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?

अझिझ अबु सारा: सहिष्णुता वाढवण्यासाठी हवं जास्त पर्यटन?

Filmed:
1,494,756 views

अझिझ अबु सारा एक पेलेस्टिनी कार्यकर्ते आहेत. जगात शांतता राखण्याविषयी त्यांचा एक आगळा दृष्टीकोन आहे: पर्यटक व्हा. या TED Fellow ने दाखवून दिलं आहे, की वेगवेगळ्या संस्कृतींमधल्या लोकांच्या एकमेकांशी आलेल्या साध्या संपर्कामुळे कैक दशकांचा द्वेष ओसरू शकतो. ते सुरुवात करतात, पेलेस्टिनी लोकांना इस्त्रायलीं लोकांशी भेटवून. आणि मग त्याहूनही पुढे जातात…
- 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,
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मी एक पर्यटन उद्योजक आहे
आणि मी शांतीदूतही आहे.
00:15
but this is not how I started.
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पण मी काही अशी सुरुवात केली नव्हती.
00:18
When I was seven years old,
I remember watching television
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सात वर्षांचा असताना, मी टीव्ही पाहायचो.
00:21
and seeing people throwing rocks,
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तेव्हा लोक दगडफेक करताना पाहिल्याचं
मला आठवतंय.
00:24
and thinking, this must be
a fun thing to do.
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आणि, हे काहीतरी मजेशीर आहे,
असं वाटल्याचं आठवतंय.
00:27
So I got out to the street
and threw rocks,
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म्हणून मग मी रस्त्यावर जाऊन
दगड फेकले होते.
00:30
not realizing I was supposed
to throw rocks at Israeli cars.
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पण दगड इस्त्रायली वाहनांवर फेकायचे होते,
हे काही मला ठाऊक नव्हतं.
00:34
Instead, I ended up stoning
my neighbors' cars. (Laughter)
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त्याऐवजी माझे दगड माझ्या शेजाऱ्यांच्याच
वाहनांवर पडले होते.
00:38
They were not enthusiastic
about my patriotism.
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माझ्या देशभक्तीत त्यांना रस नव्हता.
00:42
This is my picture with my brother.
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हे छायाचित्र आहे माझ्या भावाबरोबरचं.
00:44
This is me, the little one,
and I know what you're thinking:
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यातला धाकटा म्हणजे मी.
तुम्हाला काय वाटतंय, मला ठाऊक आहे:
00:47
"You used to look cute,
what the heck happened to you?"
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किती गोड होतास तू!
आणि आता असं काय रे झालं तुझं?
00:50
But my brother, who is older than me,
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पण माझा भाऊ, माझ्यापेक्षा मोठा आहे तो,
00:52
was arrested when he was 18,
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वयाच्या अठराव्या वर्षी पकडला गेला.
00:55
taken to prison on charges
of throwing stones.
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दगडफेकीच्या आरोपावरून तो तुरुंगात गेला.
00:57
He was beaten up when he refused
to confess that he threw stones,
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दगडफेकीची कबुली दिली नाही म्हणून
त्याला मारहाण करण्यात आली.
01:01
and as a result, had internal injuries
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त्यामुळे त्याला आंतरिक जखमा झाल्या.
01:04
that caused his death soon after
he was released from prison.
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आणि त्यामुळे, सुटकेनंतर लवकरच
त्याचा अंत झाला.
01:08
I was angry, I was bitter,
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मी चिडलो होतो. कडवा बनलो होतो.
01:12
and all I wanted was revenge.
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मला फक्त सूड घ्यायचा होता.
01:16
But that changed when I was 18.
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पण १८ वर्षांचा झालो, तेव्हा हे बदललं.
01:18
I decided that I needed
Hebrew to get a job,
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नोकरी मिळवण्यासाठी हिब्रू भाषा यायला हवी,
असं मला वाटलं.
01:22
and going to study Hebrew
in that classroom
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आणि हिब्रू शिकायला त्या वर्गात गेल्यावर
01:24
was the first time I ever met Jews
who were not soldiers.
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प्रथमच मला सैनिक नसलेले ज्यू लोक भेटले.
01:30
And we connected over really small things,
like the fact that I love country music,
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आणि अगदी छोट्या गोष्टींमुळे मैत्री जुळली.
उदाहरणार्थ, माझी कंट्री मुझिक ची आवड.
01:34
which is really strange
for Palestinians.
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जी पेलेस्टिनी लोकांत सापडणं अजबच.
