TED2014
Aziz Abu Sarah: For more tolerance, we need more ... tourism?
Aziz Abu Sarah: Si queremos más tolerancia, necesitamos más... ¿turismo?
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Aziz Abu Sarah es un activista palestino con un enfoque inusual sobre el mantenimiento de la paz: Sé turista. El Becario TED muestra cómo unas interacciones simples con personas de diferentes culturas pueden erosionar décadas de odio. Empieza con palestinos que visitan israelíes y va más allá...
Aziz Abu Sarah - Entrepreneur + educator
Aziz Abu Sarah helps people break down cultural and historical barriers through tourism. Full bio
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.
00:12
I'm a tourism entrepreneur
and a peacebuilder,
and a peacebuilder,
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Soy empresario turístico
y constructor de la paz,
y constructor de la paz,
00:15
but this is not how I started.
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pero no empecé así.
00:18
When I was seven years old,
I remember watching television
I remember watching television
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A los 7 años, recuerdo
haber visto en la TV
haber visto en la TV
00:21
and seeing people throwing rocks,
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personas tirando piedras,
00:24
and thinking, this must be
a fun thing to do.
a fun thing to do.
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y pensar, esto debe ser
algo divertido de hacer.
algo divertido de hacer.
00:27
So I got out to the street
and threw rocks,
and threw rocks,
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Así que salí a la calle
a tirar piedras,
a tirar piedras,
00:30
not realizing I was supposed
to throw rocks at Israeli cars.
to throw rocks at Israeli cars.
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sin darme cuenta de que se suponía que
debía tirar piedras a los autos israelíes.
debía tirar piedras a los autos israelíes.
00:34
Instead, I ended up stoning
my neighbors' cars. (Laughter)
my neighbors' cars. (Laughter)
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En su lugar, terminé lapidando
los autos de mis vecinos. (Risas)
los autos de mis vecinos. (Risas)
00:38
They were not enthusiastic
about my patriotism.
about my patriotism.
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No les entusiasmó mi patriotismo.
00:42
This is my picture with my brother.
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Esta es una foto con mi hermano.
00:44
This is me, the little one,
and I know what you're thinking:
and I know what you're thinking:
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Este soy yo, el pequeño,
y sé lo que están pensando:
y sé lo que están pensando:
00:47
"You used to look cute,
what the heck happened to you?"
what the heck happened to you?"
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"Eras lindo, ¿qué diablos te pasó?"
00:50
But my brother, who is older than me,
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Pero mi hermano, que es mayor que yo,
00:52
was arrested when he was 18,
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fue detenido a los 18 años,
00:55
taken to prison on charges
of throwing stones.
of throwing stones.
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llevado a prisión por el delito
de tirar piedras.
de tirar piedras.
00:57
He was beaten up when he refused
to confess that he threw stones,
to confess that he threw stones,
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Fue golpeado cuando se rehusó
a confesar que tiró piedras,
a confesar que tiró piedras,
01:01
and as a result, had internal injuries
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y, como resultado
tuvo lesiones internas
tuvo lesiones internas
01:04
that caused his death soon after
he was released from prison.
he was released from prison.
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que le provocaron la muerte poco después
de librarse de la prisión.
de librarse de la prisión.
01:08
I was angry, I was bitter,
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Me enojé, me amargué,
01:12
and all I wanted was revenge.
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y solo quería venganza.
01:16
But that changed when I was 18.
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Pero eso cambió cuando cumplí 18.
01:18
I decided that I needed
Hebrew to get a job,
Hebrew to get a job,
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Decidí aprender hebreo
para conseguir empleo
para conseguir empleo
01:22
and going to study Hebrew
in that classroom
in that classroom
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y al estudiar hebreo, en ese aula,
01:24
was the first time I ever met Jews
who were not soldiers.
who were not soldiers.
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conocí judíos, por primera vez,
que no eran soldados.
que no eran soldados.
01:30
And we connected over really small things,
like the fact that I love country music,
like the fact that I love country music,
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Y nos conectamos en cosas pequeñas,
como que me encanta la música country,
como que me encanta la música country,
01:34
which is really strange
for Palestinians.
for Palestinians.
