The Hamsa and the Businessman
February 5th, 2008Most of you probably know what a Hamsa is. Right? For those who don’t; it is a good luck symbol, in the shape of a hand, which has been around as part of Arab and Jewish cultures for centuries. Most Hamsas feature an “eye” to protect from the “evil eye.” And in recent times, a great many feature a “dove” to symbolize peace.
What would you say is the evil that we need protection from in this day and age? For what it’s worth, today’s evil is the evil of ideological extremism. And I’m not just talking about extremist religious fundamentalism. I’m talking about all kinds of ideological extremes, including the belief that we should keep our economies running on fossil fuels, even at the expense of cooking ourselves to death.
As some of you know, I am a strong believer in Selling a Vision of Hope, as the antidote to some of the insanity we see swirling around us. As you look at the five fingers of the hand of the Hamsa, think of the five aspects of Selling a Vision of Hope:
1. The thumb is for Ideology: Instead of believing what you want to believe, start believing in what makes sense. Use an Ideology of Common Sense to speak to one another with Common Sense and with a sense of personal dignity.
2. The index finger is for Investment: Use public and private funds to create an International Fund for Economic Development in the Middle East under the banner: “We stand ready to invest in you, if you are ready to invest in yourselves.” Invest in projects which inspire a sense of hope, which create jobs, and which protect the environment.”
3. The middle finger is for Hope: Use an Ideology of Common Sense along with some well placed Investment Dollars to Sell a Vision of Hope—a Vision of Peace, Prosperity, and Freedom—on the Arab street, in the Muslim world, and in the world as a whole.
4. The ring finger is for Public Diplomacy: Once you sell a Vision of Hope, you sustain the Hope by launching a series of Public Diplomacy Programs which are specifically designed to prop a Vision of Hope up, and to carry it forward, such as: a Media Campaign, a program to Empower Women, a Student Exchange, a Cultural Exchange, an expanded version of the Peace Corps, and a series of International Conferences.
5. The pinky is for the willingness to Fight: When necessary, and it will be necessary, fight, and fight hard, against the forces of extremism, wherever they may be found, but position the fight within a Vision of Hope. Raise the fight on the ground to a higher moral plain by giving the fight a moral clarity of purpose. People will fight harder once they know what the hell they’re fighting for. For example, we are not fighting a “war against terror.” We are fighting a war to realize a Vision of Hope. There’s a big difference.
That’s pretty much it. Now let me ask you this: If you want to give some substance to Selling a Vision of Hope, what kind of project would you recommend? I need your advice. What kind of project would say to the world that a Vision of Hope could be made real if people choose to make it so?
Here’s one idea. See what you think. We get a consortium of Arab and Israeli businesspeople to build a factory on the West Bank. They get funding from Saudi Arabia, believe it or not. They hire and train local Palestinian workers to produce a product which is especially suited to protect the environment. For example, they could produce a long lasting battery to power cars. You pull into a gas station and switch out your battery, instead of filling up on gas. The research for this product comes from a leading university in Israel, or elsewhere, which specializes in green technology. The project is successful, and attracts more money, for more projects, for more jobs, and for more eco-friendly products.
Why would the Saudis fund such a project, you may well ask, especially since it promotes green technology? Here are a few possible reasons: The Saudis could use some good PR for a change. They would be using oil profits to protect the earth, and to stabilize the region with good paying jobs. What a concept! They would diversify their investments, and made good money, by getting in on the ground floor of technology that the entire world wants. Good jobs would help neutralize some of the ideological rhetoric, as in the case of China, and India. As people begin to make a living, and begin to imagine a better life, the allure of extremism will diminish. Business has a way of creating its own ideological imperative. Eventually, this effort could pave the way for substantive peace, not just BS, which would bless the House of Saud with a good measure of peace of mind. Everybody wins, even the earth, except maybe the extremists.
So what do you think? Any chance of making something happen along these lines? Are we overlooking anything? Are we on to something, or just spinning our wheels? A penny for you thoughts.
