One Million Voices - About OneVoice: The Numbers

The Numbers

OneVoice Recruitment Statistics & Definitions

OneVoice reached a critical milestone in September 2007 when it recruited its 500,000th signatory member. Our goal for the One Million Voices Campaign is to recruit one million Israelis and Palestinians to the OneVoice Mandate.

Recap of Recruitment Drive

Inception 2002-2004: Recruitment of Israelis and Palestinians who support the OneVoice Principles and commit to become engaged in fighting extremism commenced in 2002 with 300 Israeli and Palestinian members. In 2003, over 25,000 Israelis and Palestinians signed on to the OneVoice Proclamation of Principles, just as Queen Rania and other dignitaries signed on to the Proclamation in tandem. In 2004, Citizen Negotiations were launched to enable citizens to craft a grassroots consensus on ten pillars for conflict resolution and an additional 113,000 signed on through October 2004.

Between September 2004 and November 2004, the OneVoice Board reviewed the results and realized consensus had been reached on all 10 questions as reformatted after multiple rounds of citizen negotiations; while some issues remained to be deepened, the Board determined the OneVoice Movement needed to first focus on building a deeper human infrastructure of young activists, so the leadership program was initially conceived by November 2004 and launched in earnest in early 2005. By mid-2006, 1,800 Israeli and Palestinian youth activists had joined the movement and gone through immersion training.

2005 Campaigns: From December 2004 to January 2005, OneVoice Palestine also conducted the first ever get-out-the-vote campaign in the Arab world, for the Palestinian Presidential Elections and along with the distribution of over 100,000 brochures and a dozen events across the West Bank and Gaza that drew in tens of thousands of participants, it signed up over 30,000 new members. Between June and September 2005, OneVoice Israel conducted a campaign to discourage incitement and violence amidst deep divisions surrounding the evacuation of settlements from Gaza; besides busloads of activists in Kissufim to counter militant violence, it conducted a very effective internet campaign that was viewed by hundreds of thousands and through which 18,000 Israelis were recruited to sign on to the OV Principles.

2006 Campaign (First Half of The Year): Between November 2005 and March 2006, OneVoice Palestine conducted 10 massive Town Hall Meetings and a grassroots petition campaign encouraging a platform to end the occupation through peaceful actions, through which it recruited 23,000 new members. Between February and March 2006, OneVoice Israel conducted a non-partisan get-out-the-vote campaign geared at young people which elicited a lot of media coverage and included a Public Service Announcement from Israeli TV Eretz Nehederet stars Kitzis and Friedman and an animated viral email video encouraging young people to vote. 31,379 Israelis signed on to OneVoice through this campaign.

Online Recruitment September 2004 - November 2006: Between September 2004 and November 2006 an additional 15,000 Israelis and Palestinians (13,000 Israelis and 2,000 Palestinians, numbers rounded down) signed online as citizen negotiators independently and separate from a campaign effort. As of the November 2006 Audit by the PeaceWorks Foundation, 256,000 Israeli and Palestinian activists had joined the movement in roughly equal numbers (130,000 Palestinians and 126,000 Israelis). The OneVoice Israel and OneVoice Palestine offices receive equal funding on the whole, and while they each have totally independent operations, the International Steering Committee and the PeaceWorks Foundation seek to ensure they are working in coordination and in parallel.

2006-2007 What Are You Willing to Do Campaign:

Fall-Winter 2006. The What Are You Willing to Do Campaign began in the Fall of 2006. OneVoice-Israel and OneVoice-Palestine began recruiting people to sign the OneVoice Mandate very assertively. Between October and December 2006, OneVoice Israel recruited 17,000 citizens and OneVoice Palestine recruited 17,277 citizens to answer the question “What Are You Willing To Do To End the Conflict” with commitments to join the OneVoice Movement.

Jan-April 2007. In January 2007, the OneVoice Movement, together with the World Economic Forum, organized a video-linked session of hundreds of Israeli and Palestinian youth leaders who engaged directly with their world leaders, which was broadcast worldwide, and which resulted in an additional 12,150 Israeli, and 2,300 Palestinian signatories. Between February and April 2007, OneVoice Israel and OneVoice Palestine conducted assertive outreach campaigns and activities with Palestinian farmers, with Israeli Kibbutzim, with women groups, with high-tech workers, and other diverse groups, resulting in an additional 21,000 Israeli and 33,550 Palestinian signatories.

May-July 2007. A very aggressive ramp up towards the What Are You Willing To Do Campaign began in May 2007 and grew into June, resulting in 23,190 Israeli signatories and 56,100 Palestinian signatories – including 18,100 Gaza residents. The campaign was growing very fast, till the takeover of Gaza by Hamas. At that time, the OneVoice Movement froze its signature drive in Gaza and the West Bank during the end of June and the month of July, as it evaluated its strategy. While OneVoice did not stop its signature drive in July, the campaign did suffer from the shock at developments in Gaza, and only yielded 7,600 more Israeli signatories.

