OneVoice Movement: About Us

OneVoice Europe

Started in May 2006, OneVoice Europe was set up with two main missions. The first: to fundraise to support the work being led by young Israeli and Palestinian OneVoice volunteers towards conflict resolution in the Middle East. The second: to bring the sentiments and expertise they had developed to help combat polarisation amongst the pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian communities in Europe and, beyond this, to engage peoples’ energy and passion over Israel-Palestine away from hatred and towards helping moderates in the region, to end occupation and all forms of violence and find a way out of the conflict.

In order to achieve OneVoice Europe’s mission, a fundraising and media drive began in earnest in 2006, and alongside this came an International Education Programme to bring some of OneVoice’s most committed activists from the Middle East to the UK to talk about their experiences in the Region and why this has led them to choose a path of conflict resolution. This peer-to-peer engagement has proved a massive success in engaging mainstream communities of youth from all backgrounds in work towards conflict resolution.

Upcoming Events:

November 2008: OneVoice Europe UK Campus Tour

Parliamentary Outreach:

Ongoing: Over 100 MPs have given their support for a Parliamentary Early Day Motion supporting OneVoice’s work.

June 2008: Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has visited One Voice in Jerusalem twice in his capacity as The Quartet’s Representative to the Middle East and has since proclaimed his support:

“The real change can only come from you - the leaders of OneVoice, the grassroots - make the change and the political leaders will follow you”. Tony Blair 2008

June 2008: David Miliband talks about OneVoice in his blog

July 2007: 30 MPs and parliamentarians, and 300 members of the public attended a public demonstration under the banner of OneVoice. The event was attended by MPs from across the political spectrum and messages of support were recorded and sent to the teams in the Middle East. Highlights from the event here.

December 2006: As DFID Minister, Hilary Benn was invited by OneVoice Europe to visit with their Israeli and Palestinian teams, an experience he described as the ‘greatest cause for optimism’ he saw throughout his trip.

Links:

Join the OneVoice Facebook Group
The OneVoice Glasgow Facebook Group

How To Get Involved

Contact Hitham Kayali to set up an event in your community or to join a OneVoice youth leadership programme.
To join OneVoice Glasgow contact Anthony Silkoff
To join OneVoice Aberdeen contact Lynne Tammi
To intern or volunteer please contact Sayyeda Salam.