ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Aziz Abu Sarah - Entrepreneur + educator
Aziz 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.

More profile about the speaker
Aziz Abu Sarah | Speaker | TED.com
TED2014

Aziz Abu Sarah: For more tolerance, we need more ... tourism?

Filmed:
1,494,756 views

Aziz Abu Sarah is a Palestinian activist with an unusual approach to peace-keeping: Be a tourist. The TED Fellow shows how simple interactions with people in different cultures can erode decades of hate. He starts with Palestinians visiting Israelis and moves beyond ...
- Entrepreneur + educator
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,
0
810
3158
Je suis un entrepreneur
en tourisme et un artisan de la paix,
00:15
but this is not how I started.
1
3968
2856
mais ce n'est pas comme ça
que j'avais commencé ma vie.
00:18
When I was seven years old,
I remember watching television
2
6824
3065
Je me souviens de regarder la télévision,
à l'âge de 7 ans,
00:21
and seeing people throwing rocks,
3
9889
2577
et d'avoir vu des gens lancer des roches,
00:24
and thinking, this must be
a fun thing to do.
4
12466
3390
et de penser que ce devait être
amusant à faire.
00:27
So I got out to the street
and threw rocks,
5
15856
2345
Je suis donc sorti
et j'ai lancé des roches
00:30
not realizing I was supposed
to throw rocks at Israeli cars.
6
18201
4481
sans savoir que je devais lancer
les roches aux voitures israéliennes.
00:34
Instead, I ended up stoning
my neighbors' cars. (Laughter)
7
22682
4226
Au lieu, j'ai lapidé la voiture
de mon voisin. (rires)
00:38
They were not enthusiastic
about my patriotism.
8
26908
3902
Il n'a pas tout à fait apprécié
mon élan de patriotisme.
00:42
This is my picture with my brother.
9
30810
2094
Voici une photo de mon frère et moi.
00:44
This is me, the little one,
and I know what you're thinking:
10
32904
2835
Je suis le petit.
Et je sais ce que vous vous dites :
00:47
"You used to look cute,
what the heck happened to you?"
11
35739
2941
« Tu étais si mignon,
que s'est-il passé? »
00:50
But my brother, who is older than me,
12
38680
1951
Mon frère aîné
00:52
was arrested when he was 18,
13
40631
2414
s'est fait arrêté à l'âge de 18 ans,
00:55
taken to prison on charges
of throwing stones.
14
43045
2949
emmené en prison,
accusé d'avoir lancé des roches.
00:57
He was beaten up when he refused
to confess that he threw stones,
15
45994
3576
Il s'est fait battre quand il a refusé
d'avouer qu'il avait lancé des roches
01:01
and as a result, had internal injuries
16
49570
2601
et a subi des lésions internes
01:04
that caused his death soon after
he was released from prison.
17
52171
4643
qui ont causé sa mort
après sa sortie de prison.
01:08
I was angry, I was bitter,
18
56814
3646
J'étais furieux, amer.
Je ne visais qu'à venger mon frère.
01:12
and all I wanted was revenge.
19
60460
3692
Puis tout a changé à 18 ans.
01:16
But that changed when I was 18.
20
64152
2507
J'ai décidé que je devais parler hébreu
pour obtenir un emploi.
01:18
I decided that I needed
Hebrew to get a job,
21
66659
3437
01:22
and going to study Hebrew
in that classroom
22
70096
2507
C'est dans cette classe
où j'apprenais l'hébreu
01:24
was the first time I ever met Jews
who were not soldiers.
23
72603
5434
que j'ai rencontré pour la première fois
des Juifs qui n'étaient pas soldats.
01:30
And we connected over really small things,
like the fact that I love country music,
24
78037
4882
On a commencé à se parler car nous avions
des intérêts communs : la musique country.
01:34
which is really strange
for Palestinians.
25
82919
3727
Assez étrange pour des Palestiniens.
01:38
But it was then that I realized also
that we have a wall of anger,
26
86646
4660
Mais c'est aussi là que j'ai compris
que nous avions tous érigé
01:43
of hatred and of ignorance
that separates us.
27
91306
5613
un mur de colère, de haine
et d'ignorance entre nous.
01:48
I decided that it doesn't matter
what happens to me.
28
96919
4499
J'ai compris que ce qui m'arrivait
importait peu.
01:53
What really matters is how I deal with it.
29
101418
2693
Ce qui importait vraiment
était ma façon de réagir.
01:56
And therefore, I decided
to dedicate my life
30
104111
3344
J'ai donc décidé
de consacrer ma vie
01:59
to bringing down the walls
that separate people.
31
107455
4388
à abolir les murs
qui nous séparent.
02:03
I do so through many ways.
32
111843
2020
J'y arrive de diverses façons.
02:05
Tourism is one of them,
but also media and education,
33
113863
3100
Avec le tourisme, mais aussi
les médias et la sensibilisation.
02:08
and you might be wondering,
really, can tourism change things?
34
116963
3694
Vous vous demandez peut-être :
le tourisme peut-il changer les choses?
02:12
Can it bring down walls? Yes.
35
120657
1710
Permet-il d'abolir des murs?
Oui.
02:14
Tourism is the best sustainable way
to bring down those walls
36
122367
4720
Le tourisme est la façon la plus pérenne
de détruire ces murs
02:19
and to create a sustainable way
of connecting with each other
37
127087
4385
et de créer un lien durable entre les gens
et de tisser des liens d'amitié.
02:23
and creating friendships.
38
131472
2554
En 2009, j'ai co-fondé Mejdi Tours.
02:26
In 2009, I cofounded Mejdi Tours,
39
134026
3785
C'est une entreprise sociale
