Well, the subject of difficult negotiation reminds me of one of my favorite stories from the Middle East, of a man who left to his three sons, 17 camels. To the first son, he left half the camels; to the second son, he left a third of the camels; and to the youngest son, he left a ninth of the camels. The three sons got into a negotiation -- 17 doesn't divide by two. It doesn't divide by three. It doesn't divide by nine. Brotherly tempers started to get strained. Finally, in desperation, they went and they consulted a wise old woman. The wise old woman thought about their problem for a long time, and finally she came back and said, "Well, I don't know if I can help you, but at least, if you want, you can have my camel." So then, they had 18 camels. The first son took his half -- half of 18 is nine. The second son took his third -- a third of 18 is six. The youngest son took his ninth -- a ninth of 18 is two. You get 17. They had one camel left over. They gave it back to the wise old woman.
Tema kompliciranih pregovora podsjeća me na jednu od meni najdražih priča s Bliskog Istoka, o čovjeku koji je trojici svojih sinova ostavio 17 deva. Prvom sinu ostavio je polovicu deva; drugom sinu trećinu; a najmlađem sinu devetinu deva. Trojca sinova počeli su pregovore. 17 nije djeljivo s dva. Nije djeljivo niti s tri. Niti s devet. Raspoloženje braće postalo je napeto. Napokon, u očaju, odlučili su potražiti savjet mudre stare žene. Mudra stara žena razmišljala je dugo o njihovom problemu, a kad se vratila, rekla je: "Ne znam mogu li vam pomoći, ali barem, ako želite, možete uzeti moju devu." Tako su dobili ukupno 18 deva. Prvi sin uzeo je svoju polovicu -- pola od 18 je devet. Drugi sin uzeo je svoju trećinu -- trećina od 18 je šest. Najmlađi sin uzeo je svoju devetinu -- Devetina od 18 je dva. Ukupno, to je 17. Jedna deva im je ostala. Nju su vratili mudroj staroj ženi.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
Now, if you think about that story for a moment, I think it resembles a lot of the difficult negotiations we get involved in. They start off like 17 camels, no way to resolve it. Somehow, what we need to do is step back from those situations, like that wise old woman, look at the situation through fresh eyes and come up with an 18th camel. Finding that 18th camel in the world's conflicts has been my life passion.
Ako na trenutak razmislite o ovoj priči, čini se da sliči mnogim teškim pregovorima u koje smo upleteni. Ti pregovori počinju poput 17 deva -- nema načina da se riješe. Ono što moramo učiniti je zakoračiti izvan tih situacija, poput te stare mudre žene, promotriti situaciju novim očima i pronaći 18.-tu devu. Pronalaženje 18.-te deve u svjetskim sukobima moja je životna strast.
I basically see humanity a bit like those three brothers. We're all one family. We know that scientifically, thanks to the communications revolution, all the tribes on the planet -- all 15,000 tribes -- are in touch with each other. And it's a big family reunion. And yet, like many family reunions, it's not all peace and light. There's a lot of conflict, and the question is: How do we deal with our differences? How do we deal with our deepest differences, given the human propensity for conflict and the human genius at devising weapons of enormous destruction? That's the question.
Ja vidim čovječanstvo poput ta tri brata; svi smo mi jedna obitelj. Znanost je pokazala, to znamo zahvaljujući revoluciji u komunikacijama, da su sva plemena na svijetu, svih 15 000, međusobno povezana. To je veliko obiteljsko okupljanje. A opet, poput mnogih obiteljskih okupljanja, nije uvijek mirno i lagano. Ima puno sukoba. Pitanje je, kako se nositi s našim razlikama? Kako se nositi s našim najdubljim razlikama, uzevši u obzir ljudsku sklonost sukobu i ljudskom geniju koji je razvio oružja ogromne moći uništavanja? To je veliko pitanje.