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Nissim,
Now I think taking part in a war to protect the innocents would make sense, a war againt evil, in any form. Although I would love that war to be not a bloody one,but we need to protect the civilians. I think even if we have peace treaties and hormony, we still need to watch out, for the dagger that might stab one in the back, and that is terrorism, the most petty, the most unmanly action that would make an animal a better patry, since they don’t terrorize, they hunt what they eat. It is also very wrong to punish the ones who might not directly be involved in a plot, but this is what happens in a clash, I pray for a day humanity grows out of all we hear and what we see. I wish we had a way out Nissim.
There is a way out, Elinor, and the Hamsa points the way. I like the Hamsa as a symbol because it is something that both Arabs and Jews, and others in the Middle East, can relate to. It is a symbol of good luck. And like you suggest, Elinor, we have to play a part in bringing good luck to ourselves.
Probably, the most important thing we can do is to consider the possibility that a great deal of what we believe is nonsense. I am not trying to offend anyone, but simply to state a fact. Many of us, on all sides of the political and religious fence, simply choose to believe in things that make no sense. And not only that. Some of us prefer to kill anyone who disagrees with the nonsense we happen to believe in.
False belief has been around since time immemorial. The trouble is that today, with the advance in technology, and with some serious ass problems staring us in the face, we simply can’t afford the luxury of believing in stupid things. We have no choice but to filter what we believe through the filter of common sense.
And that’s the way out, Elinor. If we begin to make sense of our beliefs, and if we create realities on the ground which speak louder than the words of hate, then we may well have a basis for moving forward, and undoing some of the injustices that you rightly speak of. I think that business and good jobs could be a big part of the solution.
Your heart is in the right place, as is the case with many who comment on this website. We just have to figure out a way to put some action behind all those good intentions, and to work together to make something truly wonderful happen.
Nissim,
When I think on what can I do as a mother in my position and where I live in the middle east, I think the best thing is to keep my kids away from that nonsense you were speaking about. I try to make them feel no bias toward any sect, any religion, any race, to respect all, feel for the ones who do not think like us, but believe me, that is hard because of what kids are taught in the school, and the 12 years of schooling is compulsary every where, in these 12 years they build up the mindset of a child, even though kids might not agree with eery thing they hear, but the effect of what they have been learning and the way they are being informed through a school system is undeniable and long lasting. I feel for women’s liberation and I respect the religious too, while my kid in the school is learning that if a girl’s hair is not covered, they will hang her in the life that comes after the hair will start speaking and complaining, that she will be tortured by Lord Almighty. The schools also teach the kids the most irrational account of the history. Cyrus, who is the source of all the good things an Iranian could think of, is neglected in the history books, they do not like to make the kids feel proud of him. I remember the first time I heard his name was when the tv had a program showing the last king of Iran at Cyrus’ grave saying ” You sleep in peace, We are awakened”. So as we were told the late king was the souce of all bad things happening in Iran and when he was talking to Cyrus like that, Cyrus should have been a bad man as well.
Now the grave of Cyrus is in danger of being ruined forever…
Any way, I wish there could be an investigation on how the Iranian text books are written, and how do those text books affect children. Nissim, I cannot have a very broad vission, I can look into my family and into my own experiences for the instances and what I can do. A mother is just a nurturor, I have given birth to the kids, but I cannot deliver their mindsents and I cannot even impose what I think and how I think on my own kids, but I understand that the most important thing is bringing up kids for a better future, for a better world and we all need to share experiences.
Elinor, from what I know about you, I can bet that you are a good mother. It is true what you say that you have no control on what the kids learn at school, and from their friends. And it is a big shame that kids around the world are often fed propaganda, instead of being trained to think critically on their own. But the good thing is that you realize this, and I’m sure that in your own way you are able to teach them the most important things, including how to think for themselves.
I realize that it is difficult for you to even think about changing the world. You are only one person, after all. But in a way you have changed the world by giving birth to your children, and trying to teach them as best you can. You seem very open to other points of view, and very caring for others. If your children receive even a small dose of this, then they will be well prepared to cope with the rigors of life.
For me, I have a little more time on my hands, so I can afford to sit and think about some of the problems that stare us in the face. I look at the world and I see three serious challenges facing us: Ideology, Economics, and Ecology. In other words, just as you are teaching your children to cope in life, so too will we have to find ways to think straight, to earn a living, and to protect this good earth.
