Daniel Lubetzky

Shlomo Ben-Ami wrote a very persuasive piece in The Guardian explaining that, precisely because the “moderate” leadership has no legitimacy because it was not elected and has hung on to power for too long, it forces them to be “unyielding” and to lack the power of compromise.  He writes:

“The assumption – dear to the architects of the current process – that peace can be achieved by driving a wedge between "moderates" and "extremists" is a fatal misconception. The paradox here is double. Not only does one negotiate with the illegitimate "moderates", but it is precisely because of their legitimacy deficit that the moderates are forced to be unyielding on core issues, lest the radicals label them treasonous.”

He adds:

The Palestinian negotiators’ dangerous lack of legitimacy – and, indeed, the disorientation of the entire Palestinian national movement – is reflected in the return of the PLO to its pre-Arafat days, when it was the tool of Arab regimes instead of an autonomous movement. The green light was given to the current negotiators by the Arab League, not by the elected representatives of the Palestinian people

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For years, Forbes has published a list of billionaires that reflects the cult of money we live in.  We lionize wealth.  Why? Wealth accumulation is only a means to an end.  What are you going to do with that money should matter to society much more.   Why is it that so many people forget that? At least partly it’s because our society glorifies financial success, and ranking it is relatively easier as you are dealing with a very easy measure: money accumulated.

It would be far more interesting, though, if a publication or organization measured and praised the social impact of the greatest contributors to civilization. For example, Mohammad Yunus from Grameen Bank, who is nowhere to be seen on the Forbes list, would rank quite high because of the enormous impact he has had on society.  Bill Gates would too, given how much of his wealth he has given out and in such methodic ways to try to impact society. 

My friend Martin Varsavsky forwarded me a list published by BusinessWeek that is a useful start – ranking the most generous philanthropists within the Forbes 400 list. 

What we need now is to take it to the next level, asking a trusted third party to develop a way to take donations into contribution as the BusinessWeek list does, but to not stop there.  To add a measurement for the way the money is given out, whether there is a social innovation or model that helps advance society in the process.  For example, the Skoll Foundation is among those responsible for supporting social entrepreneurship and making it “cool.” So it’s not just the enormous amount it has invested (donated) into the space, but also the way it has gone about doing it.  That counts more than just writing a check, assuming the process and the platform are well thought out and innovative.  And even if someone doesn’t donate money, but they create models to benefit humanity, whether through better health systems like Paul Farmer, or through the many innovations that social entrepreneurs from India and South East Asia (including several impressive ones selected by the Schwab Foundation) have introduced to truly impact their countries.

Celebrities also have a currency – fame, and the power to use it effectively.  So here again, we could turn blind worship of celebrities into appreciation for those that, rather than paying the dues their publicist asked them to, sincerely engage in ways that are sustained and impactful.  George Clooney comes to mind, but there are dozens others who truly dedicate themselves to make this a better world.

If Fast-Company Magazine or TIME Magazine could create a formula that is sufficiently consistent, transparent, and simple while robust, it could become the basis for others to start rallying around and quoting and praising those truly worthy of adulation.

People that truly want to change the world do not do it for the sake of a popularity contest.  Changing the world is not easy, so if you just want to be popular in today’s society there are shortcuts to think you can get there.  So this list is not intended to impact those people.  For that there is education – helping people find purpose in their lives.

But for our society as a whole, which is so obsessed with Hollywood celebrities, political power, and financial wealth, a credible list that focused peoples’ attention on the contributions people are making to society could help start changing the discourse.

And to make this platform truly inspiring and accessible to high school students and not just people already in a position of influence, a supplemental list could be created that would track the CREATIVITY AND MAGNIFICATIONAL IMPACT of just one simple action or relatively modest behavioral change within every person’s reach.  The power of the internet can be the great equalizer.   With Do The KIND Thing, the KIND Movement is trying to inspire unexpected acts of kindness that are the most KINDTASTIC – truly transformative and impactful.  Ideally we can start putting a spotlight on how “the average citizen” can make a far-greater-than-average contribution to their community.  It would be great if society could find effective platforms to praise those who step out of their zones of comfort to make others a bit better off, to show how a 15-year old can change the world, one idea at a time.

"It’s impossible, that’s for sure. So let’s start working."

                                        -Phillip Petit from Man On Wire

I loooved reading this article that my team member Elle forwarded to me.  It does describe a certain crazy gene you have to have in order to start a new venture – whether business or social – particularly when you are trying to challenge conventional wisdom, or fill in a gap or prove something can be done which others think cannot.  The funniest thing is looking back as if facing down a precipice after climbing a mountain, and wondering how you were so crazy to go for it. Yet once it’s done, hopefully it all makes sense to others!  They may never know how perplexed you actually are, upon reflection, that it actually worked out!