As I've spent the last better part of three decades, almost four, traveling the world, trying to work, getting involved in conflicts ranging from Yugoslavia to the Middle East to Chechnya to Venezuela -- some of the most difficult conflicts on the face of the planet -- I've been asking myself that question. And I think I've found, in some ways, what is the secret to peace. It's actually surprisingly simple. It's not easy, but it's simple. It's not even new. It may be one of our most ancient human heritages. The secret to peace is us. It's us who act as a surrounding community around any conflict, who can play a constructive role.
Kako sam proveo veći dio posljednja tri desetljeća -- skoro četiri -- putujući po svijetu, pokušavajući raditi na sukobima od Jugoslavije do Bliskog Istoka od Čečenije do Venezuele, nekih od najtežih sukoba na planetu, postavljao sam si to pitanje. I mislim da sam pronašao, na neki način, što je tajna mira. To je zapravo iznenađujuće jednostavno. Nije lako, ali je jednostavno. Ta ideja čak nije ni nova. Možda je jedna od najstarijih ljudskih naslijeđa. Tajna mira smo mi. Mi koji djelujemo kao zajednica koja okružuje svaki sukob,
Let me give you just a story, an example.
koja može igrati konstruktivnu ulogu.
About 20 years ago, I was in South Africa, working with the parties in that conflict, and I had an extra month, so I spent some time living with several groups of San Bushmen. I was curious about them, about the way in which they resolve conflict. Because, after all, within living memory, they were hunters and gatherers, living pretty much like our ancestors lived for maybe 99 percent of the human story. And all the men have these poison arrows that they use for hunting -- absolutely fatal. So how do they deal with their differences? Well, what I learned is, whenever tempers rise in those communities, someone goes and hides the poison arrows out in the bush, and then everyone sits around in a circle like this, and they sit and they talk and they talk. It may take two days, three days, four days, but they don't rest until they find a resolution or better yet -- a reconciliation. And if tempers are still too high, then they send someone off to visit some relatives, as a cooling-off period.
Dat ću vam jednu priču kao primjer. Prije 20 godina bio sam u Južnoj Africi radeći sa stranama uključenima u taj sukob, i imao sam mjesec dana viška, kojeg sam proveo živeći s nekoliko grupa San Bushmana. Bio sam znatiželjan i želio sam znati više o njima i načinu na koji rješavaju sukobe. Jer, naposlijetku, unutar cijele povijesti, oni su bili lovci i sakupljači, i živjeli su jednako kao naši preci kroz možda 99% ljudske prošlosti. Svi muškarci imaju otrovne strelice koje koriste za lov -- apsolutno su smrtonosne. Kako su se oni nosili sa svojim razlikama? Naučio sam da kad god dođe do svađe u tim zajednicama, netko ode sakriti otrovne strelice u grmlje, i svi sjednu u krug ovako, i sjede, i razgovaraju, i razgovaraju. Može trajati dva dana, tri dana, četiri dana, ali oni ne miruju dok ne nađu rješenje, ili još bolje, pomirenje. Ako je raspoloženje još uvijek napeto, onda nekoga pošalju van da posjeti rođake ne bi li se smirio.
Well, that system is, I think, probably the system that kept us alive to this point, given our human tendencies. That system, I call "the third side." Because if you think about it, normally when we think of conflict, when we describe it, there's always two sides -- it's Arabs versus Israelis, labor versus management, husband versus wife, Republicans versus Democrats. But what we don't often see is that there's always a third side, and the third side of the conflict is us, it's the surrounding community, it's the friends, the allies, the family members, the neighbors. And we can play an incredibly constructive role.
Taj sustav nas je, ja mislim, vjerojatno održao na životu do ovog trenutka, uzevši u obzir naše ljudske sklonosti. Taj sustav ja zovem treća strana. Ako razmislite o tome, kad opisujemo sukob, uvijek su tu dvije strane. Arapi protiv Izraelaca, radnici protiv menadžmenta, muž protiv žene, republikanci protiv demokrata, ali ono što često ne vidimo je da je tu uvijek treća strana. Ta treća strana sukoba smo mi, okolna zajednica, prijatelji, saveznici, članovi obitelji, susjedi. I mi možemo igrati vrlo konstruktivnu ulogu.
