The People's Voice
Hamifkad Haleumi - The People's Voice
While in the US I heard about Hamifkdad Haleumi. I looked at their website and I liked what I saw. They have 6 key principles which are:
Statement of Principles
(Signed by Ami Ayalon & Sari Nusseibeh on July 27, 2002)- Two states for two peoples: Both sides will declare that Palestine is the only state of the Palestinian people and Israel is the only state of the Jewish people.
- Borders: Permanent borders between the two states will be agreed upon on the basis of the June 4, 1967 lines, UN resolutions, and the Arab peace initiative (known as the Saudi initiative).
- Border modifications will be based on an equitable and agreed-upon territorial exchange (1:1) in accordance with the vital needs of both sides, including security, territorial contiguity, and demographic considerations.
- The Palestinian State will have a connection between its two geographic areas, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
- After establishment of the agreed borders, no settlers will remain in the Palestinian State.
- Jerusalem: Jerusalem will be an open city, the capital of two states. Freedom of religion and full access to holy sites will be guaranteed to all.
- Arab neighborhoods in Jerusalem will come under Palestinian sovereignty, Jewish neighborhoods under Israeli sovereignty.
- Neither side will exercise sovereignty over the holy places. The State of Palestine will be designated Guardian of al-Haram al-Sharif for the benefit of Muslims. Israel will be the Guardian of the Western Wall for the benefit of the Jewish people. The status quo on Christian holy site will be maintained. No excavation will take place in or underneath the holy sites without mutual consent.
- Right of return: Recognizing the suffering and the plight of the Palestinian refugees, the international community, Israel, and the Palestinian State will initiate and contribute to an international fund to compensate them.
- Palestinian refugees will return only to the State of Palestine; Jews will return only to the State of Israel.
- The international community will offer to compensate toward bettering the lot of those refugees willing to remain in their present country of residence, or who wish to immigrate to third-party countries.
- The Palestinian State will be demilitarized and the international community will guarantee its security and independence.
- End of conflict: Upon the full implementation of these principles, all claims on both sides and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will end.
So far they have had over 400,000 Israelis and Palestinians sign these principles. I added my signature to the list as well.
In the summer of 2005 as the Disengagement plan from Gaza was being implemented the Mifkad decided to show its support of the plan. This was just at the time that I returned to Israel. I decided to join in and help. I took over a junction near my house - Tzomet Shirkin. For more than a month every Friday afternoon with a number of other local volunteers we passed out blue and white ribbons to by passers.
The response varied from curses to blessings. I was just glad to show my support and voice my opinion. At first we drowned in a sea of orange ribbons (passed out by those opposed to the disengagement plan), but as the months went by more and more blue and white ribbons (and only blue ribbons passed out by Peace Now!) were becoming more and more common.
I am glad that the Disengagement plan went though in a relatively peaceful way. I think that Hamifkad helped voice support to this plan which might not have gone through with all the voiced opposition it had...
I am still active in the Mikfad today. Our goal is to communicate our basic idea of the 6 principles, and to show that peace between Palestinians and Israelis is attainable.