Daniel Lubetzky

OneVoice Palestine has recently been attacked by a new campaign by disgruntled people (apparently funded out of Lebanon) who believe the OneVoice Summit should be boycotted.

Some of our staff and friends got emails urging them to boycott the efforts of OneVoice Palestine – they all came from someone in Lebanon who claimed that our mobilization of moderate voices to call for an end to the conflict across both sides is an effort at normalization rather than at ending the occupation.

A couple weeks ago, on the other side, we also heard boycott calls from an extremist Jewish American group that plans to protest our Washington DC event and claimed OneVoice Israel was a tool of appeasement betraying Jewish values. 

This is not the first and will not be the last time that violent extremists and radical absolutists from either side will try to undermine the OneVoice Movement.

Indeed, the more we grow and threaten these extremist visions, the more they will try to undermine our call to empower mainstream nationalists on both sides to break the shackles that violent extremists have placed on our world for too long.

But OneVoice is built and engineered not just to withstand that, but to use those attacks to expose radical extremists, absolutists and fatalists who claim they are "for peace" but who realistically prefer eternal warfare to compromise.  Let’s call the bluff on anyone who says they are "for peace" but don’t want to accept the other side has a right.  Let them be honest and at least say, "we are not for peace, we want it all, or war."

There are only two options: a) Two States for Two People, or b) Continued Conflict.

People need to make a choice. 

Are they going to stand up and be counted and help us build the critical mass to unleash the power of moderation – or are they going to be silenced by violent extremism?

As OneVoice continues growing, it will be the subject of more criticism from those very violent extremists we seek to neutralize and isolate.  They will isolate themselves by opposing a popular movement that aims to build dignity, respect, humanity, and a two state solution for both peoples. 

In the process, they will also highlight the OneVoice message.

Any Palestinian that wants to end the occupation and achieve independence, and any Israeli that wants to end terror and achieve security, must ultimately understand the only way to do so is through an agreement among both peoples to end the conflict.

In a place where there is no humanity, strive thou to be human.

- Hillel

The OneVoice Summit is starting to gain traction…

Much of the coverage below is not as precise as we would like it at OV – b/c we want to emphasize this is a MASSIVE MOBILIZATION OF MODERATES TO END THE CONFLICT, not a "concert" or a "festival" but a Summit of the Peoples dedicated to break the shackles of extremism and mobilize to once and for all demand an end to the conflict, but it is starting to come together…

Rocker Bryan Adams to appear in Israel for peace initiative

Israel 21c – 9.30.07

Sep. 30 – Canadian rock star Bryan Adams will headline a gala outdoor free concert on October 18th at Hayarkon Park in Tel Aviv as part of an event organized by the grassroots organization OneVoice. Through parallel summits in Tel Aviv and Jericho, (where Adams will also perform), OneVoice will be calling for the citizens of Israel and the Palestinian Authority to make their voices heard and call on their governments to immediately initiate uninterrupted negotiations toward a two-state solution. Also slated to appear at the concert are top Israeli performers Mashina, Fortis, Hadag Nahash and Ehud Banai. Adams spent part of his childhood in Israel when his father was on a diplomatic posting.

Bryan Adams heads here for peace

By Mariam A. Shaviv

The Jerusalem Post 10.1.07

Eighties pop star Bryan Adams is optimistic that with the power of song, Israel and the Palestinian Authority can come together to end the decades-long conflict between them.

Joining him in Tel Aviv at the ONE VOICE concert on October 18 will be an array of Israeli stars including Ehud Banai, Boaz Sharabi, Hadag Nahash, Knessiat Hasechel, Mashina, Mosh Ben Ari, Ninette Tayeb, Fortis and Keren Peles among others. In addition to the Park HaYarkon event, shows on stages in Jericho, London, Washington D.C. and Ottawa will take place simultaneously under the banner "One Million Voices to End the Conflict."

Bryan Adams to perform in Tel Aviv, Jericho

Canadian singer to take part in One Voice festival calling for an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

By Or Barnea

Ynet News 9.30.07

Canadian singer Bryan Adams will perform in Israel and the Palestinian Authority as part of the One Voice festival, which will hold simultaneous peace events on October 18 in Tel Aviv, Jericho, London, Washington, Boston and other cities in the United States and Europe. According to the festival’s official website, Adams will perform both in Tel Aviv and in Jericho alongside Arab artists, including the DAM rap and hip hop group.

