Link to original article on Progress Magazine
By John Lyndon – Executive Director of OneVoice Europe
As the old adage goes: ‘One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.’
Nowhere
is this truer than within the stifling, often toxic context of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this part of the world, one person’s
Independence Day is another person’s Naqba; one person’s occupation is
another person’s homecoming; and one person’s response is another
person’s precursor. Action and reaction, myth and reality – all have
become blurred, as uncompromisingly subjective and mutually exclusive
historical narratives stalk the land.
This, sadly, is often the
reality one must work within when trying to make progress toward mutual
compromise. Israelis and Palestinians largely define the last 62 years
of their history in opposition to one another. Blame is passed around
judiciously, and each sees the other as the ultimate reason that peace
has been so elusive and progress so temporary.
When faced with a
depressing reality such as this, a committed interlocutor really has to
walk down one of two paths. Should you try and transform the reality to
one more amenable to peace, common understanding and mature, collective
responsibility? It is indeed a tempting thought. Israelis and
Palestinians poring over each others’ perceived injustices, apologising
where necessary and strengthening their ties through cooperation,
collaboration, and joint reconciliation. The second choice however, is
to accept the context as you find it. Israelis and Palestinians have
reason enough to dislike, mistrust, and even hate one another. Instead
of putting the very limited time, resources and energy now available
into trying to make water flow uphill, why not devote all of your
efforts toward achieving a deal that respects rather than seeks to
transform each narrative?
The security threat Israel lives
under is due – primarily, but not exclusively – to the fact that they
occupy the West Bank and Gaza, and stand in the way of a Palestinian
state. Palestinians – primarily, but not exclusively – have employed
violent methods as a means to achieve said state, and end said
occupation. This calculus is simple, and blessedly free from moral
judgment or finger pointing: occupation and violence are two sides of
the same coin. Ending one will bring about the demise of the other.
This is one of the central beliefs of OneVoice, an international
grassroots movement with over 650,000 signatories in roughly equal
numbers both in Israel and in Palestine, and over 2,000 highly-trained
youth leaders. It 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
guaranteeing the end of occupation, establishing a viable independent
Palestinian state, and ensuring the safety and security of the state of
Israel – allowing both people to live in peace with all their
neighbours.
By working in parallel, OneVoice can appeal to the
nationalistic enlightened self-interest of Israelis, through the work
of OneVoice Israel in Tel Aviv; and Palestinians, through the work of
OneVoice Palestine in Ramallah. With chapters located across the length
and breadth of both territories, OneVoice is building a coalition of
supporters: secular to religious, left to right wing. For Israelis,
it’s about building an understanding that the occupation hurts rather
than enhances Israeli security, and poses a threat to Israel’s future
as a Jewish and democratic state. For Palestinians, it’s about building
an understanding that violence and extremism hurts Palestinian national
ambitions, providing a convenient excuse to those who wish to
perpetually delay the establishment of a Palestinian state. Building
this realisation does not require Israeli and Palestinian agreement on
the past, rather it highlights the shared and mutually reinforcing
benefits of common understanding of both peoples’ futures: a sovereign
and viable Palestinian state, living side by side with a secure Israel
- both states at peace with all their neighbours.
Uniquely
in the region in which they inhabit, both Israel and Palestine are
democratic societies. There exists a mechanism within such societies to
transform even the most corrosive reality, should enough public
pressure is brought to bear. That is why OneVoice works tirelessly to
highlight hidden consensus both within and between each society,
mobilising ordinary people toward becoming genuine agents of change.
Through Town Hall Meetings, public rallies, youth leadership training
and ‘get out the vote’ campaigns, we aim to give the voices of
moderation and pragmatism the volume and impact that their numerical
weight deserves: 78% of Israelis and 74% of Palestinians are willing to
get behind a two state solution. Whilst these people may never agree
about what happened in 1948, 1967 or even in 2001 – they are in
agreement about what must happen in 2010: a serious, committed, and
successful push toward a two state solution and an end to violence,
occupation and insecurity. With over 300,000 Israelis and 300,000
Palestinians signed up to this common understanding of what must come,
perhaps the most important and transformative chapter in this entangled
shared history is yet to be written.