01:38
But it was then that I realized also
that we have a wall of anger,
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पण त्याचवेळी माझ्या लक्षात आलं, की
रागाची, द्वेषाची आणि अज्ञानाची एक भिंत
01:43
of hatred and of ignorance
that separates us.
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आमच्यामध्ये आहे,
जी आम्हाला दूर ठेवते आहे.
01:48
I decided that it doesn't matter
what happens to me.
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मी ठरवलं, की आपल्याला कशाचा सामना
करावा लागतो, याला महत्त्व नाही.
01:53
What really matters is how I deal with it.
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महत्त्वाचं आहे,
मी त्याचा सामना कसा करतो, ते.
01:56
And therefore, I decided
to dedicate my life
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आणि म्हणून, मी ठरवलं, की
लोकांना दूर ठेवणाऱ्या भिंती पाडण्यासाठी
01:59
to bringing down the walls
that separate people.
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आपलं आयुष्य समर्पित करायचं.
02:03
I do so through many ways.
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मी हे अनेक मार्गांनी करतो.
02:05
Tourism is one of them,
but also media and education,
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पर्यटन हा त्यातला एक.
तसंच, प्रसारमाध्यमं आणि शिक्षण.
02:08
and you might be wondering,
really, can tourism change things?
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तुम्हाला वाटत असेल, खरंच?
पर्यटनामुळे गोष्टी बदलतात?
02:12
Can it bring down walls? Yes.
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ते भिंती पाडू शकतं? हो.
02:14
Tourism is the best sustainable way
to bring down those walls
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त्या भिंती पाडण्याचा,
पर्यटन हा सर्वात जास्त टिकणारा मार्ग आहे.
02:19
and to create a sustainable way
of connecting with each other
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तसंच, मैत्री जुळवण्याचाही
02:23
and creating friendships.
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सर्वात जास्त टिकणारा मार्ग.
02:26
In 2009, I cofounded Mejdi Tours,
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२००९ मध्ये, मी मेजदी टूर्स ची
सहस्थापना केली.
02:29
a social enterprise that
aims to connect people,
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लोकांना जोडणारा एक सामाजिक उपक्रम,
02:33
with two Jewish friends, by the way,
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दोन ज्यू मित्रांसमवेत स्थापला.
02:35
and what we'll do, the model we did,
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तर आम्ही काय करतो त्याचा नमुना:
02:38
for example, in Jerusalem,
we would have two tour guides,
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उदाहरणार्थ, जेरुसलेम मध्ये आम्ही
दोन सहल मार्गदर्शक घेतो.
02:41
one Israeli and one Palestinian,
guiding the trips together,
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एक इस्त्रायली आणि एक पेलेस्टीनी,
सहलीला एकत्र मार्गदर्शन करतात.
02:44
telling history and narrative
and archaeology and conflict
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इतिहास, दंतकथा, पुरातत्त्वशास्त्र
आणि संघर्ष
02:48
from totally different perspectives.
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पूर्णपणे वेगवेगळ्या
दृष्टीकोनांतून सांगतात.
02:51
I remember running a trip together
with a friend named Kobi --
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मला, मी आणि कोबी नावाच्या माझ्या मित्राने
नेलेली एक सहल आठवतेय.
02:54
Jewish congregation from Chicago,
the trip was in Jerusalem --
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शिकागोतलं ज्यू लोकांचं एक मंडळ--
जेरुसलेमच्या सहलीला आलं होतं.
02:57
and we took them to a refugee camp,
a Palestinian refugee camp,
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आम्ही त्यांना पेलेस्टीनी निर्वासितांच्या
छावणीत नेलं.
03:00
and there we had this amazing food.
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आणि तिथे आम्ही हा अनोखा पदार्थ चाखला.
03:02
By the way, this is my mother. She's cool.
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बरं का, ही माझी आई. एकदम सही आहे ती!
03:05
And that's the Palestinian
food called maqluba.
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आणि हा तो पेलेस्टिनी पदार्थ, मकलुबे.
03:08
It means "upside-down."
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म्हणजे "उलटा"
03:09
You cook it with rice and chicken,
and you flip it upside-down.
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तांदूळ आणि चिकन वापरून तो शिजवतात,
आणि मग हलकेच उडवून उलटा करतात.
