.  They said that the postponement of the OneVoice Summits was a "Victory."  And in the same statement they indicated support for "peace." 

It is hard for me to understand how anyone who sincerely wants peace can think that any setback in sincere efforts at mobilizing moderate voices to support an end to the conflict can be seen as a victory.

As I am trying very mightily to stick to my personal pledge not to let hatred seep into me again, not even from those who intentionally or unintentionally distort what OneVoice is about, I will do my best to be rational and positive and to seek as much as possible to counter extremism (as an ideological position) as opposed to counter people I would have considered extremists (thereby labeling them as they label me, and affixing them into a static and permanent position as an enemy).  I will of course address why positions that amount to extremist positions have to be re-thought, and encourage their re-thinking.

In fact, today I am making Haithem El-Zabri into my friend.  He above many had angered me so much over the last few weeks.  And I am sure I have angered him also (I’ve seen a few of the emails he’s sent out about me, quite angry, but none violent, and for the record I never stated he made violent threats, but I saw and showed that others did, as reported in earlier blog entries, and as artists and staff reported to the authorities; just on this point, I encourage Mr. Zabri, I mean Haithem, and PACBI, to be careful not to assume that because OneVoice Palestine or artists supporting them receive threats they have to necessarily come from their groups; I do know that at least one person that belongs to Another Voice made a violent threat to blow up the OV office online, and I also know that artists personally complained to me about the threats and intimidation they were facing, not just from Palestine but also from Lebanon, and I also know that serious threats were reported to the authorities and need to be dealt with by them, not by public discussion).

But instead of continuing this path of increased confrontation with a group that opposes OneVoice, and instead of placing OneVoice into the negative us-vs-them mentality that has kept this region in such pain for so long, I will welcome them to understand us better.  If they choose to, maybe they will come around.  If they don’t, then the hatred will be theirs to deal with, not ours.

Anyway, what puzzles me is why PACBI, Haithem, or anyone else would take so much energy to oppose a mobilization of citizens demanding an end to the conflict.  OneVoice is at its essence a civic movement here to amplify voices of moderation, to propel leaders to the negotiating table to end the conflict.

Is there a reason why they oppose negotiations? Is it that any negotiation is in and of itself wrong because it acknowledges the other side? If that is the answer, then the word "peace" has no place in their lexicon, if we are to be earnest.  Let’s then just acknowledge then that they do not support peace, but an absolute imposition of a position from one side on the other, whether through war or otherwise. So do they oppose negotiations? I would appreciate understanding this.

Another argument PACBI and Zabri advance is that OneVoice was not specific enough about what a two-state solution or any solution would entail.  But this is disingenuous because as I have explained in the past, OneVoice does NOT advance a concrete solution because that is not its mandate, and its 600,000 signatories thus far do not have to agree on the specifics – that would be pretentious because that is not their job but the job for their elected representatives.

This does not mean there are no answers out there.  As most polls demonstrate, as the Clinton parameters demonstrate, as the OneVoice citizen negotiations we organized in 2003-2004 demonstrated, and as Chairman Arafat’s endorsement of the Taba agreement demonstrate, this is not an intractable conflict – there are answers out there, if we really want to recognize that TWO peoples are destined to live in this land and must come to terms with their mutual rights to freedom, dignity, respect, security, etc.

Again, all of the above are provided as examples for skeptics that believe that there are no answers out there and we are destined to live at war.  But they are not official positions of OneVoice because OneVoice is a civic movement to amplify the voice of moderation and not a political party.

OneVoice does NOT take specific political positions on how the conflict has to be resolved – it cannot pretend to, when its 600,000 signatories and its 60 dignitaries span a spectrum of politics and beliefs and don’t agree on all issues.  What OneVoice emphasizes, and the only thing that all of its members are asked to sign on to, the OneVoice Mandate, is that the two heads of state must immediately resume negotiations, and continue in an uninterrupted fashion till they strike an agreement.

Now, you can make arguments why negotiations could result in undesirable results – for example, what if the Heads of State propose something that the people don’t find acceptable? But really, does this warrant not trying to get the leaders to agree? If so what would be the way that Haithem or PACBI suggest we should further an end to the occupation – I assume that they don’t want a solution imposed on them, so what precisely will be the mechanism they recommend, presuming they don’t want war or violence?