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by Adeena Schlussel on behalf of Daniel Lubetzky

“Daily Show” host, Jon Stewart announced that he will be running a rally on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., according to the New York Times.  The rally, first dubbed “Rally to Restore Sanity” and now called “Million Moderate March,” is meant to offset the extremist opinions that dominate the majority of political debate and promises to be as good a show as his regular one!

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Earlier tonight at a reception by the Skoll Foundation on the occasion of the CGI conference, I had an interesting conversation with Wendy Kopp, founder of Teach for America.  One of her insights is that the key to improving our education system is not in undermining teachers, who are far stronger than the stereotypical condemnations would lead one to believe. The key is to empower students with the vision that they are worthy and deserving of a higher education and a brighter future – to increase their self-worth through visualization about the possibilities before them.

What I found interesting is that, like OneVoice’s 2018 insight about visualization of a two-state solution as key to get there, here in education an ability to visualize a better future is again central to getting there.

Like Thoreau wrote, "If you have built clouds on the sky your work need not be lost.  That is where they should be. Now build the foundations under them." (I paraphrase from memory so don’t quote me)

I have always thought that the keys to improving our education and giving young people an "edge" is to teach kids about IMAGINATION AND CREATIVITY, about how to be INTROSPECTIVE AND SELF-CRITICAL, about how to do CRITICAL THINKING and evaluation of issues before them – questioning all assumptions, and to be RESILIENT/PERSISTENT, and GOAL-ORIENTED.  Wendy agreed all of these are very important aspects of growth in education.

But a prerequisite seems to be the ATTITUDE.  And that attitude can emanate from a positive view of ourselves and our future.

by Adeena Schlussel on behalf of Daniel Lubetzky

The Geneva Initiative has launched a new campaign in partnership with USAID which broadcasts messages from Palestinian leadership for the Israeli public.  The short clips featuring different Palestinian leaders all vary but pivot around one shared message- that there is a Palestinian partner for a peace and the opportunity to reach an agreement should not be missed.  To date, figures in the campaign include Cheif Palestinian Negotiator Saeb Erakat, Secretary-General of the PLO Executive Committee Yasser Abed Rabbo, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki, Memer of the Fatah Central Committee Jibril Rajoub, and Former Member of the Negotiating Team and PA Minister Sufyan Abu Zaidah.  Each message begins with “shalom” and ends with uniform, powerful promise: “I am your partner.  Are you mine?”  To watch the first three clips, click on the following image:

I received the following email forward from a friend who is skeptical about my work to build bridges between the West and Islam.  I find the point persuasive that even if extremists are a minority, they can cause enormous devastation when they rule and the moderate majority is silent and hostage.  But it seems to prove rather than dispute the importance of efforts like OneVoice’s to amplify the voice of moderates and empower ordinary citizens who cherish co-existence and respect.

What I asked my friend and ask everyone who reads emails like the below is, what are you doing about it? And is it more effective to draw lines in the sand and turn an entire civilization into the enemy, or to align all moderates together to isolate, discourage and neutralize violent extremists all across?

The author of this email is said to be Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist. A German’s View on Islam A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates.   When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism. ‘Very few people were true Nazis,’ he said, ‘but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools.   So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come.   My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.’ We are told again and again by ‘experts’ and ‘talking heads’ that Islam is the religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace.   Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is entirely irrelevant.   It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectre of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.   It is the fanatics who march.   It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.   It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.   It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honour-kill.   It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque.   It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals.   It is the fanatics who teach their young to kill and to become suicide bombers. The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the ‘silent majority,’ is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 40 million people.   The peaceful majority were irrelevant.   China’s huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people. The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a warmongering sadist.   Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet. And who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery.   Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were ‘peace loving’? History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points: · Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. · Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don’t speak up, because like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun. · Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts–the fanatics who threaten our way of life. Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems to expand.   So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on!   Let us hope that thousands, world-wide, read this and think about it, and send it on – before it’s too late.

by Adeena Schlussel on behalf of Daniel Lubetzky

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, a OneVoice board member has become the subject of accusation in a fierce debate about constructing a proposed mosque nearby to Ground Zero that he is actively spearheading.  Opponents feel that building a mosque in close proximity to the location of the 9/11 attacks would be disrespectful or even threatening.  The Daily News, Wall Street Journal and New York Magazine and other news sources all feature articles depicting the criticisms that come from a population that is otherwise known as one of the most tolerant around the world.