03:12
It's the best meal ever.
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अगदी अप्रतिम पदार्थ आहे हा.
03:14
And we'll eat together.
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आम्ही एकत्र जेवलो.
03:15
Then we had a joint band,
Israeli and Palestinian musicians,
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मग इस्त्रायली आणि पेलेस्टीनी संगीतकारांची
एकत्र मैफल केली
03:18
and we did some belly-dancing.
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मग बेली-डान्स केला
03:20
If you don't know any,
I'll teach you later.
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तुम्हाला ठाऊक नसेल,
तर नंतर शिकवेन मी.
03:23
But when we left, both sides,
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पण जेव्हा आम्ही जायला निघालो,
तेव्हा दोन्हीकडचे लोक
03:26
they were crying because
they did not want to leave.
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रडत होते,
इथून जायचं नाही म्हणून.
03:29
Three years later, those
relationships still exist.
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तीन वर्षं झाली, तरी ही नाती
अजून टिकली आहेत.
03:33
Imagine with me
if the one billion people
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कल्पना करा, एक अब्ज लोक,
03:35
who travel internationally
every year travel like this,
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जे दरवर्षी परदेशात पर्यटन करतात,
त्यांनी जर अशा सहली केल्या,
03:39
not being taken in the bus
from one side to another,
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केवळ बसमधून
एका ठिकाणाहून दुसरीकडे न जाता,
03:42
from one hotel to another,
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एका हॉटेलमधून दुसऱ्यात न जाता,
03:45
taking pictures from the windows
of their buses of people and cultures,
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बसच्या खिडक्यांमधून लोकांची
आणि संस्कृतीची छायाचित्रं न काढता,
03:48
but actually connecting with people.
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त्याऐवजी लोकांशी मैत्री जुळवत.
03:52
You know, I remember having
a Muslim group from the U.K.
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इंग्लंडहून आलेला एक मुस्लिम गट
मला आठवतोय.
03:56
going to the house
of an Orthodox Jewish family,
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एका सनातन ज्यू कुटुंबात जाऊन
03:58
and having their first Friday night
dinners, that Sabbath dinner,
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प्रथमच त्यांचं पहिल्या शुक्रवारचं
सब्बाथचं जेवण जेवणारा.
04:03
and eating together hamin,
which is a Jewish food, a stew,
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त्यांच्याबरोबर "हमीन"
-ज्यू पद्धतीचा स्ट्यू -चा आस्वाद घेणारा.
04:06
just having the connection
of realizing, after a while,
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नंतर त्यांच्या लक्षात आलं, की
04:09
that a hundred years ago,
their families came out
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शेकडो वर्षांपूर्वी दोन्ही वंश
उत्तर आफ्रिकेत,
04:12
of the same place in Northern Africa.
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एकाच ठिकाणी उगम पावले होते.
04:15
This is not a photo profile
for your Facebook.
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हा फेसबुक प्रोफाईलवरचा फोटो नव्हे.
04:18
This is not disaster tourism.
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हे संकटग्रस्त भागातले पर्यटन नव्हे.
04:20
This is the future of travel,
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हा आहे पर्यटनाचा भविष्यकाळ.
04:23
and I invite you to join me to do that,
to change your travel.
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चला, माझ्यासोबत या,
आणि तुमचं पर्यटन बदलून टाका.
04:26
We're doing it all over the world now,
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आता आम्ही हे जगभर सर्वत्र करीत आहोत.
04:28
from Ireland to Iran to Turkey,
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आयर्लंड पासून, इराण आणि टर्कीपर्यंत
04:30
and we see ourselves going
everywhere to change the world.
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पर्यटनाद्वारे आम्ही
जगात बदल घडवून आणतो आहोत.
04:33
Thank you.
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धन्यवाद.
04:34
(Applause)
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(टाळ्या)
Translated by Smita Kantak
Reviewed by arvind patil

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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

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