And again, why would anyone, even if they are skeptical about what can negotiations bring about, exert such assertive opposition to the efforts of ordinary citizens to demand progress in the negotiations?

Sometimes we lose sight of the mission and group start furthering an institution rather than a vision to better the peoples’ lives.

The "Boycott" group takes a very firm stance against cooperation between any Israeli and Palestinian groups or NGOs – they are here to Boycott Israel.  Well, first of all OneVoice is designed to build parallel but totally separate mainstream nationalist movements, one with Palestinian leaders advancing the will of the Palestinian people and working in Palestine, and a totally separate one with Israeli leaders advancing the will of the Israeli people and working in Israel.  While these are separate groups with different narratives, they do both share the aspiration for an end to the conflict.

In this case, the parallel work that the Boycott group was opposing was the mutual (though expressly not joint) manifestation of moderates on both sides to end the conflict through a two state solution.

OneVoice Palestine clearly wants and works to end the occupation (as do I of course, and as should do every Palestinian and every Israeli that want an end to the conflict, it’s the only way – just like recognizing the right of Israel to exist is also the only way out of this, and if any Palestinian hasn’t figured that one out, well, then I address that below).

So, is a "Boycott" group so driven by its narrow focused vision that it will celebrate when these moderate voices, when its own people, are not heard?

This was such a sad setback not just for OneVoice – that is less important – but for the people of the region.  Our vision is to show that both sides have a partner on the other side in the people.  Why would any Palestinian oppose showing the positive face of the Palestinian people, which is so critical to overcome dangerous bias that prevents progress towards ending the conflict?  This is why I was so disappointed, not because there wasn’t a concert, which is just a tool, but because this was a setback to our mission of showing the moderate voices to all, to inspire citizens to become more active towards pushing to end this conflict once and for all.

To go further than that, to blindly oppose cooperation between Palestinians and others is just shortsighted and unwise.  Palestinians who want to end the occupation should welcome partners who agree with that, and frankly the best counterpart Palestinians can find are Israelis who out of their enlightened self-interest recognize this because it is Israelis that are the ones they are destined to find a settlement with.  Same with the opposite argument, of course, that Israelis need to engage Palestinians as their counterparts.

I will go further.  Another Voice and PACBI criticized that OneVoice Palestine was associated with a movement that on the other side in OneVoice Israel included hawkish voices.  BUT THIS IS THE MAGIC OF ONEVOICE.  That OneVoice Palestine itself is not made up just of liberal dreamers, but includes fiery Palestinian nationalists like Sheikh Taysir al Tamimi, the Chief Palestinian Islamic Justice, and that OneVoice Israel is not made up only of people from the left, but also of Generals, and Knesset members from Kadima and Shas and Mafdal who in spite of all their differences join together as OneVoice for an end to the conflict.

It is a strength that the movement includes people and leaders from all walks of life, as this is what it will take to end this.

Indeed, the same logic applies to my reaching out to PACBI and Haithem, as I have often done to right-wing Rabbis.  I find that some times the most entrenched hawkish people, the most doubtful of the others’ rights or intentions, once they see that there is a way we can get there together, become the most ardent supporters of our movement. 

Now I am not naive, here. I have read a lot of what Haithem has written in the past, and he opposed President Arafat’s negotiations, so I don’t have much hope he will support Abbas, let alone a movement that encourages Abbas and Olmert to advance the negotiations process.  But if Haithem is sincere in his beliefs that he wants "peace" then perhaps we can establish some understanding – perhaps he can explain to me his vision of peace is.  And if it recognizes the rights of both peoples to freedom, dignity, respect, security etc, maybe we will get somewhere.

On an international front, by the way, I also strongly think that anybody who wants Palestine to rise up as a nation, and anyone who wants Israel to live with security, should welcome all the allies that can bring momentum to this cause – and the OneVoice Movement is a formidable tool to raise awareness about the imperative of moving here.  So again, I don’t understand why anyone who sincerely wants "peace" would take the time to attack OneVoice.  Is this really the best use of someone’s time? Why would this upset them so much if they don’t harbor extremist ideologies?