Perhaps the most fundamental way in which the third side can help is to remind the parties of what's really at stake. For the sake of the kids, for the sake of the family, for the sake of the community, for the sake of the future, let's stop fighting for a moment and start talking. Because, the thing is, when we're involved in conflict, it's very easy to lose perspective. It's very easy to react. Human beings -- we're reaction machines. And as the saying goes, when angry, you will make the best speech you will ever regret.
Najosnovniji način na koji treća strana može pomoći je podsjetiti strane što mogu izgubiti. Zbog djece, zbog obitelji, zbog zajednice, zbog budućnosti, prekinimo borbu na trenutak i započnimo razgovor. Jer, naime, kad smo upleteni u sukob, vrlo lako zaboravimo što je važno. Vrlo lako reagiramo. Ljudska bića: mi smo strojevi za reakciju. I kako kaže izreka, kad si ljut, održat ćeš najbolji govor koji ćeš ikada požaliti.
(Laughter)
I tako nas treća strana podsjeća na to.
And so the third side reminds us of that. The third side helps us go to the balcony, which is a metaphor for a place of perspective, where we can keep our eyes on the prize.
Treća strana pomaže nam da "odemo na balkon", što je metafora za mjesto s kojeg imamo drugu perspektivu, gdje možemo vidjeti ono što je doista važno.
Let me tell you a little story from my own negotiating experience. Some years ago, I was involved as a facilitator in some very tough talks between the leaders of Russia and the leaders of Chechnya. There was a war going on, as you know. And we met in the Hague, in the Peace Palace, in the same room where the Yugoslav war-crimes tribunal was taking place. And the talks got off to a rather rocky start when the vice president of Chechnya began by pointing at the Russians and said, "You should stay right here in your seats, because you're going to be on trial for war crimes." And then he turned to me and said, "You're an American. Look at what you Americans are doing in Puerto Rico." And my mind started racing, "Puerto Rico? What do I know about Puerto Rico?" I started reacting.
Dopustite da vam ispričam priču iz svog vlastitog pregovaračkog iskustva. Prije par godina, bio sam uključen kao podupiratelj u nekim teškim pregovorima između vođa Rusije i vođa Čečenije. U tijeku je bio rat, kao što znate. Sastali smo se u Haagu, u Palači mira, u istoj sobi gdje se odvijalo suđenje za ratne zločine počinjene na teritoriju bivše Jugoslavije. Pregovori su započeli loše jer je podpredsjednik Čečenije počeo upirati prstom u Ruse i rekao, "Ostanite radije ovdje u svojim stolicama, jer ćete završiti na suđenju za ratne zločine." I onda je nastavio, i okrenuo se meni i rekao, "Vi ste Amerikanac. Pogledajte što vi Amerikanci radite u Puerto Ricu." I ja sam u panici pomislio, "Puerto Rico? Što znam o Puerto Ricu?" I počeo sam reagirati,
(Laughter)
ali onda sam se prisjetio da treba "otići na balkon".
But then, I tried to remember to go to the balcony. And then when he paused and everyone looked at me for a response, from a balcony perspective, I was able to thank him for his remarks and say, "I appreciate your criticism of my country and I take it as a sign that we're among friends and can speak candidly to one another."
I onda, kad je on zastao, i svi su čekali moj odgovor, iz perspektive balkona, ja sam mu uspio zahvaliti na njegovim primjedbama i reći, "Cijenim vaše kritike moje zemlje, i uzimam to kao znak da smo prijatelji i da možemo otvoreno razgovarati.
(Laughter)
Ovdje smo ne da bismo pričali o Puerto Ricu ili o prošlosti.
"And what we're here to do is not to talk about Puerto Rico or the past. We're here to see if we can figure out a way to stop the suffering and the bloodshed in Chechnya." The conversation got back on track. That's the role of the third side, to help the parties go to the balcony.
Ovdje smo da vidimo možemo li naći načina da zaustavimo patnje i krvoproliće u Čečeniji." Razgovor se vratio na početnu temu. To je uloga treće strane, pomoći dvjema stranama da odu na balkon.
