Aziz Abu Sarah: For more tolerance, we need more ... tourism?
Aziz Abu Sarah: Za više tolerancije, trebamo više ... turizma?
Aziz Abu Sarah helps people break down cultural and historical barriers through tourism. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
and a peacebuilder,
i mirotvorac,
svoju karijeru.
I remember watching television
sjećam se da sam gledajući na televiziji
a fun thing to do.
and threw rocks,
počeo da bacam kamenje,
to throw rocks at Israeli cars.
Izraelske automobile.
my neighbors' cars. (Laughter)
svojih komšija. (Smijeh)
about my patriotism.
patriotizmom.
and I know what you're thinking:
i znam šta mislite:
what the heck happened to you?"
šta se desilo s tobom?."
of throwing stones.
optužbom da je bacao kamenje.
to confess that he threw stones,
da prizna da je on bacao kamenje,
he was released from prison.
nedugo nakon izlaska iz zatvora.
kada sam napunio 18.
Hebrew to get a job,
neophodan da dobijem posao,
in that classroom
who were not soldiers.
Jevreje, koji nisu bili vojnici.
like the fact that I love country music,
ja volim country muziku,
for Palestinians.
jednog Palestinca.
that we have a wall of anger,
da imamo zid mržnje između,
that separates us.
koji nas je razdvajao.
what happens to me.
to dedicate my life
svoj život posvetim
that separate people.
razdvajaju ljude.
but also media and education,
ali i mediji i edukacija,
really, can tourism change things?
može da promjeni tu situaciju?
Da.
to bring down those walls
da se sruše ti zidovi
of connecting with each other
jednog naroda s drugim
aims to connect people,
da poveže ljude,
we would have two tour guides,
dva turistička vodiča,
guiding the trips together,
koji vode putovanje zajedno,
and archaeology and conflict
kao i konflikte
with a friend named Kobi --
zajedno sa svojim prijateljem imena Kobi --
the trip was in Jerusalem --
put je bio u Jerusalemu --
a Palestinian refugee camp,
izbjeglički kamp,
food called maqluba.
koje se zove maqluba.
"naglavačke."
and you flip it upside-down.
i to okrenete "naopačke."
Palestinskih i Jevrejskih muzičara,
Israeli and Palestinian musicians,
I'll teach you later.
naučiti ću vas poslije.
they did not want to leave.
da se rastanu.
relationships still exist.
postoje.
if the one billion people
milijardu ljudi
every year travel like this,
godine, putovali na ovaj način,
from one side to another,
da pređu s jedne na drugu stranu,
of their buses of people and cultures,
ljude i njihovu kulturu,
a Muslim group from the U.K.
Muslimana iz Velike Britanije,
of an Orthodox Jewish family,
ortodoksnih Jevreja,
dinners, that Sabbath dinner,
Petak, Sabbath večeru,
which is a Jewish food, a stew,
Jevrejsko jelo, paprikaš,
of realizing, after a while,
their families came out
prije stotinu godina došle iz
for your Facebook.
FB profil.
to change your travel.
da promjenimo način putovanja.
everywhere to change the world.
da promjenimo svijet.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Aziz Abu Sarah - Entrepreneur + educatorAziz Abu Sarah helps people break down cultural and historical barriers through tourism.
Why you should listen
When Aziz Abu Sarah was a boy, his older brother was arrested on charges of throwing stones. He was taken to prison and beaten — and died of his injuries. Sarah grew up angry, bitter and wanting revenge. But when later in life he met, for the first time, Jews who were not soldiers, Sarah had an epiphany: Not only did they share his love of small things, namely country music, but coming face to face with the “enemy” compelled him to find ways to overcome hatred, anger and fear.
Sarah founded MEJDI Tours to send tourists to Jerusalem with two guides, one Jewish and one Palestinian, each offering a different history and narrative of the city. Sarah tells success stories of tourists from the US visiting a Palestinian refugee camp and listening to joint Arab and Jewish bands play music, and of a Muslim family from the UK sharing Sabbath dinner with a Jewish family and realizing that 100 years ago, their people came from the same town in Northern Africa. MEJDI is expanding its service to Iran, Turkey, Ireland and other regions suffering from cultural conflict. If more of the world’s 1 billion tourists were to engage with real people living real lives, argues Sarah, it would be a powerful force for shattering sterotypes and promoting understanding, friendship and peace.
Aziz Abu Sarah | Speaker | TED.com