Another argument I saw PACBI and Another Voice make is that OneVoice engages in moral equivalency – comparing the duties of the occupier and occupied.  First of all, I have no idea how they draw this conclusion.  OneVoice doesn’t engage in any moral assessments – that is the role of Imams or Priests or Rabbis or Judges or international arbitrators or human rights activists or diplomats, etc, but not ours.  We focus on working solutions to move beyond the past and the present, with all of its suffering, and to move to the future where answers do lie.

What is interesting about the "moral equivalency" argument is how frequent it comes from BOTH SIDES.  Jewish leaders often ask me, "Daniel, by using the OneVoice language, aren’t you risking putting us in the same basket as terrorists?" [Here is the most recent example, hot off the press, from the Jerusalem Post, and unfortunately it comes from the producer of one of my favorite movies, Central Station]  And Palestinians often ask me, "Daniel, by using the OneVoice language, aren’t you risking putting us the occupied in the same basket as the occupier?"  Again, DO NOT MISQUOTE ME.  These are verbatim the question I hear over and over again from others.  As far as OneVoice is concerned, we are not in the business of putting people in baskets and evaluating the righteousness of each side.  I am sure that OneVoice Palestine members feel they are in general more righteous and OneVoice Israel members feel they are in general more righteous.  Let each side say what it may in their narrative, but they join as OneVoice in the Mandate to end the conflict.

This brings me to a big and unfair attack claiming that OneVoice gives different information to different sides.  The fact is that the common language that all agree to at OneVoice is the OneVoice Mandate, and that IS the fundamental document that is identical and has no differences. But we WANT OneVoice Palestine to be motivated by Palestinian interests, and we WANT OneVoice Israel to be motivated by Israeli interests, so of course their language on the "WHY" they do what they do will be different.

It seems a bit hypocritical to complain that OneVoice Palestine is not nationalistic enough, and then to complain that it works with the other side, and then to complain that the other side doesn’t share the same identical narrative that OneVoice Palestine does!  Each side is driven by its own motivations: OneVoice Palestine wants to achieve a vibrant Palestinian State; OneVoice Israel wants to achieve permanent security; but they BOTH JOIN ON THE MANDATE.

So if all of the above "reasons" are not real satisfactory reasons to garner all time and energy to attack an organization that seeks to amplify the voice of moderation, what is the reason to oppose OneVoice? 

My guess, all along, has been that the real reason why Haithem and PACBI oppose OneVoice is because they oppose the concept of a two state solution and are threatened by the fact that the overwhelming majority of Palestinians and Israelis – 76% consistently on both sides – support this as the only real way to end the conflict.

First let me explain why anything other than a two state solution is not going to achieve peace.  Simply, because the overwhelming majorities do not want it.  Jews in Israel will not accept the destruction of Israel as the State of the Jewish people.  This is the only State in the world where someone persecuted as a Jew can find a haven.  Palestinians in Palestine have nowhere else to go and want and have the inalienable right to build a nation in Palestine.  Neither side is going anywhere else.  Neither side wants to be ruled by the other.  Each side, overwhelmingly, wants its own state, and let the others have theirs too, because that is the only way out.

I often get people telling me that of course they want "peace" but then they go on to provide a version of absolutism that denies the right of the other side. I have Israeli friends that tell me that of course they want peace but since the Jews only have one State and Arabs have 22+ States, why can’t Palestinians just go to one of the Arab countries?  Well, that is not ever going to happen, and Palestinians also don’t have anywhere else to go.  I have Palestinian friends who sincerely tell me they want peace but that a condition to this must mean that every single Palestinian who was displaced from Lod or Haifa or elsewhere in present day Israel must be given all of the land they had and all Palestinians and "Israelis" can then live in one binational state.  Well, again, this is not ever going to happen.  PLEASE DO NOT MISQUOTE ME.  I am NOT taking any positions on any of these issues because in my OneVoice role I cannot do so.  The OneVoice Movement includes many people that hold a variety of beliefs on all of these issues.  BUT WHAT THEY ALL RECOGNIZE IS THAT ULTIMATELY THIS THING IS NOT GOING TO BE RESOLVED IF BOTH SIDES DON’T COME TO TERMS WITH THE FACT THAT A COMPROMISE MUST BE MADE.