à portée rassembleuse
02:29
a social enterprise that
aims to connect people,
40
137811
3460
que j'ai fondé avec deux amis juifs.
02:33
with two Jewish friends, by the way,
41
141271
2461
Notre façon de fonctionner
est la suivante.
02:35
and what we'll do, the model we did,
42
143732
2299
Par exemple, à Jérusalem,
j'ai deux guides :
02:38
for example, in Jerusalem,
we would have two tour guides,
43
146031
3506
un Israélien et un Palestinien
qui dirigent le groupe ensemble.
02:41
one Israeli and one Palestinian,
guiding the trips together,
44
149537
3459
Ils expliquent l'histoire, la situation,
l'archéologie et le conflit
02:44
telling history and narrative
and archaeology and conflict
45
152996
3205
02:48
from totally different perspectives.
46
156201
2972
d'un point de vue complètement différent.
Je me souviens d'avoir été guide
avec un ami, Kobi,
02:51
I remember running a trip together
with a friend named Kobi --
47
159173
3358
de la congrégation juive de Chicago.
Nous étions à Jérusalem,
02:54
Jewish congregation from Chicago,
the trip was in Jerusalem --
48
162531
3024
et nous avons visité un camp
de réfugiés palestiniens.
02:57
and we took them to a refugee camp,
a Palestinian refugee camp,
49
165555
3162
03:00
and there we had this amazing food.
50
168717
2100
La bouffe était succulente.
03:02
By the way, this is my mother. She's cool.
51
170817
2883
En passant, voici ma mère. Elle est cool.
Et ça c'est du maglouba,
un plat palestinien.
03:05
And that's the Palestinian
food called maqluba.
52
173700
2554
Ça veut dire « à l'envers ».
03:08
It means "upside-down."
53
176254
1317
On prend du riz et du poulet cuit
et on vire le plat à l'envers.
03:09
You cook it with rice and chicken,
and you flip it upside-down.
54
177571
3224
03:12
It's the best meal ever.
55
180795
1641
Vous n'auriez jamais goûté rien de tel.
Et ça se mange tous ensemble.
03:14
And we'll eat together.
56
182436
1308
Il y avait un band d'Israéliens
et de Palestiniens
03:15
Then we had a joint band,
Israeli and Palestinian musicians,
57
183744
2804
et nous avons fait de la danse du ventre.
03:18
and we did some belly-dancing.
58
186548
1857
03:20
If you don't know any,
I'll teach you later.
59
188405
3390
Si vous ne savez pas,
je vous montrerai.
03:23
But when we left, both sides,
60
191795
3112
À notre départ,
les deux « clans » pleuraient,
03:26
they were crying because
they did not want to leave.
61
194907
2577
parce qu'ils ne voulaient pas partir.
03:29
Three years later, those
relationships still exist.
62
197484
3622
Ça fait trois ans de cela,
et le lien y est toujours.
Imaginez si le milliard
de personnes qui voyage
03:33
Imagine with me
if the one billion people
63
201106
2810
03:35
who travel internationally
every year travel like this,
64
203916
3807
à l'étranger chaque année,
le faisait d'une telle façon.
Ne pas se faire trimballer en autobus
d’un bord à l'autre
03:39
not being taken in the bus
from one side to another,
65
207724
2972
03:42
from one hotel to another,
66
210696
2321
d'un hôtel à un autre,
à photographier les gens,
la culture, dans un autobus.
03:45
taking pictures from the windows
of their buses of people and cultures,
67
213017
3971
Au lieu, ils pourraient tisser des liens.
03:48
but actually connecting with people.
68
216988
3181
Je me souviens d'un groupe de musulmans
du Royaume-Uni
03:52
You know, I remember having
a Muslim group from the U.K.
69
220169
3924
qui se sont rendus
dans une famille juive orthodoxe
03:56
going to the house
of an Orthodox Jewish family,
70
224093
2786
et qui ont mangé, leur premier vendredi,
un repas du Sabbath,
03:58
and having their first Friday night
dinners, that Sabbath dinner,
71
226879
4389
du hamin, un ragoût de la cuisine juive.
04:03
and eating together hamin,
which is a Jewish food, a stew,
72
231268
3575
04:06
just having the connection
of realizing, after a while,
73
234843
2879
En conversant et en tissant des liens,
04:09
that a hundred years ago,
their families came out
74
237722
2972
ils ont vu que leurs ancêtres,
il y a une centaine d'années,
04:12
of the same place in Northern Africa.
75
240694
3079
venaient tous de l'Afrique du Nord.
Ces voyages ne peuvent être exhibés
sur votre compte Facebook.
04:15
This is not a photo profile
for your Facebook.
76
243773
3075
Ce n'est pas du tourisme de catastrophes.
04:18
This is not disaster tourism.
77
246848
1834
C'est l'avenir du tourisme.
04:20
This is the future of travel,
78
248682
2368
Joignez-vous à moi
et changez vos habitudes.
04:23
and I invite you to join me to do that,
to change your travel.
79
251050
3064
Notre idée s'est propagée partout,
04:26
We're doing it all over the world now,
80
254114
1951
de l'Irlande à la Turquie.
04:28
from Ireland to Iran to Turkey,
81
256065
2438
Nous allons partout
dans le monde pour l'améliorer.
04:30
and we see ourselves going
everywhere to change the world.
82
258503
2996
Merci.
04:33
Thank you.
83
261499
1230
(applaudissements)
04:34
(Applause)
84
262729
1904
Translated by Noémie Charbonneau Potvin
Reviewed by Eric Dufour

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Aziz Abu Sarah - Entrepreneur + educator
Aziz 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.

More profile about the speaker
Aziz Abu Sarah | Speaker | TED.com