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algo muy extraño para ser palestino.
01:38
But it was then that I realized also
that we have a wall of anger,
that we have a wall of anger,
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Pero fue entonces que me di cuenta
también de que tenemos un muro de ira,
también de que tenemos un muro de ira,
01:43
of hatred and of ignorance
that separates us.
that separates us.
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de odio e ignorancia que nos separa.
01:48
I decided that it doesn't matter
what happens to me.
what happens to me.
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Decidí que no importa lo que me pasa.
01:53
What really matters is how I deal with it.
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Lo que realmente importa
es cómo enfrento eso.
es cómo enfrento eso.
01:56
And therefore, I decided
to dedicate my life
to dedicate my life
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Y por lo tanto,
decidí dedicar mi vida
decidí dedicar mi vida
01:59
to bringing down the walls
that separate people.
that separate people.
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a derribar los muros
que separan a las personas.
que separan a las personas.
02:03
I do so through many ways.
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Lo hago de muchas maneras.
02:05
Tourism is one of them,
but also media and education,
but also media and education,
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El turismo es una de ellas, pero
también los medios y la educación,
también los medios y la educación,
02:08
and you might be wondering,
really, can tourism change things?
really, can tourism change things?
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y puede que se pregunten,
¿el turismo puede cambiar las cosas?
¿el turismo puede cambiar las cosas?
02:12
Can it bring down walls? Yes.
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¿Puede derribar muros? Sí.
02:14
Tourism is the best sustainable way
to bring down those walls
to bring down those walls
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El turismo es la mejor forma sostenible
para derribar esos muros
para derribar esos muros
02:19
and to create a sustainable way
of connecting with each other
of connecting with each other
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y para crear una forma sostenible
de conexión mutua
de conexión mutua
02:23
and creating friendships.
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y de forjar amistades.
02:26
In 2009, I cofounded Mejdi Tours,
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En 2009, cofundé Mejdi Tours,
02:29
a social enterprise that
aims to connect people,
aims to connect people,
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una empresa social que tiene como
objetivo conectar a las personas,
objetivo conectar a las personas,
02:33
with two Jewish friends, by the way,
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con dos amigos judíos, por cierto,
02:35
and what we'll do, the model we did,
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y el modelo que pensamos
02:38
for example, in Jerusalem,
we would have two tour guides,
we would have two tour guides,
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por ejemplo, en Jerusalén,
tendría dos guías turísticos,
tendría dos guías turísticos,
02:41
one Israeli and one Palestinian,
guiding the trips together,
guiding the trips together,
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uno israelí y otro palestino,
guiando los viajes juntos,
guiando los viajes juntos,
02:44
telling history and narrative
and archaeology and conflict
and archaeology and conflict
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narrando la historia,
la arqueología y el conflicto
la arqueología y el conflicto
02:48
from totally different perspectives.
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desde dos perspectivas
totalmente diferentes.
totalmente diferentes.
02:51
I remember running a trip together
with a friend named Kobi --
with a friend named Kobi --
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Recuerdo haber hecho un viaje juntos
con un amigo llamado Kobi
con un amigo llamado Kobi
02:54
Jewish congregation from Chicago,
the trip was in Jerusalem --
the trip was in Jerusalem --
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--de una congregación judía de Chicago,
el viaje fue en Jerusalén--
el viaje fue en Jerusalén--
02:57
and we took them to a refugee camp,
a Palestinian refugee camp,
a Palestinian refugee camp,
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lo llevamos a un campo de refugiados,
un campo de refugiados palestinos,
un campo de refugiados palestinos,
03:00
and there we had this amazing food.
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y allí nos sirvieron
esta comida espléndida.
esta comida espléndida.
03:02
By the way, this is my mother. She's cool.
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Por cierto, esta es mi madre.
Ella es genial.
Ella es genial.
03:05
And that's the Palestinian
food called maqluba.
food called maqluba.
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Esa es la comida palestina
llamada maqluba.
llamada maqluba.
