Northern California Speaking Tour – November 11 - 18
OneVoice Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders will be bringing their message to Northern California from November 11 - 18, as they discuss their grassroots peace-building efforts following Gilad Shalit’s release, the changing relationship between Israel, the PA and Hamas and the development of the Palestinian bid for statehood at the UN.
OneVoice youth activists Abigail Gottlieb and William Salameh will engage everyone from students to fellow activists and community members, sharing their stories and opening American ears to a new constituency: the “silent majority” of Israelis and Palestinians who call for the two-state solution amidst rising tensions.
Tour Events and Schedule:
Monday, November 14
• Netivot Shalom Open Event – 7:30 pm, 1316 University Avenue, Berkeley
Tuesday, November 15
• San Francisco State University Open Event – 5 - 6:30 pm
• Kehilla Community Synagogue Open Event – 7:30 pm, St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue, Berkeley
Wednesday, November 16
• University of San Francisco Law School – 5 - 6:30 pm, Kendrick Hall Room 101, 2130 Fulton Street
Thursday, November 17
• Mills College Open Event: 7:30 - 9 pm, Bender Room, Carnegie Hall, 5000 MacArthur Blvd, Oakland
These events are sponsored by: Middle Eastern Law Students Association, Jewish Law Students Association, Students for Law and Global Justice, and the International Law Society, Kehilla Community Synagogue, International Relations Club, Netivot Shalom Synagogue, Mills College Office of Spiritual & Religious Life (SRL), Model UN at Mills, the Jewish Student Collective, and M2: Multifaith @ Mills.
Please contact IEP Associate Shaina Low for directions and room locations.
Abigail Gottlieb represents the most engaged of Israeli youth: pursuing a master’s in public policy at Tel Aviv University and writing for the Israeli news site Walla!, she has traveled to Germany and America to participate in model Middle East simulations and to learn to see all sides of the conflict. These simulations, though, showed her the pitfalls of a lack of vision. “People kept talking about the past, about how they had been mistreated and how the other side had been so bad to them,” said Abigail. “Slogans were repeated but no one talked about the future.”
Read more of Abigail Gottlieb’s story here.
William Salameh has led town hall meetings on the final status issues across the West Bank. When he broaches the subject of the right of return, though, and the status of refugees, he is speaking about a subject that has been central to his family. A refugee himself from Jaffa, his family has been living in Ramallah since 1948. “My father, my uncles, my aunts, they love Jaffa, they have Jaffa in their hearts,” he says. A just solution, William continues, is not only about “refugees' physical status, it is also about recognition, an apology and compensation for the emotional harm that has been imposed.” Read more of William Salameh’s story here.
OneVoice’s International Education Program (IEP), based in New York, connects the movement’s youth network to American college students and community members who have an interest in the conflict. More than 16,000 students have attended OneVoice regional tour events on over 100 US college campuses. Watch OneVoice and founder Daniel Lubetzky on PBS NewsHour.
Upcoming IEP Tours:
• New England – February 10 - 17, 2012
• Midwest – March 23 - 30, 2012
• Southern California – April 13 - 20, 2012
Interested in having OneVoice youth leaders speak in your community? Contact IEP Associate Shaina Low.
About OneVoice: An international mainstream grassroots movement that aims to amplify the voice of Israeli and Palestinian moderates, empowering them to seize back the agenda for conflict resolution and demand that their leaders achieve a two-state solution. The movement has independent Israeli and Palestinian offices working in parallel to appeal to the national self-interests of their own societies with credentials enabling them to unite people within each society across the religious and political spectrum. Please see www.onevoicemovement.org for more information.