Now let me take you, for a moment, to what's widely regarded as the world's most difficult conflict, or the most impossible conflict, the Middle East. Question is: where's the third side there? How could we possibly go to the balcony? Now, I don't pretend to have an answer to the Middle East conflict, but I think I've got a first step -- literally, a first step -- something that any one of us could do as third-siders. Let me just ask you one question first. How many of you in the last years have ever found yourself worrying about the Middle East and wondering what anyone could do? Just out of curiosity, how many of you? OK, so the great majority of us. And here, it's so far away. Why do we pay so much attention to this conflict? Is it the number of deaths? There are a hundred times more people who die in a conflict in Africa than in the Middle East. No, it's because of the story, because we feel personally involved in that story. Whether we're Christians, Muslims or Jews, religious or non-religious, we feel we have a personal stake in it.
Pođimo sad na trenutak na mjesto gdje se smatra da vlada najteži sukob na svijetu, ili sukob koji je nemoguće razriješiti, Bliski Istok. Pitanje je: Gdje je tamo treća strana? Kako bismo mogli "otići na balkon"? Neću se pretvarati da imam odgovor na pitanje sukoba na Bliskom Istoku, ali mislim da imam prvi korak, doslovno prvi korak, nešto što bilo tko od nas može učiniti kao treća strana. Prvo bih vam postavio jedno pitanje. Koliko se vas, poslijednjih godina, zabrinulo zbog Bliskog Istoka pitajući se što bi itko mogao učiniti? Samo iz znatiželje, koliko vas? OK, znači velika većina. I to ovdje, tako daleko. Zašto poklanjamo toliko pažnje tom sukobu? Je li zbog broja poginulih? Stotinu puta više ljudi umire u sukobima u Africi nego na Bliskom Istoku. Ne, to je zbog priče, jer se osjećamo osobno upletenima u tu priču. Bili mi kršćani, muslimani ili židovi, religiozni ili ne-religiozni, osjećamo da imamo osobni udio u tome.
Stories matter; as an anthropologist, I know that. Stories are what we use to transmit knowledge. They give meaning to our lives. That's what we tell here at TED, we tell stories. Stories are the key. And so my question is -- yes, let's try and resolve the politics there in the Middle East, but let's also take a look at the story. Let's try to get at the root of what it's all about. Let's see if we can apply the third side to it. What would that mean? What is the story there?
Priče su važne. Kao antropolog, ja to znam. Priče su ono što koristimo da bismo prenijeli znanje. One daju značenje našim životima. To je ono što radimo na TED-u, pričamo priče. Priče su ključne. I moje pitanje je, da, idemo pokušati razriješiti politiku tamo na Bliskom Istoku, ali idemo i pogledati priču. Pokušajmo vidjeti o čemu se radi u korijenu. Idemo vidjeti možemo li primijeniti treću stranu. Što bi to značilo? Koja je tamo priča?
Now, as anthropologists, we know that every culture has an origin story. What's the origin story of the Middle East? In a phrase, it's: Four thousand years ago, a man and his family walked across the Middle East, and the world has never been the same since. That man, of course, was Abraham. And what he stood for was unity, the unity of the family; he's the father of us all. But it's not just what he stood for, it's what his message was. His basic message was unity too, the interconnectedness of it all, the unity of it all. And his basic value was respect, was kindness toward strangers. That's what he's known for, his hospitality. So in that sense, he's the symbolic third side of the Middle East. He's the one who reminds us that we're all part of a greater whole. Now, think about that for a moment.
Kao antropolozi, mi znamo da svaka kultura ima priču o svom nastanku. Koja je priča o nastanku na Bliskom Istoku? U jednoj frazi, to je: Prije 4000 godina, čovjek i njegova obitelj prepješačili su preko Bliskog Istoka, i svijet više nikada nije bio isti. Taj čovjek, naravno, bio je Abraham. I on znači jedinstvo, jedinstvo obitelji. On je otac svih nas. Ali nije samo što je on značio, bitna je i njegova poruka. Njegova osnovna poruka je također jedinstvo, međupovezanost svega i jedinstvo svega. I njegova osnovna vrijednost je bila poštovanje, ljubaznost prema strancima. Po tome je on poznat, po gostoljubivosti. I u tom smislu, on je simbolička treća strana na Bliskom Istoku. On je taj koji nas podsjeća da smo svi dio veće cjeline. Kako biste sada -- razmislite o tome na trenutak.