03:08
It means "upside-down."
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Significa "al revés".
03:09
You cook it with rice and chicken,
and you flip it upside-down.
and you flip it upside-down.
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Se cocina con arroz y pollo,
y se la da vuelta.
y se la da vuelta.
03:12
It's the best meal ever.
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Es la mejor comida.
03:14
And we'll eat together.
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La comimos juntos.
03:15
Then we had a joint band,
Israeli and Palestinian musicians,
Israeli and Palestinian musicians,
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Luego escuchamos una banda mixta,
de músicos israelíes y palestinos,
de músicos israelíes y palestinos,
03:18
and we did some belly-dancing.
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y bailamos un poco la danza del vientre.
03:20
If you don't know any,
I'll teach you later.
I'll teach you later.
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Si no la conocen, se las enseño más tarde.
03:23
But when we left, both sides,
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Pero cuando nos fuimos, ambos lados,
03:26
they were crying because
they did not want to leave.
they did not want to leave.
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estaban llorando porque
no querían irse.
no querían irse.
03:29
Three years later, those
relationships still exist.
relationships still exist.
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Tres años más tarde,
todavía existen esas relaciones.
todavía existen esas relaciones.
03:33
Imagine with me
if the one billion people
if the one billion people
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Imaginemos juntos si esos
1000 millones de personas
1000 millones de personas
03:35
who travel internationally
every year travel like this,
every year travel like this,
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que viajan cada año por el mundo
hicieran eso,
hicieran eso,
03:39
not being taken in the bus
from one side to another,
from one side to another,
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en vez de ir en bus
de un lado al otro,
de un lado al otro,
03:42
from one hotel to another,
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de un hotel a otro,
03:45
taking pictures from the windows
of their buses of people and cultures,
of their buses of people and cultures,
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tomando fotos desde las ventanas de
sus buses, de las personas y las culturas,
sus buses, de las personas y las culturas,
03:48
but actually connecting with people.
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se relacionaran con las personas.
03:52
You know, I remember having
a Muslim group from the U.K.
a Muslim group from the U.K.
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Recuerdo una vez que llevé
a un grupo musulmán del R.U.
a un grupo musulmán del R.U.
03:56
going to the house
of an Orthodox Jewish family,
of an Orthodox Jewish family,
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a la casa de una familia judía ortodoxa,
03:58
and having their first Friday night
dinners, that Sabbath dinner,
dinners, that Sabbath dinner,
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para celebrar la cena del viernes,
la cena de shabat,
la cena de shabat,
04:03
and eating together hamin,
which is a Jewish food, a stew,
which is a Jewish food, a stew,
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y comer juntos hamin, que es
una comida típica judía, un guiso,
una comida típica judía, un guiso,
04:06
just having the connection
of realizing, after a while,
of realizing, after a while,
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y darse cuenta conversando,
al cabo de un rato,
al cabo de un rato,
04:09
that a hundred years ago,
their families came out
their families came out
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que hacía cien años,
sus familias vinieron
sus familias vinieron
04:12
of the same place in Northern Africa.
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del mismo lugar
del norte de África.
del norte de África.
04:15
This is not a photo profile
for your Facebook.
for your Facebook.
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Esta no es una foto de perfil
para su Facebook.
para su Facebook.
04:18
This is not disaster tourism.
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No es turismo del desastre.
04:20
This is the future of travel,
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Es el futuro de los viajes,
04:23
and I invite you to join me to do that,
to change your travel.
to change your travel.
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y los invito a sumarse, a que
cambien su forma de viajar.
cambien su forma de viajar.
04:26
We're doing it all over the world now,
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Lo estamos haciendo en todo el mundo,
04:28
from Ireland to Iran to Turkey,
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de Irlanda, a Irán, a Turquía
04:30
and we see ourselves going
everywhere to change the world.
everywhere to change the world.
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y queremos llegar a todos lados
para cambiar el mundo.
para cambiar el mundo.
04:33
Thank you.
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Gracias.
04:34
(Applause)
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(Aplausos)
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