So why is a One State "solution" no solution at all? Because it cannot come about, period.

Anyone who pretends otherwise is either not privy to correct information or otherwise harboring the hope that they will one day impose an absolutist solution on the other.

But EVEN if I couldn’t convince PACBI or Haithem that a two-state solution is the only way forward, is attacking this movement dedicated to mobilize both sides towards personal responsibility to end the conflict really the best way for them to invest their energies?

So to PACBI and Haithem, and to all others who have opposed OneVoice in the past, including by the way also a lot of right-wing groups on the Israeli side who have similarly attacked OneVoice Israel among similar lines, based on misinformation or principle, please ask yourselves:

What is better, to hold on to impractical absolutist visions that will only protract this conflict and keep this beautiful region hostage, or to find a way to end the conflict through a two state solution? Shouldn’t we all be better if we can work a way to move forward recognizing both sides?

Can we dare dream even of a day when the children of this region will transcend all this hatred and suffering, including the toils of occupation as well as the toils of violence and insecurity?

I’ve been so inspired by the resilience of our staff and activists.

In Ramallah earlier today, Ibrahim, our Director of Leadership Outreach, mentioned a lot of the activists (we have a network of 1,800 youth leaders across Palestine) were complaining why we were not being more assertive with the campaign by fringe groups trying to slander OneVoice Palestine, and why we allowed threats from the fringes to derail the will of the majority.

I was inspired.

OneVoice Palestine is planning a very important response on Thursday.  Stay tuned.

OneVoice Israel similarly wants to re-group asap and indeed is also planning a strong response for this very Friday.  Again, please stay tuned.

OneVoice Canada is also proceeding with a solidarity event on Thursday, not music, but a strong show of forces of political supporters across all party lines, including the Prime Minister.

On Thursday, at 7pm Jerusalem time (1pm EST, 10am PST) we will broadcast a special message in partnership with Yahoo! – a videocast at http://video.yahoo.com/onevoice.

We are also renewing our signature drive campaign across Israel and Palestine to reach one million members urging Immediate Negotiations, Uninterrupted Till the Conclusion of A Two-State-Agreement.  600k here.  400k to go (actually less b/c we haven’t tallied all the new signatories over the last 3-4 weeks, which from a rough count are over 40k).

A lot of activists seem upset that we are not being more aggressive against those extremists who attack us, and my initial instincts have always been never to let anyone punch and to punch twice as hard.  I have always been quite aggressive against those who seek to undermine us, and I particularly get very angry if people mischaracterize who we are in order to try to win an argument.

My sense after these last couple weeks is that I’ve realized we definitely need to be firm, strong and assertive, but instead of punching with anger, we will respond with reason – we will further increase the nobility of the movement.

For years we’ve been growing under an "angry" contempt against extremists.  Moderates, after all, are fed up that this group of radicals have kept the people and the region hostage for too long.

Our challenge now that we have such a growing movement is to continue growing and continue affirming the imperative of moderation, with the same attributes that have always defined us – grassroots, non-partisan, mainstream, separate nationalist efforts on each side in parallel, sincerity of purpose, conflict resolution as opposed to conflict management, action-driven – but to now add a new component – to do so with nobility.

As I wrote in my prior post, this last week I grew so much from this challenge, realizing that I could not continue on this journey if I become filled with hate, even if my hate is towards radicals that are denying someone else’s right to existence. 

I will have to fight my internal evils and so will all people that work with OneVoice.  We will be strong, but kind.  We will be steadfast, but noble.  We will be assertive and firm, but empathetic towards those who unfortunately have not gotten there.

We will fight absolutism and extremism, rather than absolutists and extremists.

Earlier this morning I was really down.

Then I got up and realized how lucky I am, and how much so many people are suffering on both sides.

And I realized that OneVoice has never been stronger.

And I realized that the more extremists attack our Israeli and Palestinian offices, the more they gain supporters and the stronger we become.