Today, we face the scourge of terrorism. What is terrorism? Terrorism is basically taking an innocent stranger and treating them as an enemy whom you kill in order to create fear. What's the opposite of terrorism? It's taking an innocent stranger and treating them as a friend whom you welcome into your home, in order to sow and create understanding or respect, or love.
Danas smo suočeni s terorizmom. Što je terorizam? Terorizam u principu znači da uzmete nevinog stranca i tretirate ga kao neprijatelja kojeg ubijete da biste proširili strah. Što je suprotno terorizmu? Uzeti nevinog stranca i tretirati ga kao prijatelja koga ugostite u svom domu da biste proširili razumijevanje, ili poštovanje, ili ljubav.
So what if, then, you took the story of Abraham, which is a third-side story, what if that could be -- because Abraham stands for hospitality -- what if that could be an antidote to terrorism? What if that could be a vaccine against religious intolerance? How would you bring that story to life? Now, it's not enough just to tell a story. That's powerful, but people need to experience the story. They need to be able to live the story. How would you do that? And that was my thinking of how would you do that. And that's what comes to the first step here. Because the simple way to do that is: you go for a walk. You go for a walk in the footsteps of Abraham. You retrace the footsteps of Abraham. Because walking has a real power. You know, as an anthropologist, walking is what made us human. It's funny -- when you walk, you walk side-by-side, in the same common direction. Now if I were to come to you face-to-face and come this close to you, you would feel threatened. But if I walk shoulder-to-shoulder, even touching shoulders, it's no problem. Who fights while they walk? That's why in negotiations, often, when things get tough, people go for walks in the woods.
I što kad biste onda uzeli priču o Abrahamu, što je priča o "trećoj strani", što kad bi to bilo -- jer Abraham predstavlja gostoljubivost -- što kad bi to bio serum protiv terorizma? Što kad bi to bilo cjepivo protiv religijske netolerancije? Kako biste tu priču preveli u stvarnost? No, nije dovoljno samo ispričati priču -- to je moćno -- ali ljudi moraju iskusiti tu priču. Oni moraju biti u mogućnosti živjeti tu priču. Kako biste to postigli? I to je moje razmišljanje kako to postići. I što je ovdje prvi korak. Jednostavan način da se to postigne je da krenete u šetnju. Da krenete koracima Abrahama. Da ponovo pronađete njegove stope. Jer u šetnji je prava moć. Kao antropolozi, znamo da nas je hod učinio ljudima. Zanimljivo je da, kad hodate, idete bok uz bok u istom zajedničkom smjeru. Kad bih vam prišao licem u lice i došao ovako blizu, osjećali biste se ugroženima. Ali ako hodamo rame uz rame, čak dodirujući se ramenima, to nije problem. Tko se svađa dok hoda? Zato prilikom pregovora, kad se oni zaoštre, ljudi idu u šetnju u šumu.
So the idea came to me of, what about inspiring a path, a route -- think the Silk Route, think the Appalachian Trail -- that followed in the footsteps of Abraham? People said, "That's crazy. You can't. You can't retrace the footsteps of Abraham -- it's too insecure, you've got to cross all these borders, it goes across 10 different countries in the Middle East, because it unites them all." And so we studied the idea at Harvard. We did our due diligence. And then a few years ago, a group of us, about 25 of us from 10 different countries, decided to see if we could retrace the footsteps of Abraham, going from his initial birthplace in the city of Urfa in Southern Turkey, Northern Mesopotamia. And we then took a bus and took some walks and went to Harran, where, in the Bible, he sets off on his journey. Then we crossed the border into Syria, went to Aleppo, which, turns out, is named after Abraham. We went to Damascus, which has a long history associated with Abraham. We then came to Northern Jordan, to Jerusalem -- which is all about Abraham -- to Bethlehem, and finally, to the place where he's buried, in Hebron. So effectively, we went from womb to tomb. We showed it could be done. It was an amazing journey.
