Letter from OneVoice Student Leaders in DC

Press Release from Washington, DC One Voice Student Leaders

October 16th, 2007

In light of unexpected and grave security threats in Palestine, the One Million Voices People's Summit in Jericho has been postponed. In solidarity with their Palestinian counterparts, Israeli OneVoice activists decided to postpone the Tel Aviv People's Summit as well. Despite these setbacks, the 600,000+ Israelis and Palestinians who make up the OneVoice Movement will not be silenced.

In order to ensure that the voices of nonviolent, moderate majorities in Israel and Palestine are heard, the youth leaders of OneVoice Washington D.C., in parallel with OneVoice students leaders across North America, will be holding a public meeting at the Josephine Butler Parks Center, Malcolm X Park at 12:15 on Thursday, October 18th with the participation of Rabbi Scott Sperling and Imam Yahya Hendi, Dr. Tamara Wittes, Americans for Informed Democracy founder Seth Green, OneVoice US Executive Director Darya Shaikh, and Soulfege. This meeting will be followed by an open workshop for students and community members.

OneVoice is a civil society movement that empowers conflict resolution from the Palestinian and Israeli grassroots. Strong support from the international community for the moderate majority in the Middle East has become more important than ever. The interruption of OneVoice's plans for the Peoples' Summits is symptomatic of the conflict that over half a million individuals in Israel and Palestine have pledged to end. It is crucial that we convey Israeli and Palestinian calls for conflict resolution directly to the international community.

At the Thursday press conference Darya Shaikh, the Executive Director of OneVoice US, will talk about the challenges and successes OneVoice has faced up to this point; remarks from speakers slated to take part in the Washington DC "Echo" solidarity event will follow. Finally, the student leaders of OneVoice Washington, DC, will speak directly to their counterparts in Israel and Palestine with a message of hope and encouragement.

We welcome you to join us in this show of solidarity and concrete planning for actions targeting our own elected representatives leading up to the November Conference.

Nicole Kukuruda, 20, George Mason University, Government and International Politics, Wichita, KS Aaron Karako, 19, George Washington University, International Affairs/Middle Eastern Studies, South Florida Kyle Linhares, 18, American University, Economics, Gov, Portland OR Sara Gunning, 22, American University, International Studies Peace and Conflict Resolution, Chicago Lauren Barr, 18, American University, International Studies and Economics, Ellicott City, MD Brian Banks, 19, American University, International Studies, Burlington, VT Kareem Elbayar, 24, The George Washington University Law School, Washington, DC Dalia Deak, 17, Fairfax, VA