And I remembered why we do what we do.

And I remembered all the amazing friends and partners and alliances we’ve made along the way.

And I recalled that in the end, almost nobody in this world seems themselves as the problem and will not be the reason why we fail, and so most people end joining the movement.

And I remembered that the enemy is not a person or an individual or a group, but any ideology that denies the humanity of the other side.

And I remembered that in the end the force of light and friendship and love is so much more powerful than anger and revenge and recrimination.

And I realized I am slowly starting to adopt some of the anger that these dark extremists have.

And I realized I can get rid of it, of that anger.

And I did.

Now let me continue doing what I believe in, with the same steadfast determination, but with no hatred towards anyone, not even those who hate me.  For if I hate them, I have lost and become like them.

Here is something I really have to work on.

This won’t be easy, but as I work on fighting extremism and absolutism and violence, I must not become that which I fight. I must be more noble.  I must be more patient.  I must stay the course not just in discouraging violent extremism in the world, but also in preventing it to infect me from within.

There, I’ve mourned.  Now we move on.

And we prevail.

It was a very tough decision canceling the Israeli side of the event, when tens of thousands had already signed up to come – and I can only wonder if they won’t understand our decision and be disappointed, which pains me.

Primarily the people that I don’t have daily contact with and don’t know.

Primarily all those who were planning to be with us on October 18th and flew from different parts of the world to be with us.

And all the people who worked so hard and sacrificed so much for the sake of the Israeli and Palestinian people and for the sake of peace.

But this was the right and principled decision, and those who stood firm to remind us that we need to carry out our mission rather than be carried away by our momentum with the event, were correct.

For the sake of all in this region and in this globe, we cannot stop.

To the 600,000 Israeli, Palestinian and international citizens who affirmed our principles,

To the tens of thousands who committed to join us on October 18th,

To the grassroots volunteers and recruiters that invested themselves for months in the heat of the summer signing up people on the streets to sign the OneVoice Mandate and join us for the One Million Voices Summit,

To the hundreds of OV youth leaders across both Israel and Palestine that have shown such courage and been such steadfast ambassadors,

To the international artists, musicians and celebrities that selflessly and with no compensation agreed to fly thousands of miles away to help our cause,

To the many strategic partners and organizations that dared to believe this is a fight worth fighting,

To the 60+ Dignitaries, Honorary Co-Chairs and Board Members who inspire us, who believe in us, and who take so much time to guide us,

To the scores of contributors and donors who have invested in our mission and been such incredible mentors and solid partners,

To the outstanding team of producers and partners in this undertaking who every step of the way showed integrity, resoluteness, conviction and exemplary professionalism and loyalty,

To the thousands of friends who care and who worry, and who have been there every step of the way, during our many victories as well as during our setbacks,

To my company’s partners and amazing staff, who endured and tolerated and understood all of my unavailability over the last year and months and encouraged and enabled me to take this journey through their success and hard work,

To my fiancé and to my Mom and family, who have shown such love and understanding and concern,

To those who care and who believe and who spread our word,

And above all, to my team, across Gaza, Ramallah, Tel Aviv, London, New York City and Ottawa, who have exceeded beyond belief all of my already high expectations and demands, who have risked so much, who have worked so hard, and who have shown that we have assembled an outstanding army of conviction and purity of purpose,

To all of you, I thank.  We all thank you for your partnership and hard work.

To all of you, I acknowledge the pain of this setback in Jericho, and of the serious challenges threats and intimidation that a dozen+ Palestinian dignitaries on our Board are working to overcome there.

To all of you, I trust you will understand our decision to postpone the Tel Aviv event out of principle.

To all of you, let’s remember that we are doing what we are doing not to score goals, not to have fun or entertainment, but to help the moderates on BOTH sides seize back the agenda and show their support towards their Heads of State.

To those we disappointed with this delay, please remember that the movement has never been stronger, while forces of violent absolutism are being exposed and will be marginalized.

To all of you, remember we have surpassed six hundred thousand signatories (actually far more than that because we have about 25,000 new signatories from the last couple weeks we have not tallied up yet!). 

