Created for us by one of PREVENT HATE’s student friends.
Update: Sent to us by another one of our student friends
It has been more than a month that the people of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are demanding improved rights, representation, and socioeconomic development. And yet, muffled in the calls for liberty, is a low murmur uttered by people around the world who are concerned, and rightfully so, that today’s freedom fighters may be opening a sociopolitical Pandora’s Box, out of which will come a militant takeover by anti-democratic forces. The fear is that today’s rebels and protestors who are disorganized and well-meaning when it comes to changing the region’s leaders will create an opening to be exploited tomorrow by those who are better organized, power-obsessed, and who have nefarious intentions for those who do not fit their world view. It is really no surprise this turmoil is occurring. The world economy is struggling. Food prices are up. And the Middle East already is ranked the lowest on the global human development index. The conditions are ripe for serious change, but in which direction will that change occur and is there anything we, in the west, could do about it without appearing imperialist?
Let’s take a quiz to help us focus.
What to do?
A) Wring our hands and do nothing;
B) Make a lot of proclamations and threats about sanctions and reductions in financial exchanges that take some time to begin having an impact, while in the short term do nothing;
C) Bomb and shoot the heck out of people and infrastructure, then fly away and leave the locals to their own devices;
D) Bomb and shoot the heck out of people and infrastructure, then get stuck in their country for an unforeseen number of decades to come;
E) Come up with a strategic plan that actually speaks directly to the needs of the people on the street far better than any militant, anti-democratic force ever could do, so they see we are prepared to engage them constructively, and on their terms, as soon as “the day after” arrives.
You should know, by the way, that A-D are the options recently offered and discussed in international power circles while innocent people in the Middle East are massacred, friendly governments are threatened, and adversarial eyes watch from the shadows with their own plans for the region’s future. Meanwhile, the only viable answer, E, remains ignored.
Below are recommendations based upon best practices in socioeconomic development to assist President Obama maneuver the United States, and subsequently the rest of the west, into the new and improved MENA regional ally:
1. Speak directly to the people on the ground, explaining that we offer them the hand of friendship and cooperation, rather than waste any more time making proclamations about their leaders;
2. Make it very clear that the intentions of the United States and western nations, from now on, are to promote self-sufficiency in the people of the MENA region, and that, to that extent, we are at their service through the following methods (Points 3-10):
3. Offer to widen access to the vast resources in socioeconomic development that are found throughout the United States and other western nations to the people of the Middle East — our capital, technology, and best practices in human development (healthcare, education, public safety, etc.) — through training programs and financial exchanges to assist them rebuild their economies under democratic governance;
4. Offer to make all non-oil exports to the USA and Europe from MENA countries duty free to help them diversity their economies;
5. Send in members of MENA Diaspora communities now living in the west who will offer assistance organizing governmental changes along the following lines:
6. Offer assistance through training programs to develop government agencies that engage socially disadvantaged groups through best practices in services and empowerment programs that focus on full integration into mainstream society, e.g., minorities, women, people with disabilities, etc. so that these services are not left up to aspects of the civilian sector run by militant organizations that may be hostile to democracy;
7. Create cross-cultural programs between the people of the MENA and people from western countries that focus on mutual sustainable community development programs because nothing overcomes competition better than does cooperation to accomplish a humanitarian goal;
8. Create youth entrepreneurship opportunities through international trade and infrastructure development to facilitate equitable exchanges between youth and young adults that result in mutual stakeholders in poverty-reducing programs;
9. Promote stronger ties between technological research centers at western universities and MENA universities with dual focuses on urban and agricultural development;
10. Maintain a strong military presence in the region to deter any semblance that the west has gone weak while we begin engaging the local population socioeconomically to build their independence in a healthy partnership with the west.