Tako sam došao na ideju za inspiraciju puta, rute -- poput puta svile, poput rute Appalacha -- koji bi slijedio korake Abrahama. Ljudi su rekli, "To je ludost. Ne možeš. Ne možeš proći koracima Abrahama. Nije sigurno. Morao bi prijeći sve te granice. On ide preko 10 različitih zemalja Bliskog Istoka, jer ih sve ujedinjuje." I onda smo proučavali tu ideju na Harvardu. Potrudili smo se. I potom smo, prije nekoliko godina, grupa nas, oko 25 iz 10 različitih zemalja, odlučili doznati možemo li poći tragom Abrahama, krenuvši iz njegovog rodnog grada Urfe u južnoj Turskoj, sjevernoj Mezopotamiji. I potom smo sjeli na autobus i hodali i dosli u Harran, gdje, u Bibliji, on kreće na svoj put. Prešli smo granicu i ušli u Siriju, u Aleppo, koji se ispostavilo da je nazvan po Abrahamu. Otišli smo u Damask, koji ima dugu povijest povezanu s Abrahamom. Potom smo došli u sjeverni Jordan, u Jeruzalem, koji je sav o Abrahamu, pa u Betlehem, i naposlijetku na mjesto gdje je pokopan, u Hebron. Išli smo iz maternice u grobnicu. Pokazali smo da je moguće. Bilo je to nevjerojatno putovanje. Postavio bih vam pitanje.
Let me ask you a question. How many of you have had the experience of being in a strange neighborhood or strange land, and a total stranger, perfect stranger, comes up to you and shows you some kindness -- maybe invites you into their home, gives you a drink, gives you a coffee, gives you a meal? How many of you have ever had that experience? That's the essence of the Abraham Path. That's what you discover as you go into these villages in the Middle East where you expect hostility, and you get the most amazing hospitality, all associated with Abraham: "In the name of Father Ibrahim, let me offer you some food." So what we discovered is that Abraham is not just a figure out of a book for those people; he's alive, he's a living presence.
Koliko je vas imalo iskustvo biti u stranom susjedstvu, stranoj zemlji, i potpuni stranac, dođe do vas i pokaže vam ljubaznost, možda vas pozove u svoj dom, ponudi piće, dade vam kavu, obrok? Koliko vas je imalo to iskustvo? To je bit Abrahamovog puta. Ali to je ono što otkrijete, kad idete u ta sela na Bliskom Istoku gdje očekujete neprijateljsvo, a dobijete nevjerojatnu gostoljubivost, sve vezano uz Abrahama. "U ime oca Abrahama, mogu li vam ponuditi nešto hrane." Ono što smo otkrili jest da, za te ljude, Abraham nije samo lik iz knjige, on je živ, i zaista prisutan.
And to make a long story short, in the last couple of years now, thousands of people have begun to walk parts of the path of Abraham in the Middle East, enjoying the hospitality of the people there. They've begun to walk in Israel and Palestine, in Jordan, in Turkey, in Syria. It's an amazing experience. Men, women, young people, old people -- more women than men, actually, interestingly.
Da skratim priču, u zadnje dvije godine, tisuće ljudi počele su hodati putem Abrahama na Bliskom Istoku uživajući u gostoljubivosti tamošnjih ljudi. Počeli su hodati u Izraelu i Palestini, Jordanu, Turskoj, Siriji. To je nevjerojatno iskustvo. Muškarci, žene, mladi, stari -- više žena nego muškaraca zapravo, zanimljivo.
