Tex Jude Gérard Albert

Repeat after me. A habitable planet is more important than the profits of a few fossil fuel companies. Pass it on. #ActOnClimate

I wrote this back on October 15h, and I would write it again today: Trying to quiet the buzzing in my mind, here are ten random things I know or believe. Maybe a few will resonate with you: 1. Every human life has infinite worth. 2. Collective punishment is always wrong, revenge is not a strategy, and civilians in a conflict must be actively protected at all costs. 3. No country and no government could allow what happened in Israel last week to happen again. The old Hamas-based status quo is probably gone for good. 4. Those kidnapped kids, women, and older people need to be released NOW. 5. The occupation of the West Bank must end as soon as possible. 6. Despite what some deluded people in both camps may think, neither the Jews nor the Palestinians are going anywhere. We find a way to live together, or we suffer and die together. 7. Fighting about the past, about the “narrative,” about who did what to whom in 1929 or 1936… and who started what, tends to be a waste of time. What matters is what we do now. 8. The only way out of this hell is by working for freedom and dignity for *all* people. 9. Whatever happens next, Israel needs to release Marwan Barghouti, the one Palestinian leader who could possibly negotiate a solution and make it stick. 10. The world, and specially the U.S. and Europe, have much more power than they seem to understand. If they wanted to, they could force/entice all parties in the conflict to do (or not do) almost anything. That's it. I hope some of this makes sense.

Hello! My name is Ami Dar and I want to tell you a story. I want to share this because I suspect that in your own life you’ve faced similar situations. And if you have, I believe that together we can change the world. Starting right now. I was born in Jerusalem, and raised mostly in Peru and in Mexico. When I was 15 my family moved back to Israel, and at 18 I was drafted into the Israeli army for three years of compulsory service. A year later, my unit was stationed on the Syrian border, and my job was to spend several hours each day alone on a watchtower, looking through a telescope across the barbed wire and the minefields, trying to spot any strange movements on the other side. One afternoon—I remember it was a cool, beautiful winter day—I suddenly had a thought that made me laugh out loud. I laughed because the idea was childish but also true, in that way that children have of recognizing the truth. A few months earlier, getting to know the guys in my unit, I’d realized gratefully that some of them would give me their last pair of dry socks if I ever needed them. But there were also a few who might steal mine if I wasn’t careful. That image was on my mind that afternoon, when through the telescope I saw a group of Syrian soldiers playing a game of soccer across the valley that separated us. And instantly, something about the situation—that moment of play, their running around like kids—humanized them in my eyes in a way that was entirely new and fresh and different. When you grow up in a conflict zone, or in any fragmented or polarized society, it’s natural for each side to dehumanize the other. But if that filter shatters, you can never go back. And the moment their full humanity struck me, I had that crazy thought that changed my life. "Wait a minute, wait a minute," I thought. If in my unit, and in every other unit I know, there are some guys I’d trust with my life, and others I’d rather stay away from, then in *that* unit this must also be the case. And if that’s true, then this whole border fence is running the wrong way. Instead of Syrians on one side and Israelis on the other, wouldn’t it make more sense for the sock-sharers on both sides to get together? And that’s when I laughed. I laughed, yet this idea stayed with me, and still haunts me now. Since then I’ve learned that life is more complicated, and that the line between good and bad runs within each of us. And yet… I can’t help noticing that all over the world, behind every label and stereotype, there are people who share some basic values. And I can’t help thinking that if these people could somehow work together, the world would be a very different place. What are these values? Treating others the way we’d like to be treated is a good start. But we can go beyond that. For example, I believe that in every country and every culture there are many people who could see themselves in these words: “Working with others, in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect, I want to help build a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives.” And more. I believe that many of these people would be happy to work together on the single biggest challenge we all share: closing the gap that exists everywhere between our good intentions and the actions we actually take. If you are still with me, you know what I mean. Every day many of us would like to respond in some way to what’s happening around us, but for a variety of reasons we don’t. We may feel that we have no time, no resources, no power, or no impact. We may not know where to start, what to do, or who to work with. We may be afraid of failure, ridicule, meetings and committees, wasting our time, getting depressed… This list could go on, but the point is that this challenge—or opportunity—is huge. Now imagine a different world. Imagine if some of us, many of us—enough of us—could agree on just three things. Three simple “social protocols” that could help us build the world we’d love to live in, one day and one community at a time: First, a broad and inclusive vision based on these universal values that so many of us share. Namely: to help build a world where all people can lead free and dignified lives, and to do it in a spirit of generosity and mutual respect. To this we can add other values such as kindness, joy, peace, and solidarity—but freedom, dignity, generosity, and respect seem like a good start. Second, a monthly celebration of action and collaboration on 7/7, 8/8, 9/9, etc. Why these dates? Because they seem to be very memorable, and because they “work” all over the world (3/7 is March 7th in some countries and July 3rd in others, but 7/7 works in both.) And so imagine if once a month, on these dates, people and organizations around the world gave each other the encouragement, the inspiration, and the collective “social permission” to act, share, convene, propose, meet, invite… and in every other way spark more action and connection, while also celebrating and shining a light on everything that’s already being done for and around them. Taken separately, each of these actions would be meaningful in their own right. But imagine the cumulative impact—and the contagious energy—of all this happening on the same day, locally and around the world, month after month. And lastly, to make this impact *visible,* across cultures and languages, imagine sharing a strong and joyful symbol that anyone could adopt and adapt in any way they liked. If we can imagine this, if we can see it, on social media, on a neighbor’s window, on the walls of a country where freedom is only a hope or a whisper… then together we can show that we are definitely not alone, and that the world is full of wonderful people who agree on some of the most important things in life. So again, three things: a broad vision that can bring us together; a monthly opportunity to spark and celebrate action and collaboration; and a shared symbol to make it all visible. On top of these three legs we can build a whole ecosystem of norms, tools, and tactics to help all of us imagine, connect, and act. But this could be the start. Thanks so much for reading this. I hope it made some sense. And if so, would you like to get involved?