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

Translator: Silvia Miguélez Reviewer: Mario Cal

Son un empresario turístico e un construtor de paz,

pero non comecei deste xeito.

Cando tiña 7 anos, lembro ver na televisión

I'm a tourism entrepreneur and a peacebuilder,

xente tirando pedras,

but this is not how I started.

e pensar, isto debe ser algo divertido.

When I was seven years old, I remember watching television

Entón saín á rúa e tirei pedras,

and seeing people throwing rocks,

sen darme de conta de que debía tirarlles pedras aos coches israelís.

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

No seu lugar, acabei apedrando os coches dos meus veciños. (Risas)

So I got out to the street and threw rocks,

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

Non estiveron moi entusiasmados co meu patriotismo.

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

Esta é a miña foto co meu irmán.

Este son eu, o pequeno, e sei o que estades a pensar:

They were not enthusiastic about my patriotism.

“Que guapo eras, que foi o que che pasou?”

This is my picture with my brother.

Pero o meu irmán, que é maior ca min,

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

foi arrestado cando tiña 18 anos,

e levado a prisión acusado de lanzar pedras.

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

Golpeárono cando se negou a confesar que lanzara pedras,

But my brother, who is older than me,

was arrested when he was 18,

e como resultado, tivo lesións internas

taken to prison on charges of throwing stones.

que lle causaron a morte pouco despois de saír de prisión.

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

Eu estaba enfadado e amargado,

and as a result, had internal injuries

e o único que quería era vinganza.

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

Pero iso cambiou cando tiña 18 anos.

I was angry, I was bitter,

Decidín que necesitaba o hebreo para conseguir un traballo,

and all I wanted was revenge.

e cando fun estudar hebreo nesa aula

But that changed when I was 18.

coñecín por primeira vez xudeus que non eran soldados.

I decided that I needed Hebrew to get a job,

E conectamos por cousas moi pequenas, como o meu gusto pola música country,

and going to study Hebrew in that classroom

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

o que é realmente estraño para os palestinos.

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

Pero foi entón tamén cando me decatei de que temos un muro de rabia,

which is really strange for Palestinians.

odio e ignorancia que nos separa.

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

Decidín que non importa o que me pase a min.

of hatred and of ignorance that separates us.

O que realmente importa é que fago ao respecto.

E polo tanto, decidín dedicar a miña vida

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

a derrubar os muros que separan as persoas.

What really matters is how I deal with it.

Fágoo de moitas maneiras.

And therefore, I decided to dedicate my life

O turismo é unha delas, pero tamén os medios de comunicación e a educación,

to bringing down the walls that separate people.

e podedes estarvos a preguntar, seguro que o turismo pode cambiar as cousas?

I do so through many ways.

Pode derrubar muros? Si.

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

O turismo é a mellor forma sostible de derrubar eses muros

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

e crear unha forma sostible de conectar uns cos outros

Can it bring down walls? Yes.

Tourism is the best sustainable way to bring down those walls

e crear amizades.

No ano 2009, cofundei Mejdi Tours,

and to create a sustainable way of connecting with each other

unha empresa social que busca conectar persoas,

and creating friendships.

con dous amigos xudeus, por certo,

In 2009, I cofounded Mejdi Tours,

e o que faremos, o modelo que fixemos,

a social enterprise that aims to connect people,

por exemplo, en Xerusalén, teríamos dous guías turísticos,

with two Jewish friends, by the way,

un israelí e un palestino, guiando as viaxes xuntos,

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

falando de historia e narrativa, e arqueoloxía e conflito

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

desde perspectivas moi diferentes.

one Israeli and one Palestinian, guiding the trips together,

Recordo que fixera unha viaxe cun amigo chamado Kobi,

telling history and narrative and archaeology and conflict

da comunidade xudea de Chicago, a viaxe foi a Xerusalén,

from totally different perspectives.

e os levamos a un campo de refuxiados palestinos,

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

e alí tiñamos esta comida incrible.

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

Por certo, esta é a miña nai. É xenial.

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

E esa é a comida palestina chamada maqluba.

Significa “do revés”.

and there we had this amazing food.

Cocíñase con arroz e polo, logo lle das a volta.

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

É a mellor das comidas.

And that's the Palestinian food called maqluba.

E comeremos xuntos.

Despois tivemos unha banda conxunta, de músicos israelís e palestinos,

It means "upside-down."

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

e bailamos a danza do ventre.

It's the best meal ever.

Se non sabedes, ensinareivos máis tarde.

And we'll eat together.

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

Pero cando saímos, os dous lados

and we did some belly-dancing.

choraban porque non querían marchar.

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

Tres anos despois, aquelas relacións aínda existen.

But when we left, both sides,

Imaxinade comigo se os mil millóns de persoas

they were crying because they did not want to leave.

que fan viaxes internacionais cada ano, viaxaran así,

Three years later, those relationships still exist.

sen ser levados no autobús dun lado a outro,

Imagine with me if the one billion people

dun hotel a outro,

who travel internationally every year travel like this,

tomando fotos desde as fiestras do bus á xente e ás culturas,

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

senón conectando coa xente.

from one hotel to another,

Sabedes, recordo ter levado un grupo musulmán do Reino Unido

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

á casa dunha familia xudía ortodoxa,

but actually connecting with people.

e ter xuntos as súas primeiras ceas do venres e do Sabbath,

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

e comer xuntos hamin, unha comida xudía, un guiso,

going to the house of an Orthodox Jewish family,

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

e despois dun tempo, darse de conta

de que hai cen anos, as súas familias saíron

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

do mesmo lugar do norte de África.

just having the connection of realizing, after a while,

Esta non é unha foto para o teu perfil de Facebook.

that a hundred years ago, their families came out

Isto non é turismo de desastres.

of the same place in Northern Africa.

Este é o futuro das viaxes,

e invítovos a que vos unades a min para cambiar a vosa viaxe.

This is not a photo profile for your Facebook.

Xa o estamos a facer en todo o mundo,

This is not disaster tourism.

de Irlanda a Irán e Turquía,

This is the future of travel,

e vémonos a nós mesmos indo a todas partes para cambiar o mundo.

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

Grazas.

We're doing it all over the world now,

(Aplausos)

from Ireland to Iran to Turkey,

and we see ourselves going everywhere to change the world.

Thank you.

(Applause)