On the eve of renewed official negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, H.L. Education for Peace - the Geneva Initiative is launching a mass media campaign in which Palestinian leaders address the Israeli public through a series of short clips.

On Sunday a new Geneva Initiative campaign comprising of short clips was aired. In a half dozen clips, Palestinian leaders speak to the Israeli public with a call not to miss the current opportunity to reach an agreement based on the two-state solution noting the fact that currently there is a Palestinian partner for such an agreement.

To date, Palestinian figures filmed for the campaign include Chief Palestinian Negotiator, Saeb Erakat; Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee, Yasser Abed Rabbo and Member of the Fatah Central Committee, Jibril Rajoub. Additional leaders scheduled to be filmed on Monday include Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki and Former Member of the Negotiating Team and PA Minister Sufyan Abu Zaidah.

The short clips begin with a personal address to the Israeli public which includes the word “shalom” in Hebrew and end off with the sentence “I am your partner. Are you my partner?”

The Palestinian leaders speak about the missed opportunities, the disappointments caused and the perils of failing to utilize this historic opportunity with which we are currently faced.

Gadi Baltiansky, Geneva Initiative Israel Director-General, explained that the campaign aims to counter the myth that there is no partner on the Palestinian side and to stir a debate regarding the existence of a partner for a two-state solution in the form of the current Israeli leadership. “There is a Palestinian partner and we will witness this. Whoever views the clips and sees the Palestinian leaders will realize that if we don’t reach an agreement with them quickly, we will miss both them and the chance of dividing the land in an agreed way thereby securing Israel as a Jewish and democratic state”.

The campaign was aired on Sunday, August 29th and will continue for three weeks. It will utilize the internet, printed press and billboards. The campaign is led by GPS advertising company and Filmind Productions, headed by Ron Assouline.

Click here to view the clips

With its release, the campaign received extensive coverage in Israel's leading newspaper Yediot Ahronot (click here to see Hebrew article or excerpts translated into English here) as well as on Israel's Channel 2 prime-time news show among other TV and radio interviews with Geneva Initiative representatives and the clips' producer. The campaign has also been covered in several Arabic media outlets, including in the United Arab Emirates and Syria.

Click here for English coverage in the Jerusalem post. The campaign was also featured in the Wall Street Journal.

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