Veteran youth leaders Ahmad Omeir and Danny Shaket spent nearly two weeks in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and North Carolina. During this tour, they engaged U.S. citizens from many tiers – students, community members, policymakers, and dignitaries.

Our tour began in Washington, D.C., with widely attended events at George Washington University, American University, Georgetown University, and our first time ever at Gallaudet University, the only liberal arts university for the deaf in the world.

At a time of political uncertainty, our tour in Washington also allowed us to engage with policymakers in Congress, the White House, the United States Institute of Peace, foreign embassies, the Woodrow Wilson Center, the New America Foundation, and the Buxton Initiative. A highlight of our trip was an event at the Embassy of Finland, in partnership with the Young Professionals in Foreign Policy.

We then took the long drive down to North Carolina, with a stop in Virginia Beach, a first for OneVoice, and forged new relationships at the Virginia Beach Friends School and Old Dominion University. In North Carolina, we spoke at the New Garden Friends School, UNC-Greensboro, High Point University, Elon University, and UNC-Chapel Hill.

Our events in the Mid-Atlantic region were covered by NPR’s Tell Me More, The Eagle, The GW Hatchet, The Pendulum, and The Buff and Blue.

Read more:
Mid-Atlantic IEP tour commences as youth leaders speak at the Institute of Peace and GWU
Youth leaders hold panel discussion at the Woodrow Wilson Center
Congressman Ellison expresses support for OneVoice youth leaders
Youth leaders emphasize personal responsibility to end the conflict at the Buxton Initiative
Ambassador Ross stresses importance of civic support to end Israeli-Palestinian conflict
Youth leaders emphasize focusing on the future at Gallaudet University
Addressing today’s students to influence tomorrow’s policymakers
Our present leaders need to negotiate the future

Youth leaders Mohammad Asidah and Eliran Eyal represented OneVoice in Denver, our first visit to Colorado. While there, they spoke in classes, campus-wide events, and private events for community leaders at the University of Denver and the University of Colorado-Denver. The Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East graciously hosted the trip.

We then were off to Los Angeles and San Diego, where we spoke at the UC-San Diego, San Diego State, Cal-State Northridge, UC-Irvine, UCLA, Santa Monica College, and Occidental College. We also spoke to large audiences at both the Islamic Center of Southern California and Leo Baeck Temple, both first time visits for us.

Our diverse range of events were sponsored by Jewish Students Taking Action for Peace, People to People International, International Security and Conflict Resolution Program Student Society, Graduate Student Association Political Science, Students for Justice in Palestine, Hillel, Olive Tree Initiative, Global Citizenship Initiative, and OneVoice Oxy.

We were especially pleased to see our OneVoice chapter at Occidental flourishing, and to see the continued success and growth of the Olive Tree Initiative, whose founding was inspired by a OneVoice event.

Read more:
Q+A with IEP youth leaders Mohammad and Eliran
Mohammad Asideh devotes civic service to Palestine's future generations
Eliran Eyal finds partners for peace on the Palestinian side
Eliran and Mohammad engage over 170 university students in Denver
IEP incorporates Imagine 2018 into San Diego events
Jewish congregation inspired by OneVoice youth leaders
Making sense and finding answers to Americans’ support of Israel and Palestine
Blurring the lines between identity and belief

The OneVoice team traversed New York and New Jersey during 10-days packed with events attended by diverse audiences – from university students to teens to local community members to international policymakers.

Dana Sender, OneVoice Israel’s Youth Leadership Program director, and Roza Helou, senior OneVoice Palestine youth leader, kicked off their tour on a panel alongside Lisa Gossels at a screening of her film, My So-Called Enemy, at the Athena Film Festival.

The next morning, we met with over 70 people at Oheb Shalom Synagogue in South Orange, New Jersey. We returned to New Jersey the following day for a series of events at Rutgers University, a campus that has experienced a recent sharp increase in polarization around the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We were able to interact with a range of passionate students, whether in classes, over lunch with the Middle East Co-existence House, or at a campus-wide event. This gave us the perfect momentum for the rest of the week, as we met with Christian, Jewish, and Muslim high school students and visited Queens College, Fordham University, Yeshiva University, Drew University, Seton Hall University, and Columbia University.

These events were sponsored by the Project of International Relations and Conflict Resolution, the Political Science Club, Muslim Students Association, Campus Ministry, Jewish Students Organization, Social Justice Society, Israel Club, Graduate Diplomacy Council, Undergraduate Diplomacy Student Association, and SHU One Campaign. These events spawned at least one new OneVoice chapter.

We held our first OneVoice webinar, our first young professionals networking event in New York, co-sponsored by Young Professionals in Foreign Policy, and our first briefing at the UN during the Commission on the Status of Women annual conference.

Read more:
Personal hardships motivate Roza to help future generations
Israel’s future generations deserve a normal reality
Youth leaders address international bodies and young professionals
OneVoice activists speak at polarized Rutgers campus
OneVoice activists challenge perspectives at Fordham and Yeshiva events

Northern California is known for its polarized campuses and communities, but it was a challenge OneVoice Israel youth leader Tomer Avital and OneVoice Palestine youth leader Bashar Shweiki were ready to take on in March.

Tomer and Bashar spoke with students at UC-Davis, UC-Santa Cruz, Stanford, University of San Francisco, UC-Berkeley, and San Francisco State. Many of these campuses have experienced confrontation between different student groups passionate about Israel and Palestine, so a visit from Tomer and Bashar proved to be a necessary dose of reality from two dynamic grassroots activists.

Tomer and Bashar also had the opportunity to conduct an event with over 150 community members from synagogues, churches, and Muslim community groups. Not only did Tomer and Bashar have a chance to share their personal stories with the audience, but they also had a chance to meet with them in small groups, as they brainstormed programs to support peace building in Israel and Palestine.

Read more:
Engaged OneVoice activists face tough Israeli law on family unification
Tomer and his family represent a microcosm of Israeli society
OneVoice helps Bay Area faith houses find their role
San Francisco students are no ‘couch moderates’
OneVoice youth leaders bring NorCal students to the discussion table

April found the IEP team traversing the Midwest, traveling from Minnesota to Illinois to Wisconsin to Michigan. Youth activist Mohammad Asidah returned to the U.S., this time with Shir Lachish from OneVoice Israel.

We visited many new universities, such as Macalester, DePaul, UW-Madison, and UW-Milwaukee, as well as returned to University of Michigan and Michigan State.

Our events were sponsored by stellar student groups and institutions doing inspiring work on their campuses, such as Students United for Palestinian Equal Rights, Muslim Jewish Volunteer Initiative, the Global Scholars Program, the Campus Interfaith Council, and Students for Peace and Justice.

We’re excited to bolster our partnership with these groups and bring creative programming to amplify Israeli and Palestinian voices on their campuses.

Read more:
Mohammad Asideh Gets Practical to Build for the Future
Shir Lachish learns personal empowerment through teaching
Shir Lachish and Mohammad Asideh allay misconceptions of a two-state solution
IEP highlights OneVoice consensus-building at University of Wisconsin events
U.S. Students Silent on Israel-Palestine

OneVoice asks can people power save the two-state solution
OneVoice launches Education and Outreach Program in Southern England
European audiences not as daunting as they seem

OneVoice activists gain media skills at the World Perspective Seminar in Spain
OneVoice activists network with young leaders, reach Spanish audience

OneVoice participates in the UNAOC Civil Society Pre-Forum in Doha