And more:

NRG

http://www.nrg.co.il/online/5/ART1/641/269.html

עכבר און ליין

http://www.mouse.co.il/CM.articles_item,405,209,15831,.aspx

וואלה

http://e.walla.co.il/?w=/214/1175205

YNET

http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3454727,00.html

תל אביב סיטי

http://www.telavivcity.com/article.asp?articlecode=374

נענע

http://bidur.nana10.co.il/Article/?ArticleID=514816&sid=123

1909

http://www.1909.co.il/default.asp?id=3&sub=6&pageid=1177

יוסמיוזיק

http://www.yosmusic.com/news.asp#n267

מפה

http://www.mapa.co.il/NG/buildrecord_locked.asp?id=77584

רזידנט

http://www.resident.co.il/aspx/Article.aspx?id=593

מומה

http://mooma.keshet-tv.com/Article.asp?GroupID=1912&ItemID=83584&ArtistID=177

ע. 24

http://www.music24.co.il/print-magazine.aspx?mag=1051

E און ליין

http://www.eonline.co.il/content.asp?sid=15&id=35713

מפיק

http://www.mefik.co.il/page.asp?page_parent=1315

MSN

http://bidur.msn.co.il/msnEntertainment/Music/News/200709/2007093018549.htm

BIN

http://www.bin.co.il/article.php?article_ID=1375

Boaz Sharabi

Considered the greatest Israeli soul singer, Sharabi began his career as a drummer and a percussionist and later became a successful singer. Since his return from the USA in the 90′s, he has been prominent as one of Israel’s most diverse and successful stars, uniquely combining Pop, Rock and ethnic Eastern-Arab music.

Ninet Tayeb

The successful singer and actress started her career as the first winner of the Israeli version of American Idol in August 2003. Since then, the young soldier from Kiriyat Gat has managed to conquer the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Israelis, and recently even came out with a new album that won her the title of 2007′s best female singer.

Mosh Ben Ari

A former part of the successful "Sheva" band, Ben Ari combines soft rock with a pinch of eastern Arab ethnicity and has published three very successful albums since June 2001. His last and best selling album included a special tribute to the legendary Led Zeppelin band, and he recently preformed with the dance singer Sean Paul in his last visit to Israel.

Knessiyat Hasehel

Coming from the southern city of Sderot, this unique band erupted into the public realm after the unprecedented success of their self-titled 3^rd album after years of hard work in a small southern Tel Aviv apartment. Knessiyat Hasehel has created a special blend of rock, new wave and Eastern-Arab origins.

Ehud Banai

Banai, who writes and composes all of his songs, combines his Jewish roots with social and political protest which comes forth in an original mélange of eastern sound with western guitars, 60’s harmony and the British new wave. Banai’s uniqueness positioned him as one of Israel’s most diverse and prominent artists which awarded him the best singer, best writer and best album award for his last album in 2005.

Mashina

Considered Israel’s most important, successful and influential band, Mashina recently won the “All Times Band” title, and sold over 400,000 copies of their albums.

Keren Peles

Peles, a young successful singer that broke through in 2005, started as a song writer and has since pursued a successful singing career that awarded her a golden album, the 2006 discovery of the year award, the culture minister award, and the best song of the year award for 2 consecutive years.

Ha Dag Nachash

One of Israel’s most successful and best known bands, famous for their sharp and critical language, Ha Dag Nachash makes “Zionist hip hop” without taking prisoners or skipping social and political wrongdoings. It was this bold irreverence that granted them the privilege of being the first band in the world to be invited to perform in Hebrew in an official NBA match.

Miriam Tukan

Miriam Tukan, AKA the Israeli Fayrouz, broke through in the last Kohav Nolad show (the Israeli version of American Idol) with her special voice and touching renditions of known Hebrew songs. Tukan, a Christian Arab from the village of Eiblin in the north of the country, gave unique performances portraying the desired coexistence with her amazing mix between Hebrew songs and Arab trills.

Rami Fortis

Considered one of Israel’s most influential musical pioneers, Fortis greatly affected the Israeli rock scene style which gave him the nickname “the Crazy”. He is known for his musical cooperation with Mashina’s Shlomi Bracha, Berry Sakharof and many others that brought Israeli rock to its glory days.

