The People's Voice

The People's Voice is an indepedent media outlet.

"Sari Nusseibeh and Ami Ayalon are the co-founders of The People's Voice, an Israeli-Palestinian civil initiative that aims to advance the process of achieving peace between Israel and the Palestinians."

"An Israeli-Palestinian civil society Initiative developed by Dr. Sari Nusseibeh, President of Al Quds University in Jerusalem and Ami Ayalon, former head of the Israeli security service, Shin Bet. In early 2004 the Initiative had more than 150,000 Israeli and 125,000 Palestinian endorsers. This initiative, like the Geneva Accord, offers benchmark principles and ideas for realistic compromises for mutually acceptable peace, including on crucial, sensitive issues such as borders, security, settlements, refugees and Jerusalem."

"On March 14, an Israeli and a Palestinian told an audience about their joint work toward peace in the Middle East, in a setting more commonly used for solving workplace conflicts.  Left to right: Retired Israeli admiral Ami Ayalon and Palestinian Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University, discuss their joint work for Mideast peace, while ILR Professor Sam Bacharach and a group of undergraduate interns look on. The event, which took place March 14 in the New York City offices of the ILR School, was attended by business-, public- and religious-sector leaders, Cornell alumni, students and faculty. Courtesy of Sam Bacharach

"Civil Diplomacy: Mechanisms for Dialogue and Change" took place at the New York City offices of Cornell's School of Industrial and Labor Relations. The focus of the evening's discussion was the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and how to work toward peace through non-institutional means.

The featured speakers were retired Israeli admiral Ami Ayalon, the former director of Shin-Bet (the Israeli security agency), and Palestinian Sari Nusseibeh, president of Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. The co-sponsors were the ILR School's Institute for Workplace Studies, headed by McKelvey-Grant Professor Samuel Bacharach, and the school's Institute on Conflict Resolution, which promotes alternative methods of workplace dispute resolution.

"Since a chance meeting in London, Ayalon and Nusseibeh have been working actively together and share a common voice in the pursuit of peace among Israelis and Palestinians," said Bacharach, the evening's host. In June 2003, the two men began the People's Voice, an Israeli-Palestinian civil initiative aimed at creating public support for a permanent peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, explained Bacharach. Since then, more than a third of a million people (253,450 Israelis and 161,000 Palestinians) have joined the initiative, he noted."

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