Daniel Lubetzky

Ben Smith highlights some excerpts from an excellent article by Jeffrey Goldberg in the Atlantic.

Smith explains about Obama:

He’s trying to do something hard, and unusual: Associate himself with a strong pro-Israel line, but also refuse to be associated with the hardest line on everything, calling settlements "unhelpful" and, elsewhere, distancing himself from a reflexive Likud line. This isn’t strange in terms of Israeli politics, say, or scholarship of the region; but it is in American politics.

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Wouldn’t it be great if ordinary citizens all joined together and said, "I have had enough – and I am going to do something about it!" and then pushed their Heads of State to once and for all deliver a two-state-agreement?!

They could draw inspiration from this:

"I am mad as hell, and I am not going to take this anymore!"

- From NETWORK, the movie (let’s just hope that the civic action wouldn’t be hijacked by corporate networks, though it could turn into something like this):

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OneVoice recently launched one of its most ambitious and impactful projects: an essay contest asking every Palestinian and every Israeli child to dare visualize what 2018 would look like if we were to get our act together and achieve a framework 2-state-agreement in 2008.

You can see here a video of the Imagine 2018 essay contest being imparted at a school in Gaza.

While it’s an essay contest, in addition

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I was struck when I saw the initial cut of this film at how the Director, Adam Hootnick, was able to be objective and empathetic about every subject it covered, avoiding caricatured stereotypes, and helping us understand the perspective and motivations of those involved during the Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.  I highly recommend it for any person who wants a better understanding about the Middle East.

UNSETTLED, a documentary feature film following the lives of a varied group of Israeli twenty-somethings during the withdrawal of Israeli settlements from the Gaza Strip, will open for a limited engagement at NYC’s Pioneer Theater on Friday, May 9th, and LA’s Laemmle Music Hall 3 on Friday, May 16th. The film has won a number of festival awards including Jury Prizes at Slamdance (2007) and Sonoma Valley (2008). MTV’s Kurt Loder calls it "remarkable for the balance of its compassion, and for the range of youthful intelligence it reveals," and Ambassador Akbar Ahmed, former Pakistani representative to the UK, calls the film "very important for people in the Muslim world." Special dialogue events have been announced in both cities.

In New York, the 8pm May 13th screening will feature a post-film talkback with Director/Producer Adam Hootnick and Najla Said, actress and writer.

In Los Angeles, the May 18th screening will feature a post-film talkback with Professor Reza Aslan, author of No god but God.

To view a trailer and get ticket info, visit http://www.UNSETTLEDmovie.com

Malaka Samara and Shani Gershon just completed a OneVoice Tour to Southern California – one of six regional tours with young Israeli and Palestinian OneVoice activists completed over this last year by Laurel Rapp, International Education Program Coordinator.

Neither of them had ever met someone from the "other side" before, so they did not just impact the hundreds of people they spoke to but also

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Nisreen Shaheen, the General Director of OneVoice Palestine, emailed us this update about work on the ground in Nablus:

Yesterday[ed: email was mid-April] we were in Nablus, we met with the Governor and briefed him about OV work, we took 3 youth leaders from Nablus with us so that if they will need any help in the

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I just got this very cool invitation from Laurel Rapp, who runs our International Education Program…

You’re Invited: Global Town Hall Meeting
(webcast live to your classroom!)

Ever wonder what young Israelis and Palestinians growing up in conflict zones hope for, dream about, and are working to change?
Ever wonder what both groups are doing to end the conflict between their two peoples?  
Ever wonder what our role as citizens of the world should and can be?

If you’ve ever wondered and would like to know more, please join Empower Peace and OneVoice on Monday, May 19, for a Global Town Hall Meeting webcast from East Jerusalem linking Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders with students and young people from around the world.

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  Our OneVoice team in Gaza continues to work with the local communities across Gaza – this last week in Gaza City – to build a human infrastructure of citizens committed to a two-state solution.

David Troube wrote an insightful article about what is behind much of the "Boycott Israel" movement.

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