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

Translator: Nedžad Neziri Reviewer: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG

I'm a tourism entrepreneur and a peacebuilder,

Ja sam turistički poduzetnik i mirotvorac,

but this is not how I started.

ali nisam tako započeo svoju karijeru.

When I was seven years old, I remember watching television

Kada sam imao sedam godina, sjećam se da sam gledajući na televiziji

and seeing people throwing rocks,

vidio ljude kako bacaju kamenje,

and thinking, this must be a fun thing to do.

pomislio sam kako je to zabavno.

So I got out to the street and threw rocks,

Izašao sam na ulicu i počeo da bacam kamenje,

not realizing I was supposed to throw rocks at Israeli cars.

nisam tada shvatio da treba da gađam Izraelske automobile.

Instead, I ended up stoning my neighbors' cars. (Laughter)

Umjesto njih, gađao sam automobile svojih komšija. (Smijeh)

They were not enthusiastic about my patriotism.

Nisu bili oduševljeni mojim patriotizmom.

This is my picture with my brother.

Ovo je slika brata i mene.

This is me, the little one, and I know what you're thinking:

Ovo sam ja, mali, i znam šta mislite:

"You used to look cute, what the heck happened to you?"

"Izgledao si tako slatko, šta se desilo s tobom?."

But my brother, who is older than me,

Ali moj brat, koji je stariji od mene,

was arrested when he was 18,

biva uhapšen kada je imao 18,

taken to prison on charges of throwing stones.

odveden je u zatvor pod, optužbom da je bacao kamenje.

He was beaten up when he refused to confess that he threw stones,

Pretučen je kada je odbio, da prizna da je on bacao kamenje,

and as a result, had internal injuries

rezultat toga su bile unutrašnje povrede

that caused his death soon after he was released from prison.

koje su prouzrokovale smrt, nedugo nakon izlaska iz zatvora.

I was angry, I was bitter,

Bio sam ljut, bio sam ogorčen,

and all I wanted was revenge.

i sve što sam želio jest osveta.

But that changed when I was 18.

Ali to se promjenilo kada sam napunio 18.

I decided that I needed Hebrew to get a job,

Odlučio sam da mi je Hebrejski neophodan da dobijem posao,

and going to study Hebrew in that classroom

i kada sam počeo da učim Hebrejski

was the first time I ever met Jews who were not soldiers.

tada sam prvi put upoznao Jevreje, koji nisu bili vojnici.

And we connected over really small things, like the fact that I love country music,

Povezale su nas male stvari, ja volim country muziku,

which is really strange for Palestinians.

što je stvarno čudno, za jednog Palestinca.

But it was then that I realized also that we have a wall of anger,

Tada sam također shvatio, da imamo zid mržnje između,

of hatred and of ignorance that separates us.

zid prezira i neznanja, koji nas je razdvajao.

I decided that it doesn't matter what happens to me.

Nisam želio da se to i meni desi.

What really matters is how I deal with it.

Želio sam da to promjenim.

And therefore, I decided to dedicate my life

S toga sam odlučio da svoj život posvetim

to bringing down the walls that separate people.

rušenju zidova koji razdvajaju ljude.

I do so through many ways.

To sam radio na više načina.

Tourism is one of them, but also media and education,

Turizam je jedan od njih, ali i mediji i edukacija,

and you might be wondering, really, can tourism change things?

možda se čudite da li turizam, može da promjeni tu situaciju?

Can it bring down walls? Yes.

Može li da sruši zidove? Da.

Tourism is the best sustainable way to bring down those walls

Turizam je najbolji dugoročni put da se sruše ti zidovi

and to create a sustainable way of connecting with each other

i da se kreira održiva veza, jednog naroda s drugim

and creating friendships.

i da se stvore prijateljstva.