To all of you, bear in mind that already now this is the biggest movement in the history of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, the first time that such broad numbers are all speaking as OneVoice on the core demand for immediate uninterrupted negotiations till the conclusion of an agreement no later than Oct 18 2008.

To all of you, remember we have to reach ONE MILLION CITIZENS and not stop till we attain the critical mass necessary to turn the tide for conflict resolution.

To all of you, remember this is not a sprint but a marathon and the www.OneMillionVoices.org campaign itself has one more year to go!

To all of you, I request you visit http://video.yahoo.com/onevoice on October 18th 2007 at 7pm Jerusalem time – and ask others to join you.

To all of you, for the sake of future generations, we must prevail and end this conflict once and for all.

When the "Boycott" campaign against OVP started in earnest a few weeks ago, one of my staff members suggested we just explain to them the OV platform, and provide detailed answers to the many false accusations and mischaracterizations they were making.

I explained I had had discussions with several people from these groups in the past, and that their attacks on our specific positions were just excuses to create misinformation and you could not ultimately reason with them because they are absolutists who support only an all-or-nothing approach – the very philosophy that has lead to so much bloodshed given that there are TWO people destined to live in the Holy Land – Palestinians and Israelis.

These people hide in sheep’s clothes (is that the right expression?) because they know that most Palestinians do NOT agree with their absolutist views. 

They are against negotiations – and were even against Arafat’s efforts.

Here is one example a Palestinian friend just forwarded me from an email chain link on the extremist "Electronic Intifada" criticizing ATFP – ATFP is a great Palestinian group that brings a lot of legitimacy to the Palestinian people and is perhaps the most important Palestinian-American organization responsible for the rehabilitation of Palestinian rights – here is what they say about it (and all other moderate efforts):

[and incidentally, I just found out the guy writing, not surprisingly, does this out of the comfort of his home in San Diego, CA, while the Palestinians in refugee camps suffer because of delusional absolutism; it really is far more frequent that the "revolutionaries" tend to afford to be thousands of miles away from where the people are actually living with the consequences of absolutism]

"Dear Fadi

You  really do show your kindness when you call this an "expose" . It’s important to understand ,and it’s also important for our people and supporters to understand ,that what Asali has been doing since he tapped in the ADC ,and now continues as a head of ATFP ,is a systematic effort by people who are clearly not on the side of our people and cause. It’s not only what they did against Michel Shehadeh,but also what they have done ,and continue to do to bring organizations and individuals to their side .

I will not be telling a secret that the time our cause is going through is probably the worst period it ever faced .We have a duty to our cause and to our people here and everywhere to make sure they see it clearly ,who is with us and who work against us .The coming "Peace conference" and the million voice and other (Harakat Ar3aa) are not the only things we should caution against . We as Arab Palestinians at this critical junction of our struggle ,should not accept anything less than a complete liberation of Palestine ,and a full implementation of our legitimate  right of return to Palestine . This requires taking a stand against the so called PLO factions that are calling themselves realistic and are willing to settle for whatever Abbas and company will bring them back from Washington this fall or after that .And this also require us to take a stand against their supporter here and everywhere-if they have any- and the "independents’ -if there’s such a thing- that are working with Abbass and company on sham "popular conferences" .

You may say that this will split our community.My answer to that is ,our community is clear on the anchors on our struggles ,and is not fooled with slogans that are really good until it sees who is using these slogans ,and it becomes clear that all of this noise is nothing but a maneuver that will attract Abbass’ ( and company off course)attention so he may offer some "fettat " to  them in a way of representation in this or that council or that body. Our people and community are eager to see people stand solid in support of our anchors and against these "adulteresses who are gambling with our cause for a shameful personal gains , and expect of us nothing less than that ,especially when all the (dogs)  are showing their teeth and are ganging up against us.

Yousef
Fadi Saba <fasaba@yahoo.com> wrote:

This is an expose’ of the American Task Force for Palestine is headed by Ziad Asali.  Under his leadership (or lack of it), the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) fired Mr. Michel Shehadeh as its Western Regional Director.  At the very same time, Shehadeh was fighting deportation by the US because of his political views, and not that he has ever done anything harmful.  He is still fighting this case, which began in 1987.

