Israelis, Palestinians from grassroots group OneVoice choose coexistence
by Gabe Ross
With a dreary political horizon in the Middle East and campuses divided into pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian camps, a pair of young speakers came to U.S. colleges last week with a simple message.
“I have hope,” said Odelia Englander, 26, of Tel Aviv. “Pessimism is another way of saying indifference.”
“I want to have hope for the sake of my children and my children’s children,” agreed Christine Soudah, 23, a Christian from Ramallah.
Last Thursday the duo spoke to a crowd of some 50 students at the University of Maryland at College Park, one stop along a weeklong tour of seven East Coast universities. Locally, the two had spoken at the District’s George Washington, Georgetown and American universities, and at George Mason University, at both the Fairfax and Arlington campuses.
The two came as representatives of OneVoice, a grassroots organization that attempts to mobilize Israelis and Palestinians who favor a two-state solution. Founded in 2002, OneVoice does not take political positions, instead attempting to bring together moderates on both sides who believe in coexistence.
“It doesn’t ask people to be lovey-dovey or forget their differences,” said Miriam Asnes, the group’s international education program manager, who accompanied the two speakers throughout their trip. To her, the nature of the presentation, which gave both a Palestinian and an Israeli the opportunity to speak, made the afternoon talk uniquely qualified to attract students from vastly differing viewpoints.
The Pro-Israel Terrapin Alliance, Organization of Arab Students, Community Roots and the Union of Progressive Zionists all co-sponsored the event, according to Avi Mayer, PITA president.
Both Englander and Soudah took turns explaining what prompted them to become active in OneVoice.
Soudah, who graduated from Bir Zeit University two years ago with a degree in accounting, said that the prospect of the continued occupation of the West Bank inspired her to volunteer. “As a Palestinian, I’m fed up with the silence, I’m fed up with the violence,” she said. “I do want to live next to Israel.”
“If me and Odalia can work that out,” she said, addressing the crowd, “I’m sure many of you can work that out.”
Spending a year in France after completing her army service and then receiving a bachelor’s degree in government, Englander saw what it was like to live in a city where public transportation was not subject to violence.
Even more jarring, she received a phone call in which she found out one of her best friends was seriously injured in a terrorist attack back home. “My first reaction was hate, I hated every Palestinian,” she recalled. But she later came to realize that this was no solution.
“I didn’t want to be this totally indifferent Tel Avivian,” explained Englander, who then “came to hear about OneVoice and was totally inspired by the organization.”
The face-to-face encounters between the two succeeded in changing the perceptions of the other side.
“I could never imagine an Israeli who was not a soldier,” said Soudah. “Now it’s totally, totally normal for me.”
Prior to the OneVoice meetings, Englander said, her “whole conception [of Palestinians] was from the media.”
As an average Israeli, she said, “I didn’t meet any Palestinian from the West Bank or Gaza Strip until I joined OneVoice.”
Though the meetings between the two sides do not always produce agreements, both Soudah and Englander insisted that both sides shared a mutual respect.
“We don’t have to love each other, although I love Odelia,” said Soudah, drawing laughter.