After a year of very hard work to build the OneVoice Summit: One
Million Voices To End The Conflict, things were approaching the
haywire (is that the right expression?) and looking quite hairy. A
top Arab Head of State who had committed to lead had backed out,
hurting morale and momentum. No musical talent had firmly signed up.

People were literally panicking. Yes, the grassroots effort was
picking up powerfully, but without some dignitaries or celebs, the
media would not give this meaningful coverage, which in turn would
decrease popular participation and hurt the message.

So much hard work, so much dedication from a wonderful team across
three continents, so much riding not just for OneVoice but for the
mission. Were we going to disappoint ourselves and our supporters?
Were we going to fail when the stakes are so high?

In the meantime Hamas has been increasing its attacks on Palestinian
President Abbas, calling him an illegitimate traitor and questioning
his mandate to negotiate with Olmert. Is the November conference
going to be another wasted photo opportunity without a clear forceful
mandate from the people?

Some good things started happening.

The Palestinian line up was cemented earlier, with Ilham Madfai, a top
Arab musician beloved by the Palestinian people, agreeing to come
(thanks to M Morad’s intro), and inspiring leading Palestinian
performers to join. It doesn’t hurt that George Ibrahim, legendary
Palestinian maverick of arts, was driving the artistic line-up.

But the Israeli local line up was all still contingent and shaky.

Many had already discounted our chances two months ago. It’s too
close. People are scared to come. We heard it all.

But our partners stayed steadfast. Shuki Weiss invested himself.
Chris Wangro gave it all he had. And Michael Lang, well, the guy is
the coolest pickle around (like the Fonz)…

I asked Michael Lang if he was worried we were running out of time.
He said, “you know, it always seems like its going to unravel, and
then somehow things always come together at the end.”

Prophetic words of destiny? Or sheer determination? Or both?

All of a sudden good things started to happen.

My friend Yasmine Shihata told me Bryan Adams had heard about this,
and wanted to find a way to help us push to end all the suffering.
Now he will be performing both in Jericho and Tel Aviv.

Michael briefed Rage Against The Machine and they really connected
with the message of – enough with excuses and failures of leadership,
let the people stand and, well, rage against the machine! Though they
won’t all be able to come their lead hopefully will.

Michael also reached the Foo Fighters, and Perry Farrel of Jane’s
Addiction, who understood the importance of mobilizing the moderate
voices to demand an end to the conflict and will hopefully send a
contingent.

Shuki confirmed Machina and Ehud Banay – and started getting phone
calls from dozens others. Now we have the biggest musical line-up in
Israeli history – precisely bc this is not about music alone, but
about something far bigger that brings us all together.

Our surfing partners, Doc and David Paskowitz of Surfing for Peace,
signed up Kelly Slater, the biggest surfing star in the world, who in
turn will hopefully help bring some of the rockers…

Now we have the fortunate problem of making choices.

Same is true on dignitary front, which I’ll blog about separately.

Sent from my iPhone – pardon typos
.

From the printing press…

To distribution,

To posters across Israel advertising Oct 18

To people as walking signs…

To "VanVoice" – the OneVoice Van!

Let me introduce you to Michael Shapira, who is in charge of our signatory member outreach campaign on the Israeli side.

He is one of our newest staff members, and yet already an integral part of OV.

He has built a network with chapters of recruiters across different parts of Israel…

He takes OV very seriously and passionately and believes about its mission as much as any of our most die-hard activists.  And he passes on this energy to his activists:

He brings great energy to the team, and a lot of great ideas, as I will share in another post…

My friend Alan Khazei, who founded City Year, is on to a very bold new effort to build a national youth service movement network among social entrepreneurs. 

He quotes President Truman to remind people that the highest office in the land is that of Citizen.

Alen is looking to hire a whole slew of new team members for this new venture, called "Be the Change."

If you are interested in applying or getting more information, email Emily at Cherniak@gmail.com.

Here are a couple of hits on the Israeli press about our meeting the important milestone of signing up over half a million citizens against violent extremism and towards a two-state solution…

On Ynet, the largest portal part of the largest newspaper group in Israel

On Kol Israel Radio

Can this be true? Is it a dream? A reality? Or does that depend on us?

And also visit www.Goal2018.org – the campaign site!