Grass-roots peace concert in Israel called off in solidarity with Palestinians: organizer
The Associated Press
Sunday, October 14, 2007

JERUSALEM: A grass-roots peace concert calling for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict was called off on Sunday after threats were made to Palestinians supporting the event.

The New York-based One Voice organization had planned to hold simultaneous concerts in Tel Aviv, Israel, and the West Bank town of Jericho, with Canadian rock star Bryan Adams in lead billing.

The Jericho concert was called off last week due to security concerns, including threats to blow up the West Bank office of One Voice, said group founder Daniel Lubetzky. On Sunday, the Tel Aviv concert was canceled in solidarity.

"Our mission is not to entertain … It is to mobilize moderate voices," said Lubetzky, a New York businessman. "If we have to postpone, we have to postpone."

Organizers of One Voice aim to collect a million signatures of Israelis and Palestinians calling for their leaders to negotiate a final peace settlement within a year. The concert was meant to support the signature campaign, with those attending the event — free of charge — required to sign the petition.

Some Palestinians have harshly criticized the organization, which they said was weak on upholding Palestinian demands, including the right of return for refugees to the lands they fled, or were forced to flee, following the Israeli-Arab war in 1948. Leading Palestinians who initially supported the event have also distanced themselves from it.

However, One Voice does not set out a specific mandate.

Around 600,000 Palestinians and Israelis signed on to support the organization’s call for negotiations to begin between both sides. It also has received support from Hollywood stars such as Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Rhea Perlman, Danny de Vito and Jason Alexander.

Adams, who had a series of multi-platinum albums during the 1980s and mid-1990s, was to have performed at both concerts, along with Israeli artists in Tel Aviv and Palestinian performers in Jericho.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3459785,00.html
One Voice events postponed
Series of performances for peace, scheduled to take place in Jericho and Tel Aviv, canceled due to security problems
Or Barnea
The Once Voice events scheduled to take place in Tel Aviv’s Yarkon Park and the Jericho stadium on Thursday have been postponed until further notice due to security problems in Jericho.
The performances in Tel Aviv and other places in the world – including Washington, London and Canada – have also been cancelled. Canadian signer Bryan Adams, one of the performers scheduled to take part in the event, has called off his visit to the region.
The Israeli artists who were scheduled to perform in Tel Aviv included Ehud Banai, Boaz Sharabi, Hadag Nahash, Mashina, Miriam Tukahn, Mosh Ben-Ari, Ninet Tayeb, Rami Fortis and Keren Peles.
Adams was scheduled to perform both in Tel Aviv and in Jericho alongside Arab artists, including the DAM rap and hip hop group.
The One Voice organization, which was been active since 2002 in Israel and The Palestinian Authority through branches in Tel Aviv, Ramallah, and Gaza, seeks to “express the voice of the silent majority of moderates”, explained Daniel Lubetzky, founder of the organization.
“Our goal is to collect a million signatures of people who will work towards creating two states for two nations. It is important to send the message that business as usual is no longer acceptable to us. Every minute delayed in ending the conflict is a minute lost to the radical military forces”, he declared.
Lubetzky said on Sunday, "Over the weekend the movement was informed that it would be impossible to hold the Jericho event due to the security conditions at this time."
The event’s producers said in response, "The other events were also cancelled in solidarity with the cancellation of the Jericho event. The initiative’s main component is reciprocity and the international aspect which constitutes a milestone in the movement’s principles.
"Under the circumstances created, it was impossible to hold an event in Tel Aviv alone, and therefore we would rather postpone the events at this stage and continue to work for the achievement of our goal – recruiting 1,000,000 supporters for the alliance of the moderates, and strengthen the voice of the moderate majority against the violent extremists and for an end to the conflict." 

Dear All,

All of you have been targeted by a campaign based on hatred and a commitment to hide issues from the people.

This is the truth: OneVoice does not seek to dictate final status negotiations, it does not have a political agenda. It is an organization whose work in building civil society can add massive value to the conflict resolution process precisely because it is not so arrogant as to dictate answers. You and I sitting together now and defining resolutions doesn’t do any good because we have no power to implement them – it is outside the real political world and symptomatic of political naivety and the fact that we have lost hope of actually changing anything, so we just row theoretically amongst ourselves.

