OneVoice International Engagement Program Regional Tours: 2009-2010

During 2009-2010, OneVoice conducted six campus tours in the US and the UK, to the New England Area, the Midwest, Southern California, the New York area, and the Mid-Atlantic area. In addition OneVoice facilitated regional youth leadership training seminars.

New England: February 25-March 5
Regional Youth Leadership Directors Nisreen Abdallah and Roi Assaf joined us on our annual tour of New England universities. We were hosted by a diverse set of student groups at Harvard Divinity School, Harvard Kennedy School, Northeastern, Yale, NYU, Queens College, BU, Tufts, UMass - Boston, Brandeis, Smith College, and UMass - Amherst. We were hosted by organizations such as Arab Students Association, Jewish Students Association, Muslim Students Association, Students from Israel, Political Science Club, Intergroup Dialogue Team, the Anti-War Coalition, Students 4 Peace, Human Rights Working Group, Hillel, New Initiative for Middle East Peace, Students for Justice in Palestine, Alliance for Middle East Peace, and the Muslim Political Action Coalition. Nisreen and Roi served as the keynote speakers for “Envision a Future Beyond Borders,” which honored the beautiful films, poetry, and art inspired by OneVoice made by 7th and 8th grade students at Manhattan Country Day School. Our events in New England were covered by The Boston Globe, Tufts Daily, The Daily Free Press, The Harvard Crimson, WFCR National Public Radio with Helen Barrington, and Northeastern student radio. The new chapter OneVoice chapter at Brandeis has been officially approved!

Midwest: March 24-April 2
Dalia Labadi of Jenin and Itamar Cohen of Tel Aviv represented OneVoice at universities, congregations, and community centers throughout the Midwest. Our tour began in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where we were hosted by the YMCA and the Jewish Federation of Tulsa. While in Tulsa, Dalia and Itamar addressed several interfaith gatherings at various community organizations and religious centers, in addition to an event at the University of Tulsa. They were featured in the Tulsa morning news, KTUL TV, KWGS radio, and Tulsa world. While in Michigan, Dalia and Itamar addressed students and faculty at the University of Michigan- Ann Arbor, where we were hosted by our wonderful partners in the Global Scholars program, as well as many student groups. They also had the opportunity to speak at Michigan State University, Western Michigan University, and to a gathering of young students at Temple Beth Israel in Ann Arbor. From there, we kicked off our visit to Chicago with an event at Northwestern, where our student organizers created a video and launched an essay contest in preparation for our visit. This event was sponsored by the Student Pluralism Interfaith Network, Model Arab League, Americans for Informed Democracy, Peace of Mind, AskBigQuestions, among others. Our trip to the Midwest concluded with University of Chicago, where students are in the process of starting a chapter of OneVoice!

Southern California: April 24-March 1
Rami Rabayah of Jenin and Rotem Yossef of Tel Aviv served on our tour to Southern California. We were hosted by a diverse set of student groups at Occidental College, Santa Monica College, San Diego State University, UC San Diego, and UC Irvine. The OneVoice chapter at Occidental was launched by students following our regional tour to Los Angeles last year, and it has grown into a very active student organization on campus! We were pleased to be hosted by the Olive Tree Initiative at UCI, an exceptional campus initiative that was initially inspired by a OneVoice presentation at UCI three years ago. Rami and Rotem held an extensive interview on the Defining Moment talk show.

Midwest Tour: November 13-20
In late November, we completed another successful IEP tour featuring Arwa AbdelRahman and Guy Lupo. Arwa and Guy's journey began in Washington DC, where they met with several U.S. Congressional offices alongside Jason Alexander, one of our most active Entertainment Board members. From there, Arwa and Guy headed to Chicago, where we addressed students at Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. We spent the rest of the tour in Michigan, where we engaged students, faculty, and community members in Ann Arbor, Lansing, Dearborn, and Kalamazoo. Arwa and Guy led our first IEP Town Hall Meeting in the U.S. at Michigan State University, which was a great success! You can read about this tour in The Western Herald and The Washington Scene.

New York Tour: October 30-November 6
Dalia Labadi and Lee Rubinstein represented OneVoice in our tour of New York area universities. With twelve events at seven universities, including Rutgers, NYU, Columbia, Brooklyn College, Queens College, Marymount Manhattan College, and Seton Hall University, we managed to reach a total of almost 1,000 people on this tour. Our event at Columbia was a glowing moment for the program this fall – it was organized by a committed coalition of students spanning across the religious and political spectrum. Close to 150 students attended, with robust attendance from members of all thirteen sponsoring student organizations. At all campuses and at Columbia in particular, students expressed a strong desire to start a sustainable presence for OneVoice on their campuses. You can read about this and other events in the Columbia Spectator and The Brooklyn Excelsior. You can also read an engaging Q&A session with Dalia and Lee on the ALLMEP website.

Mid-Atlantic Tour: September 8-17
Antwan Saca and Ari Eitan joined us on our annual Mid-Atlantic tour. Ari and Antwan addressed large audiences at GWU, American University, University of Maryland, Georgetown, UVA, UNC-Greensboro, Elon University, and UNC-Chapel Hill. Our Youth Leaders briefed staff from the State Department, White House, and Congress. While in DC, they also delivered their message to students and community members at a Ramadan Iftar at the Embassy of Bahrain and Shabbat services at a local synagogue. You can read about Ari and Antwan’s inspiring event on 9/11 at the Buxton Initiative here. Our events in New England were covered by The GW Hatchet, The Times News, and The Carolina News Wire.