ISRAELIS MOBILIZE FOR PEACE:
ONE MILLION HANDS FOR A PEACE AGREEMENT
Ayala Emmett
“149,585 Israelis have already signed up to deliver a strong message to the Israeli government—the people expect a peace treaty in Spring 2014”
A strong demand for a peace treaty in 2014 is expressed by Israelis these days and offers us here in Jewish America an opportunity to support their efforts.
For many years it was tough to be a pro-Israel pro-peace Jew in America. J Street has changed the political monopoly of AIPAC and has insisted on the right of Jewish pluralism, that is the right have a peace and two-states treaty on the American political map.
At the 2013 J Street conference it seemed that much of the public peace action took place there, in Washington D.C. with the current administration invested in negotiating a peace agreement. The question was whether Secretary Kerry’s mission to get an agreement between Israelis and Palestinians could find strong support in Jewish America. In the Jewish American discourse and in American politics AIPAC had for many years a single voice; for a long time AIPAC took it upon itself to represent, without consent, all of Jewish America. It has become clear lately that AIPAC power has greatly diminished; that alone deserves a separate discussion.
My goal here is to highlight the newly emerging grassroots Israeli movement of a Million Hands. This is a significant moment in Israel. It is also an opportunity for American Jews to support this Israeli mobilization for a treaty between Israelis and Palestinians.
About the Million Hands מליון ידיים
Background
On July 2013 the Israeli and the Palestinian representatives came back to the
negotiation table and a new window of opportunity has opened. The Israeli
government also accepted the proposed timeline for the process – arriving to a bilateral agreement by April 2014.
Recent surveys of public opinion Israel reports that the vast majority of the Israelis support the concept of political agreement.
With that, the people in Israel have no way of expressing their support and their wish for bilateral agreement and this is what our campaign came to do.
Our plan of action
Hands-counter showing the many supporting hands given to the campaign of the public will illustrate to the government and the world the broad support for the campaign.
Spectacular Landscape art instillations made of thousands of colorful hands
representing the vote of the people will be set up by volunteers in prominent
Israeli landmarks.
Million hands in front of the Knesset – on April 2014 with the conclusion of the negotiations, all our supporting hands will gather in front of the Knesset in a democratic call for an agreement and future reconciliation.
About us
We are a three ordinary Israelis, Ziv, Dror and Guy. Like the major public we believe that solving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essential to our lives and that the conditions for this are ripe. We decided to raise this campaign out of a sincere wish to influence and better the future of our country and our kids.
It\’s important to note that we have no partisan affiliations and that the campaign is a not for profit venture.
Give a hand for peace agreement in our website facebook, and make everyone you know do the same.
Calendar of events – Participate in one of the many
spectacular Million Hands installation that will take place
around the country during this winter.
Become an activist – Be an activist and help organize a
million hands installations in your area of residence or place
of work.
Donate small personal donation – The campaign is financed solely by privet donations and your contribution is essential for the operation to continue and be affective.
Each hand is a voice for peace. [Million Hands]