In the November conference next month, the leaders will sit just as powerless because no one is standing up and saying that it is time to raise expectations. It is time for the world to know that the people of the region will accept the deteriorating status quo no longer.

If a million Israelis and Palestinians take to the streets tomorrow and say ‘we want answers found’ then maybe, just maybe, we will change this feeble political dynamic and not lose this opportunity and that provided by the Arab peace initiative.

What has happened is that people with an absolutist agenda, have taken a survey that OneVoice did years ago to gauge public opinion on different issues and changed questions into statements and claimed that it was a policy document for final status negotiations. This is simply a lie. If I had received it with all its lies, I would turn against the organization. But that’s because of the lies that mask the truth about an incredible attempt to galvanise civil society to empower the process to deliver the two-state solution that most people want.

Instead we face the reality that this opportunity will be missed, that Palestinians will be dismissed as ‘extremists and terrorists’ and that the truth will be lost.

I ask everyone on this list to forward this email so that the Israeli and Palestinian people know both that they have a partner on the other side, and that they have foul sinister enemies who would seek to use the refugees as a pawn in their political game in order to try to con us all out of a chance to end the situation – a chance that the people deserve.

Forward this message, publish this message, relay this message. You have the power between truth and lies now, between progress and regression.

Jake

Jake Hayman

International Program Coordinator

OneVoice Movement

I just came upon a posting from "Another Voice" again slandering the good work of the OneVoice Movement.

Among their allegations is that we invented the threats and intimidation that all Palestinian artists and staff were facing from these absolutists without any real plan other than to complain, attack and attack.

Several Palestinian dignitaries on our Board had to call each of the artists to not be intimidated.  In the end we had all back on board except DAM.  We even had a list of a dozen additional Palestinian groups willing to perform.  But in face of continued threats and lack of a guaranteed plan to provide security to our local and international guests, OneVoice Palestine was pained to reach the decision to postpone the Jericho event, and OneVoice International of course empathized with their decision.

Do not be fooled by false bravado.  Ask "Another Voice" if they support a concrete plan for ending the conflict that can really survive.  Ask them if they support a two-state solution.  Ask their founder, who wrote articles attacking even Yasser Arafat’s peace efforts, and who has been consistently against EVERY effort at achieving a historic compromise to enable the Palestinian and Israeli people to both live with peace and dignity, what is his plan.

And talk to the artists, behind the scenes when not being intimidated, and ask them if they were not being called incessantly by people intimidating them not to perform.

Ilham Madfai has courageously gone on record on BBC against the boycotters for their abusive intimidation.

The Palestinian staff of OneVoice staff are among the most decent dedicated courageous leaders I have ever come across – the highest caliber human beings anyone can every find.  And they are all fiery nationalists but who also have a brain and understand that if we want to end this conflict we need to recognize the right of two peoples.  This is the same case with the Israeli staff of OneVoice and what their motivations are.

To make peace and end the occupation and the violence you need a partner on the other side.  Who would be "Another Voice’s" partner?  Or do they pretend to think their false bravado will just obliterate the other side?

"Another Voice" HURT THE PALESTINIAN CAUSE by preventing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to show their case to the world, by preventing the people across the world to see a partner for peace, by preventing international celebrities who were eager to come to be able to get there!

It is so disgusting that this group now tries to wash its hands off their monstrous aggressive intimidation and threats.

They are dumb enough to even discuss some of their threats out openly on the web.  Here is just one posting out openly on one of their discussion group threads, courtesy of one of their former supporters who just wrote to me alarmed at the realization that these people are not advancing the cause of peace or justice for anyone:

Posted on the “Anti-OneVoice” page on Facebook.com, by "Another Voice.":

Ahmad Jaradat (Palestine) wrote
at 11:34am on October 9th, 2007

its good to have such a group but we need for more actions… like for example using RBJ to destroy their offices…

Message – Report

Diana Alzeer (Palestine) wrote
at 4:50am yesterday

people also join the group another voice

Message – Report