For those who can't walk, who are unable to get there right now, people started to organize walks in cities, in their own communities. In Cincinnati, for instance, they organized a walk from a church to a mosque to a synagogue and all had an Abrahamic meal together. It was Abraham Path Day. In São Paulo, Brazil, it's become an annual event for thousands of people to run in a virtual Abraham Path Run, uniting the different communities. The media love it; they really adore it. They lavish attention on it because it's visual and it spreads the idea, this idea of Abrahamic hospitality, of kindness towards strangers. And just a couple weeks ago, there was an NPR story on it. Last month, there was a piece in the Manchester Guardian about it, two whole pages. And they quoted a villager who said, "This walk connects us to the world." He said, "It was like a light that went on in our lives -- it brought us hope." And so that's what it's about.
Za one koji ne mogu hodati, koji ne mogu trenutno ići tamo, počele su se organizirati šetnje u gradovima, u njihovim vlastitim zajednicama. U Cincinnatiju, na primjer, organizirali su šetnju od crkve do džamije pa do sinagoge i onda su svi zajedno pojeli Abrahamov obrok. Bio je to dan Abrahamovog puta. U Sao Paulu, Brazil, to je postao godišnji događaj kad tisuće ljudi trče u trci virtualnog Abrahamovog puta, ujedinjujući različite zajednice. Mediji to vole, zaista to obožavaju. Posvećuju im puno pažnje jer je vizualno, i jer širi ideju, ideju o Abrahamskoj gostoljubivosti i ljubaznosti prema strancima. I samo prije par tjedana NPR (nacionalni radio) je o tome napravio reportažu. Prošli mjesec, bio je članak u Guardianu, u Manchester Guardianu, o tome -- pune dvije stranice. Citirali su seljaka koji je rekao, "Ova šetnja povezuje nas sa svijetom." Rekao je da je to bilo poput svjetla koje se upalilo u našim životima. Donijelo nam je nadu. O tome se radi.
But it's not just about psychology; it's about economics. Because as people walk, they spend money. And this woman right here, Um Ahmad, is a woman who lives on the path in Northern Jordan. She's desperately poor. She's partially blind, her husband can't work, she's got seven kids. But what she can do is cook. And so she's begun to cook for some groups of walkers who come through the village and have a meal in her home. They sit on the floor -- she doesn't even have a tablecloth. She makes the most delicious food, that's fresh from the herbs in the surrounding countryside. And so more and more walkers have come, and lately she's begun to earn an income to support her family. And so she told our team there, she said, "You have made me visible in a village where people were once ashamed to look at me." That's the potential of the Abraham Path.
Ali nije to samo psihologija, to je ekonomija, jer kako ljudi hodaju, tako troše novac. Ova žena ovdje, Um Ahmad, ona živi na putu u Sjevernom Jordanu. Očajno je siromašna. Dijelom je slijepa, njezin muž ne može raditi, ima sedmoro djece. Ali može kuhati. I tako je počela kuhati za neke grupe šetača koji su prolazili kroz selo i jeli u njezinom domu. Sjedili su na podu. Ona nema niti stolnjak. Ali kuha najukusniju hranu sa svježim biljem iz okolne prirode. I tako je počelo dolaziti sve više ljudi. Nedavno je počela zarađivati dovoljno da uzdržava svoju obitelj. Rekla je našem timu, "Učinili ste me vidljivom u selu gdje su se ljudi sramili u mene pogledati." To je potencijal Abrahamovog puta.
There are literally hundreds of those kinds of communities across the Middle East, across the path. The potential is basically to change the game. And to change the game, you have to change the frame, the way we see things -- to change the frame from hostility to hospitality, from terrorism to tourism. And in that sense, the Abraham Path is a game-changer.
Ima doslovce na stotine takvih zajednica na Bliskom Istoku, uz taj put. Potencijal je zapravo, promijeniti igru. A da bismo promijenili igru, morate promijeniti okvir, način na koji gledamo na stvari -- da bismo promijenili okvir razmišljanja od neprijateljstva do gostoprimstva, od terorizma do turizma. I u tom smislu, Abrahamov put mijenja igru.