Selling a Vision of Hope addresses these three challenges in the most straight forward way possible. We will think straight by using common sense as our ideology. We will earn a living by investing in one another. And we will protect the earth by investing in research and products which insure our survival as a species.
My dream is to start such a project, and to show that it is possible. It will have to be a very special and symbolic enterprise, but if it happens, it is likely to attract attention and a lot more investment for even more projects, even more jobs, and even more protection of the environment. And if Saudi money is used for financing, then even the ideological benefit will be realized. We want to show that oil profits can be used in a good way to create jobs, to protect the earth, and to neutralize ideological extremism.
It is a dream, but day by day I am seeing more possibilities for making it happen. A project of this sort is likely to capture the world’s attention because almost everyone the world over is looking for a solution for the Middle East, and for a way to protect the environment. Give people what they want, and they are likely to buy what you have to offer. Selling a Vision of Hope will require one hell of a sales job, but I hear it pays a good commission.
Nissim,
Thank you for your kind remarks. I think in vesting in mothers would be good as well
I love mothers, Elinor.
I would definitely invest in female entrepreneurs and in promoting women’s rights. If you empower women in ways that they deem appropriate, you will have changed the face of the Middle East. Who are women, Elinor? They are the givers of life, and the caretakers of life, and as such are uniquely qualified to reconstitute their societies consistent with a vision of hope.
One of the big problems in the Middle East is that a great many women there are marginalized. If you marginlalize women, you stifle their moderating influence, and thereby allow the ideological craziness of men to go unchecked. As the natural givers of life and as the natural caretakers of life, most women are not inclined to advocate violence, and their disposition toward peace should be made part and parcel of the political landscape of the Middle East.
Nissim,
As a project to bring about understanding and interacting sense in the opposing forces in the Middle East, I have tried to learn the languages of the countries involved in the conflict,directly or indirectly. I have learned some Hebrew as well, which had been a hard thing to do here in my country with no one to help you, and people who would find it some thing dangerous and political, rather than cultural and positive.
I have learnt about the similarities of Hebrew and Arabic, the more I learnt from Hebrew, the more I understood about the common roots…
I did take advantage of the nice songs and the words to the songs to increase my vocab, because there was no other way, but this was a very pleasing process as well, learning about the common emotions, common values, common passions..
I know about the song called Ima Yekara, I guess sung by shlomi shabat, the Israeli-Turkish singer. It is a beautiful song for mother.
That’s great Elinor. “Ima Yekara” means “dear mother” in Hebrew. And you’re right to say that Hebrew and Arabic share common roots in many of the words. And even more importantly, that Jews and Arabs do share “common emotions, common values, common passions…” And I wouldn’t limit it to Arabs and Jews, but would stress the commonality of all people, for that matter.
Why are are people so similar, Elinor, when it comes to the important things? Because there is a logical commonality of experience that pertains to all people. We all live and die. We all need nourishment of body and soul. We all need protection from the harsh realities of life. We all care for our children as the embodiment of our hope for the future.
We all, Elinor, subscribe to a commonality of experience. And therefore, all this hate that flows so freely about is all a bunch of BS. We like to believe that we’re all so different, but we’re really just fooling ourselves. There is an undeniable commonality in the human condition, and we better start realizing that, and setting aside all the nonsense, if we expect to do what it will take to ensure our survival on this good earth.
Instead of building walls, why not build bridges? There is little time left, and a whole lot of nonsense to do away with.
We are an experiment being conducted on this satellite we call “earth.” Someone out there wants to see how we’re going to work out. If we fail, we will be one of the 99% of species which has become extinct on this good earth. If we succeed in coming together, we will have beat the odds, and we will surprise even our Creator, who is standing back looking for proof of the goodness of His creation. When it comes to man, He is still waiting.
Instead of building walls, why not build bridges?
This is a beautiful sentence, I wish the walls would convert to bridges..one day, before it is too late, or maybe time is just a controlling dimension, or another wall that might need to turn to bridges