In addition, the people of the MENA region should:
1. Create a Middle East and North African Youth Regional Parliament, made up of elected representatives specifically to this grouping who are under the age of 40; that provides recommendations on democratic governance and regional policy, and present their findings bi-annually to a regional group of official parliamentary heads that includes all nations in the region irrespective of their diplomatic ties with each other;
2. Create the Middle East and North African Youth Regional Games, which would function as a mini-Olympics for youth throughout the region irrespective of politics. These games should have a Special Olympics component for people with developmental disabilities, and a Paralympics component for people with physical disabilities to promote humanitarian interaction between the countries.
Any nation that refuses to allow its youth or parliamentary heads to participate in these programs should be expelled from its political regional grouping at the United Nations via direct petition of the MENA Youth Parliament, which would effectively interrupt its ability to participate on the United Nations Security Council. It is also incumbent upon the Youth Parliament and Regional Games not to exclude or marginalize Israel or any one nation, but rather, to focus on improving the region collectively.
Altogether through these policies, the west and MENA countries, and the people from both areas, would promote a combined micro- and macro-approach to MENA development in partnership with each other without exploitation.
If these policies are enacted comprehensively, the end result will be improved living conditions for the diverse peoples of the Middle East and North Africa, increased regional peace and cooperation, enhanced relations between Middle Eastern and North African countries with each other and with the west, and a significant reduction in global militancy. These policies speak directly to the needs of the people without appearing to be a fair weather friend to regional allies by promoting workable democratic reforms; and implement methods that will keep Pandora’s Box of Militancy shut tightly — the best of all worlds.
Freedom and democracy are not just discussion topics. They have real meaning. People are dying in the chaos. Yet, unfortunately, time is not on our side. We must move beyond rhetoric and focus on results-driven policies… now.
Matt Rosenthal, PREVENT HATE’s president, will be a panelist on “Negotiations, Conflict Resolution & Peace Building Programs” at the 1st annual pan-African global trade conference, which will be held in Los Angeles on October 21-22, 2010. Amina Salum Ali, the
African Union Ambassador to the USA, will be the keynote speaker.
This first of its kind landmark event in California will provide
opportunities for conference participants to:
— Network with private and public sector leaders and
potential business partners from the U.S., Africa and the
African Diaspora in roundtable business panels and private
business meetings;
— Learn about current small business opportunities in
Africa’s emerging markets;
— Learn about current financing and investment programs for
international trade & commerce with Africa;
— Strengthen business and cultural relations between the
U.S., Africa and the African Diaspora through bilateral
business and economic development.
Ensuring peaceful coexistence is crucial to successful socioeconomic development. For more information on the conference, check out this flyer.
On Monday, July 26, 2010, PREVENT HATE, in partnership with the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability, commemorated the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) with an empowerment program directly on the lawn of Los Angeles City Hall at which U.S. veterans with disabilities built a house in just three hours. This was a public demonstration of PREVENT HATE and the Los Angeles Department on Disability’s joint training program that empowers at-risk and marginalized populations.
If a picture paints a thousand words, then a public demonstration paints millions. In just a few hours, we disproved many reasons for discrimination against people living with disabilities because we successfully demonstrated that when they are provided with adequate tools, training, and resources, they do contribute to their communities, including the workforce, productively.
Much thanks to the Veterans Affairs (VA) health center in Long Beach, CA for bringing vets with disabilities to build the house — all volunteers. They were awesome, worked hard, and showed that they are ready to conquer their obstacles and get back to work. In addition, here is a big THANK YOU to all of our sponsors, particularly SolarWorld, the event’s premier sponsor, who additionally provided solar panels for the program. For more information, here is SolarWorld’s press release.
Some of the specs about the house we built, which is an original design by PREVENT HATE’s training director, Barry Leneman, are as follows:
This is how we prevent hate… through best practices in socioeconomic development. See for yourselves (and ignore the time stamps on the photos).
I always say if we want peace in the Middle East to stand a chance we have to tell our politicians to back off, or better yet, Muslims and Jews would need to get together and tell the rest of the world to back off and let them make peace amongst themselves all on their own. Sure they can do it!