August 1-September 17, 2007. In August, OneVoice Palestine and OneVoice Israel agreed to supplement the preamble to the OneVoice Mandate, to emphasize the imperative of ending the conflict in order to isolate forces of violent absolutism, and to reverse the debacle in Gaza. The campaign was then rekindled. An estimated 10,000 Palestinians in Gaza and 25,000 Palestinians in the West Bank have joined the movement as of September 17, 2007, though these last numbers are estimates pending completion of the latest audit. The Israeli operation was assertively bolstered, with a network of booths operated across Israel, and supplemented by a network of recruiters who reach out in their communities and villages. The total number of Israelis recruited on the ground between August and September 17, 2007 reached 54,882.

September 17 - October 2007. Throughout the run-up to OneVoice's planned October 18th Summits, the sign-up drive continued apace. Despite having to postpone the Summits, OneVoice has re-affirmed its commitment to reaching one million signatories through this campaign, and is continuing its work with renewed effort. In between September 17, 2007 and the end of October, a total of 19,927 Palestinians in the West Bank signed on to the OneVoice mandate. Total signatories from Gaza for the end of September and the month of October are pending. The Israeli signature drive continued to grow, gaining an addtional 63,948 Israeli signatories to date.

The One Million Voices Website: One Million Voices website was launched in August 2007 and as of October 30, 2007, had yielded 1453 Israeli signatories and 582 Palestinian signatories. Online signatories to the OneVoiceMovement.org website since November 2006 are still pending an audit.

International Supporters: In addition to the above numbers of Palestinian and Israeli signatories on the ground and on line, since inception and through November 2006, over 10,000 additional signatories from the United States, Great Britain and other international supporters across the world also joined as signatories. As of June 1, 2007 and through the last audit on December 30, 2007, an additional 6,062 international signatories have joined the movement at the OneMillionVoices website, plus a total of 951 International signatories from www.OneVoiceMovement.org.

How Does It Work?

A Volunteer-Driven Campaign: The recruitment drives on the ground are primarily conducted by a volunteer movement, resulting in deeper commitment and greater grassroots depth.

ID Requirements: All signatories must provide their first and last name, their city of residence, and their phone and/or email address. When signing on to the Citizen Negotiations, a national security id is also required.

The Content: While the pledges and documents vary slightly depending on the campaign involved and on the current issues being addressed, they all have a common denominator embodied in the OneVoice Principles of Participation, which require a recognition of the humanity and human rights of both sides (including the right to freedom and security), a recognition that this conflict needs to be resolved through non-violence, and a personal pledge of active involvement towards empowering ordinary citizens against extremism and towards a resolution of the conflict.

2007 Goal. The OneVoice International Steering Committee had a bold goal of at least doubling the number of signatories in 2007 to reach half a million members. The Goal was reached as of the audit of September 17, 2007, with 536,443 total signatories, including 262,008 Israelis and 274,435 Palestinians.

Activism Levels: Not all signatories are actively involved in the movement, and so the youth movement’s task is to increase the participation and engagement of their communities.

Key Definitions

What does it mean to be a “Signatory” or “Member”? “Signatories” or “Members” of the OneVoice Movement are used interchangeably and are the broadest term used by OneVoice to define a relationship to the OneVoice Movement. The requirement for this denomination is a personal signed pledge that the individual will live up to the principles of the movement and will work in their daily life to fight extremism and amplify the voice of moderation. From there, OneVoice staff and volunteers encourage its “signatories” or “members” to increase their involvement.

What is a Citizen Negotiator? The next step of activism is for a signatory to become a “Citizen Negotiator” by participating in the voting process. Beyond that, members are encouraged to participate in community events and public activities designed to enhance the influence of moderates in their communities.

What is the OneVoice Mandate? The OneVoice Mandate is an updated document negotiated by the OneVoice-Palestine and OneVoice-Israel executive teams embodying the basic principles of the OneVoice Movement plus the specific needs & demands of the times, including a cessation of all violence, a recognition of all prior agreements and of each other, and an immediate resumption of uninterrupted negotiations toward a Two State Solution.

Greater Engagement: Board & Council Service and Youth Leadership Program: The highest level of participation in the movement is to join one of the Boards or Councils of the OneVoice Movement, or in the case of young people between 18 and 35 years of age, to join the Youth Leadership Program and continue activism and training through successive programs to advance in the leadership program and become a OneVoice Ambassador.

What is a OneVoice Youth Ambassador? A OneVoice Youth Ambassador is a Youth leader that has received advanced training and has proven themselves through deep and consistent activism in their communities. OneVoice Youth Ambassadors represent the OneVoice Movement in events locally and abroad. They have been sent as emissaries to public events like the World Economic Forum MENA Summit in Sharm El Sheikh or as OneVoice Ambassadors to college campuses from the US to Europe to the Arab World as part of the International Education Program.