Day Six

After a very pleasant experience with our colleagues at OVP yesterday, we were greeted in Tel Aviv by their Israeli counterparts, at the OneVoice Israel’s (OVI) offices in downtown Tel Aviv.

After warmly exchanging pleasantries, the Glasgow crew were given a presentation by the office staff of OVI.

They talked about their activities (their main aim was to push the two state peace process rather than brand recognition of OV) & their endorsement from high profile public figures such as Tony Blair, Paul McCartney, Jason Alexander (George from Seinfeild), Paul Reise, Craig Newmark, Kina Maztlieck & the Eurovision underated music sensation Mira & Noa from Israel & Palestine.

They explained how they brought OVP Youth Leaders from Ramallah to the University of Tel Aviv. Which was especially significant as Israeli’s are forbidden from entering the West Bank, which makes meeting each other somewhat difficult.

Just like their OVP counterpoints, they left us enthused & inspired with their activities, relentless enthusiasm and their dedication.

We were then joined for lunch by two national celebrities of the polling and peace process world. Video interviews with Dr Mina Tzemach and the former chief negotiator between Israel and Syria will be uploaded at a later junction of time.

Roi, a OVI Youth Leader, kept the OV van entertained with his anecdotes & antics from Brussels, while we took the long road down to Sderot.

We'd had a relaxing morning with our friends at OVI, but we knew Sderot would be more challenging for us all.

Sderot could arguably be viewed as a microcosm of the problems facing the peace process:

Since the 2nd intifada thousands of rockets, fired from Gaza, have landed on Sderot, killing 15 and wounding many more, including young children. So, there we have violence and death. Adding to this microcosm is the disparity between the extremists having the platform, and a lack of voice for moderates. And then there's propaganda - myths, rumours and exaggerations. Evidence of each of these obstacles to peace was, sadly, obvious in Sderot.

Shalom, a representative of Sderot, stood before us in the municipal council's bomb shelter. "My parents came from Yemen in 1902... I have no other country."

He began by describing the history of the area and its inhabitants, who came from all over the Middle East.

They had social economic difficulties, he said, but they could live with those. What they could not tolerate were Qassam rocket attacks, he asserted. We were told that not a single area of Sderot had not been hit. Fortunately there have been very few rocket attacks in the last few months, but the residents of Sderot still feel the threat daily, with the last rocket falling on the 21st October, just a few days ago. It was stated that 70%+ of Sderot's children suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

When presented with stories of innocent human tragedy, like the 2 year old and 4 year old killed whilst playing together in Sderot, one can only feel sympathy for those suffering in such a situation. However, it seemed that the tactics employed by this representative were of political point-scoring, and propaganda. This was unfortunate, as the many genuine fears and facts expressed were somewhat undermined by myths and rumours.

The idea that Gazans had not rebuilt their thousands of destroyed homes since January, simply to show the world a cruel view of Israel, was one example of our speaker's claims. It seems more likely that a lack of resources, due to the blockade of Gaza, is the main reason why people's homes might not have yet been rebuilt.

The plight of Gazans was mentioned once: "They suffer not less than us." However, blame was completely apportioned upon Hamas, with Israel portrayed as innocent, despite January's invasion.

Shalom stated that the solution was to "throw out the terror organisations from Gaza". He didn't have a response when challenged by Anthony, that Hamas was far larger and more significant to Palestinian society than just a 'terror' group.

Similarly, his repeated statements that "Terror is terror" and that "Gazans bring up their children to be militants" failed to acknowledge the violence of the other side, and that it could be suggested that Israeli youths are also highly militarised, given that every Israeli has to serve in the IDF. Some of our group also felt that just as Hamas could be viewed as security for Gaza and terror for Israel, the IDF could be viewed similarly, as security for Israel but terror for Gaza.

Our group was also shown a video produced by the Sderot Media Centre. Again, the feeling of propaganda spoilt what could be a very powerful message. Footage of rocket attacks was shown, children terrified and screaming, buildings damaged. Unedited, these are powerful images and speak volumes about the situation for Sderot's residents. Unfortunately, the video was dubbed with 'Full Metal Jacket' style music, and action movie screen-slamming statistics.

We left the shelter to view a disturbingly-real collection of hundreds of exploded Qassams, kept as a demonstration to politicians of Sderot's plight.

We headed on through Sderot for a hebrew-language Townhall Meeting, arranged by OneVoice Israel. There were plenty of people there, both from OVI and the general public. After a quick snack and conversation with the guests, we headed into the meeting. Those who did not speak hebrew (like us) were sat next to a translator. There were several speakers on different topics, from free-speech, tolerance, media coverage, and finally to the reality of the conflict.

There were a mixed collection of views, attitudes and reactions on show, from both the guest speakers and the public. This variety, and a distinct lack of so much of the reactionary propaganda we had seen earlier, was a welcome relief. We had been concerned that the view of Shalom was the mainstream in Sderot.

One of the first comments on the floor was: "We can tolerate the existence of a Palestinian state" - which, whilst hardly enthusiastic, is nothing less than what OneVoice ask for. OV don't require that people forgive and forget, or even like each other, just that a two-state solution is accepted on the terms of the masses.

There were, however, some statements from a few that were either based on ignorance, fear or both. For example, in reference to Palestinians:

"all they do is terror... every time we give them something they attack... keep kidnapping..."

"who should I talk to, a terror organisation?! They are killing our children in cold blood."

Hope was not lost, however, as there were many optimistic and empathetic contributions, talking about the bloodshed on both sides, and objecting to the insinuations that Palestinians had been rewarded for shelling Israeli land: "I'm not giving them something new, I'm giving it (land) back to them."

All in all, it was an enlightening experience, and left us feeling tired but enthusiastic about the meeting's objective. We were amazed that such an open and broad discussion, in such an emotionally-heightened scenario as Sderot, had been facilitated so well by OneVoice.