If you look back in history, whenever Muslims and Jews lived together in harmony, their combined forces, with knowledge, science and commerce made their communities thrive.
Sadly in our lifetime, it’s almost as if they are purposely being manipulated to be at odds with each other, living in constant turmoil and kept apart only to serve other people’s political and economic agendas.
Jewish businessman Robert Harush who grew up in Ashkelon spends fortune on renovation of large Muslim house of worship in Montereau, in effort to promote co-existenceAn unlikely benefactor. An Ashkelon resident who made a fortune in the European real estate business has decided to pay for the construction of a mosque in France for the benefit of the local Muslim community.
Father of four Robert Harush, 58, grew up in Ashkelon and having completed his military service tried his luck in the real estate business in Europe. His success has won him many hotels and buildings and he is estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of shekels.
In other news….
(JTA) — A practicing Muslim and an Orthodox Jew have been chosen to run a New Jersey city.
Mohammed Hameeduddin was chosen last week by the Teaneck, N.J. township council to serve as mayor and Adam Gussen was chosen as deputy mayor. The sitting councilmen were appointed by the township council each for a two-year term.
The men attended middle school together in Teaneck and both attended Rutgers University, according to ABC News.
On Tuesday, May 25, 2010, PREVENT HATE brought one of our speakers to Canoga High School in Los Angeles, CA for a program to inspire youth away from hate and violence, and to open their minds to creative outlets for their frustrations.
Mr. Zuhdi Sardar, a brilliant artist from the Kurdistan region of Iraq, spoke for approximately 45 minutes to a large group of students about his experiences with institutionalized discrimination and intergroup violence under Saddam Hussein’s regime, as well as his determination to channel his anger into productive methods. Today, Zuhdi Sardar’s smile is irrepresible, as well as is the love for humanity that he exudes.
An ethnic minority in the Middle East, the Kurds have been subjected to systemic violations of their human rights by various political parties representing ethnic majorities in the region. Mr. Sardar’s story is one of hope and inspiration, explaining how the friendships he cultivated across ethnic lines saved his life at a time when nearly all his childhood friends were murdered by government forces. At the end of the program, he opened his portfolio and shared some of his art with the students. The swarm of youth that approached Mr. Sardar at the end of his speech was a strong testimony to his message and his ability to speak directly to the hearts of at-risk youth.
For more information on Zuhdi Sardar’s art, please visit zuhdisardar.com.
PREVENT HATE’s speakers bureau brings survivors of genocide and severe crimes against humanity to speak to students about overcoming their differences, rejecting violence, and making a productive contribution to society. Our speakers are role models who have been through the worst hellfire, and yet, celebrate life. As is always the case, at the end of the program, we were asked to come back.
On July 26, 2010, PREVENT HATE, in partnership with the City of Los Angeles, will hold a public demonstration at Los Angeles City Hall on behalf of our joint training program to empower people with disabilities. The program will utilize labor from people with disabilities to build emergency housing in just one day in order to dispel bias against them, and to promote methods of self-sufficiency. This is part of a larger program at Los Angeles City Hall in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
PREVENT HATE continues to bring much needed, innovative programming to marginalized and disadvantaged populations. Thank you so much for your continued support.
There will be a briefing before the education sub-committee of the California Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights on Thursday, April 29, 2010. The topic of the briefing is “Free Speech on California Public University and College Campuses.”
This is hearing is open to the public and the testimony will be sent to Washington.
The reason for this briefing is that there are members of the California Advisory Committee who think anti-harrassment speech policies on university campuses contradict the right to free speech. Other committee members believe such policies are motivated to ensure that all students, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or disability have equal access to education without being harrassed, or having to suffer a hostile learning environment. What do you think? Make your voice heard if you are a California resident.
Send us your emails and we will pass them along to the acting western regional director of the US Commission on Civil Rights, or contact us if you are interested in attending.