Let me just show you one thing. I have a little acorn here that I picked up while I was walking on the path earlier this year. Now, the acorn is associated with the oak tree, of course -- grows into an oak tree, which is associated with Abraham. The path right now is like an acorn; it's still in its early phase. What would the oak tree look like? When I think back to my childhood, a good part of which I spent, after being born here in Chicago, I spent in Europe. If you had been in the ruins of, say, London in 1945, or Berlin, and you had said, "Sixty years from now, this is going to be the most peaceful, prosperous part of the planet," people would have thought you were certifiably insane. But they did it, thanks to a common identity, Europe, and a common economy. So my question is, if it can be done in Europe, why not in the Middle East? Why not, thanks to a common identity, which is the story of Abraham, and thanks to a common economy that would be based, in good part, on tourism?
Dozvolite da vam pokažem jednu stvar. Imam ovdje mali žir koji sam pokupio dok sam hodao tim putem početkom ove godine. Žir dolazi od hrastovog stabla, naravno -- on izrasta u hrast, koji je vezan uz Abrahama. Put je trenutno poput žira; još je u ranoj fazi. Kako će izgledati hrast? Prisjećam se svog djetinjstva, čiji sam veći dio proveo, nakon što sam se rodio u Chicagu, proveo sam ga u Europi. Ako ste bili recimo, među ruševinama Londona 1945., ili Berlina, i rekli ste, "Za 60 godina, ovo će biti najmirniji i najrazvijeniji dio planeta," ljudi bi pomislili da ste definitivno ludi. Ali oni su to učinili zahvaljujući zajedničkom identitetu -- Europi -- i zajedničkom gospodarstvu. Moje pitanje je, ako se to moglo učiniti u Europi, zašto ne na Bliskom Istoku? Zašto ne, zahvaljujući zajedničkom identitetu -- a to je priča o Abrahamu -- i zahvaljujući zajedničkom gospodarstvu koje bi se većim dijelom temeljio na turizmu?
So let me conclude, then, by saying that in the last 35 years, as I've worked in some of the most dangerous, difficult and intractable conflicts around the planet, I have yet to see one conflict that I felt could not be transformed. It's not easy, of course. But it's possible. It was done in South Africa. It was done in Northern Ireland. It could be done anywhere. It simply depends on us. It depends on us taking the third side. So let me invite you to consider taking the third side, even as a very small step. We're about to take a break in a moment. Just go up to someone who's from a different culture, a different country, a different ethnicity -- some difference -- and engage them in a conversation. Listen to them. That's a third-side act. That's walking Abraham's Path. After a TED Talk, why not a TED Walk?
Dozvolite da zaključim tako što ću reći da u zadnjih 35 godina, koliko sam radio na nekim od najopasnijih, najtežih i najtvrdoglavijih sukoba na planetu, još uvijek nisam vidio onaj sukob za kojeg sam mislio da se ne može transformirati. Nije lako, naravno, ali je moguće. Dogodilo se u Južnoafričkoj Republici. Dogodilo se Sjevernoj Irskoj. Može se postići bilo gdje. To jednostavno ovisi o nama. Ovisi o nama da postanemo treća strana. I dozvolite mi da vas pozovem da pokušate zauzeti treću stranu, čak i kao vrlo mali korak. Uskoro ćemo imati pauzu. Jednostavno priđite nekome tko je iz druge kulture, druge zemlje, drugog etniciteta, nešto različit, i popričajte s njima; poslušajte ih. To je čin treće strane. To znači hodati putem Abrahama. Nakon TED govora, zašto ne TED šetnja?
(Laughter)
Dopustite da vas ostavim
So let me just leave you with three things. One is, the secret to peace is the third side. The third side is us. Each of us, with a single step, can take the world, can bring the world a step closer to peace. There's an old African proverb that goes: "When spiderwebs unite, they can halt even the lion." If we're able to unite our third-side webs of peace, we can even halt the lion of war.
s tri stvari. Jedna je, da je tajna mira ta treća strana. Treća strana smo mi, svatko od nas, malim korakom, može dovesti svijet korak bliže miru. Stara afrička poslovica glasi: "Kad se pauci ujedine, mogu zadržati čak i lava." Ako uspijemo ujediniti mreže mira naše treće strane, moći ćemo zaustaviti čak i lava rata.
Thank you very much.
Puno vam hvala.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)