Rick Lazio challenges Cuomo over legality of Ground Zero mosque funding, cites ‘security questions’

BY Lore Croghan
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Originally Published:Wednesday, July 7th 2010, 1:58 PM
Updated: Thursday, July 8th 2010, 2:21 AM

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio challenged his Democratic opponent Wednesday to explore the legality of the funding behind a proposed mosque near Ground Zero.

"New Yorkers have a right to feel safe and be safe," Lazio told reporters in lower Manhattan. "There are serious security questions about the appropriateness of this mosque."

Lazio demanded Attorney General Andrew Cuomo figure out where the backers of the Cordoba House expect to get $100 million to build it.

"Anyone who has evidence of wrongdoing should send it to us, and we will review it," Cuomo replied in a statement.

In a letter he sent to Cuomo, Lazio cited press accounts that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who’s spearheading the mosque’s construction, is a "key figure" in an organization that funded the flotilla that sought to break Israel‘s Gazablockade.

Debra Burlingame, whose brother Charles was a pilot on the plane terrorists crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11, said the imam has written about his hopes of bringing strict Islamic law to the United States.

"He means to use the Ground Zero location of the mosque to ‘leverage’ people to Islam," said Burlingame, the co-founder of 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America.

Organizers behind Cordoba House have said they have peaceful intentions and the mosque is just one part of a larger community center that will be open to everyone.

The center would be located on Park Place, about two blocks from the World Trade Center site.

Poll: Majority of New Yorkers Oppose Ground Zero Mosque

Cordoba Initiative

More than 50% of New York City voters oppose a plan by a Muslim group to build a mosque and cultural center just blocks away from Ground Zero, according to a poll released Thursday by Quinnipiac University.

“New York enjoys a reputation as one of the most tolerant places in America, but…opponents suggest that the mosque would dishonor the memory of the [9/11] attack’s victims,” said Maurice Carroll, the director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

According to the poll, 52% of New Yorkers oppose the plan to build the mosque and cultural center, known as the Cordoba House, compared to 31% who are in favor of it and 17% who are undecided.

The poll of more than 1,000 registered voters across the city found that support for the $100 million project appeared to be strongest in Manhattan, where 46% of poll respondents said they were in favor of it, compared to 36% who said they were opposed.

Elsewhere across the five boroughs, the project appears to face staunch opposition, especially in Staten Island and Brooklyn, where as The Journal’s Sumathi Reddy reports, local chapters of the Muslim American Society want to build mosques in Sheepshead Bay and Midland Beach.

In Staten Island 73% of respondents said they were against the Cordoba House proposal, compared to 14% who said they supported it. In Brooklyn and the Bronx, 57% of respondents said they opposed the mosque and cultural center, while in Queens opposition stood at 52%.

The poll found that whites, Hispanics, Jews and Catholics appeared to be more likely to be opposed to bringing the mosque and cultural center near Ground Zero. Blacks and protestants– while still largely against the plan–revealed more divided opinions, the poll reported.

Despite the opposition, 44% of New Yorkers said they had a generally favorable opinion of Islam, compared to 28% who have an unfavorable view of the religion and 28% who didn’t know. A majority of those indicating favorable opinions tended to support the plan for Cordoba House, the poll reported, while those with an unfavorable opinion of Islam were almost unanimously against it.

In May, the project, which is being spearheaded by the American Society for Muslim Advancement, received the support of Lower Manhattan’s Community Board 1. Yet as Metropolis previously reported, board officials said they only voted on the proposal for the cultural center, not the mosque, which has generated some controversy.

Objections aside, the biggest obstacle to the 13-story project appears to be history. Later this month, the Landmarks Preservation Commission will decide whether the building currently on the site is architecturally significant enough to merit protected status. That in and of itself would not derail the mosque and cultural center, but it will make it unlikely that the building could be demolished to build the proposed projects.

The Ground Zero Mosque Is Now a Campaign Issue

7/7/10 at 2:10 PM

Republican gubernatorial candidate Rick Lazio, languishing far behind Democratic front-runner Andrew Cuomo, needs something to shake up the race. How about anti-Islamic sentiment? Yes, that will do. A few days after a poll showed that a majority of New Yorkers oppose the building of a mosque and community center two blocks from ground zero, Lazio has released a letter calling on Cuomo (who supports the mosque) as attorney general to investigate certain issues the media has raised about the mosque’s leader, including his refusal to label Hamas a terrorist organization and his membership in an organization that donated money to the Palestinian aid flotillas — neither of which are illegal, but sure, why not?

"He is a bastard.  But now he is our bastard!"

- From a friend who shared how they had recruited a controversial  mega-star to their circle.