“What Are You Willing to Do to End the Conflict?”
At the World Economic Forum, taking place in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos, a group of ordinary Israelis and Palestinians, representing civil society, will have the opportunity to question their leaders, Palestinian President Abbas and Israeli Vice Premier Shimon Peres and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni – simultaneously and live on videocasts – about how they intend to end the conflict in 2007.
Organized by the grassroots mobilization campaign, OneVoice, this unprecedented event will enable ordinary citizens from both sides to jointly condemn extremism and demand progress on the peace process.
This unique opportunity will take place in front of over 2,000 global leaders attending the World Economic Forum and be broadcast live to rallies planned in Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Jerusalem, a press release from the OneVoice movement has revealed.
According to the BBC, this year’s World Economic Forum, which takes place in Switzerland every year in order to discuss how to improve the state of the world, will bring together some 2,400 business leaders, politicians and campaigners, including the heads of more than 70 of the world’s 100 largest companies. Participants will include dignitaries and personalities from over 90 countries.
The OneVoice movement, which has offices in both the West Bank city of Ramallah and in Tel Aviv, as well as in London, New York and Ottawa, reveals in their press release that Thursday’s podium will be launch of a $5 million dollar campaign entitled, “What Are You Willing to Do to End the Conflict?” This campaign, which will be accompanied by a series of global events, intends to mobilise the largest possible number of Israelis and Palestinians to take concrete individual steps to end the conflict. Check them out here…
I dream of the day I wouldn’t have to stop at a check point every 2 miles. I dream of the day getting to the center of Ramallah from my hometown will only take 10 minutes and not 5 hours. I dream of the day I can walk the streets of Jerusalem without having to stand at a check point for 4 hours first. I dream of the day school children and college students are able to complete one full academic year without closures by the israeli occupation…the day children will be able to play without fear… Even though a just peace seems to be a dream, I believe taking a part and trying to make a difference is possible…one has absolutely nothing to lose …but first, and at this particular moment, Palestinians need to unite and work together as one where the Palestinian agenda is one for every single Palestinian…which is a viable free Palestinian State. We, as a people, cannot afford to lose hope…it is the only thing we really have left…and we must take active steps to achieving the dreams we see for ourselves and our children to ensure that a better future will be…
In addition to aiming to empower Palestinian and Israeli civil society to take a more assertive role in ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the OneVoice movement also aims to accumulate the largest framework of friends at an international level.
Already with 1/4 million Israeli and Palestinian members and 2,000 highly trained youth leaders, OneVoice intends to make a major impact on how global leaders address the intractable Israeli-Palestinian conflict. [source]
Israel and the Palestinians are committed to resolving the conflict dividing them, leaders told participants in a plenary Annual Meeting session. Tzipi Livni, Vice-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Israel said Israel was committed to a “two state solution, living side by side in peace”. Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority President, said he was “confident” the foundations were present for a resumption of peace talks.
Abbas said that the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting had become an “international platform that gathers leaders who have contributed to building a human future.”
Economic cooperation between Israel, the Palestinians, the Jordanians and the international community would help integrate the peoples of the region and stimulate prosperity, added Shimon Peres, Vice-Prime Minister of Israel.
The leaders watched recorded video messages (provided above) of Israeli and Palestinian young people, urging the leaders to progress with peace. [source]