In 2009, I cofounded Mejdi Tours,

U 2009., suosnovao sam Mejdi Tours,

a social enterprise that aims to connect people,

socijalni poduhvat s ciljem da poveže ljude,

with two Jewish friends, by the way,

sa dvojicom prijatelja koji su Jevreji,

and what we'll do, the model we did,

i napravili smo model,

for example, in Jerusalem, we would have two tour guides,

gdje npr, u Jerusalemu imamo dva turistička vodiča,

one Israeli and one Palestinian, guiding the trips together,

jednog Izraelca i jednog Palestinca koji vode putovanje zajedno,

telling history and narrative and archaeology and conflict

prepričavajući historiju i arheologiju kao i konflikte

from totally different perspectives.

iz dvije različite perspektive.

I remember running a trip together with a friend named Kobi --

Sjećam se kada sam vodio turiste, zajedno sa svojim prijateljem imena Kobi --

Jewish congregation from Chicago, the trip was in Jerusalem --

bila je to Jevrejska zajednica iz Čikaga, put je bio u Jerusalemu --

and we took them to a refugee camp, a Palestinian refugee camp,

Odveli smo ih u palestinski izbjeglički kamp,

and there we had this amazing food.

gdje smo imali ovu zanimljivu hranu.

By the way, this is my mother. She's cool.

Ovo je moja mati. Ona je cool.

And that's the Palestinian food called maqluba.

Ovo je Palestinsko jelo, koje se zove maqluba.

It means "upside-down."

Koje u prevodu znači "naglavačke."

You cook it with rice and chicken, and you flip it upside-down.

Kuha se sa rižom i piletinom, i to okrenete "naopačke."

It's the best meal ever.

To je najbolje jelo ikada.

And we'll eat together.

Koje smo svi zajedno jeli.

Then we had a joint band, Israeli and Palestinian musicians,

Poslije toga je svirao zajednički bend, Palestinskih i Jevrejskih muzičara,

and we did some belly-dancing.

a poslije smo imali trbušni ples.

If you don't know any, I'll teach you later.

Ukoliko ga ne znate plesati, naučiti ću vas poslije.

But when we left, both sides,

Ali kada smo krenuli, obje strane,

they were crying because they did not want to leave.

su plakale, nisu željele da se rastanu.

Three years later, those relationships still exist.

Tri godine poslije, te veze i dalje postoje.

Imagine with me if the one billion people

Zamislite kada bi milijardu ljudi

who travel internationally every year travel like this,

koji putuju međunarodno svake godine, putovali na ovaj način,

not being taken in the bus from one side to another,

kada ne bi uzimali autobus da pređu s jedne na drugu stranu,

from one hotel to another,

iz jednog hotela u drugi,

taking pictures from the windows of their buses of people and cultures,

da slikaju iz svojih autobusa, ljude i njihovu kulturu,

but actually connecting with people.

umjesto da se povežu sa njima.

You know, I remember having a Muslim group from the U.K.

Sjećam se, kada sam imao grupu Muslimana iz Velike Britanije,

going to the house of an Orthodox Jewish family,

i kada smo ušli u kuću ortodoksnih Jevreja,

and having their first Friday night dinners, that Sabbath dinner,

zajedno smo večerali na prvi Petak, Sabbath večeru,

and eating together hamin, which is a Jewish food, a stew,

zajedno smo jeli hamin, Jevrejsko jelo, paprikaš,

just having the connection of realizing, after a while,

malo poslije, smo shvatili

that a hundred years ago, their families came out

da su njihove porodice prije stotinu godina došle iz

of the same place in Northern Africa.

istog mjesta iz Sjeverne Afrike.

This is not a photo profile for your Facebook.

Ovo nije profilna slika za vaš FB profil.

This is not disaster tourism.

Ovo nije upropašten turizam.

This is the future of travel,

Ovo je budućnost putovanja,

and I invite you to join me to do that, to change your travel.

i ja vas pozivam da mi se pridužite, da promjenimo način putovanja.

We're doing it all over the world now,

Mi to radimo sada širom svijeta,

from Ireland to Iran to Turkey,

od Irske do Irana i Turske,

and we see ourselves going everywhere to change the world.

i vidimo se čak i dalje, da promjenimo svijet.

Thank you.

Hvala vam.

(Applause)

(Aplauz)