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Hi, welcome to another episode of Interfaiths,

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our podcast for the course here at Florida International

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University. I'm here with Jason, who's going

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to talk a little bit about himself, where he

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grew up and a little bit about his background.

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And we'll get into his time here as a student

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and some of the work that we're doing together

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for our Interfaith Dialogue. So with that, I'll

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turn it over to Jason and talk to us a little

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bit about who you are. Well, thank you for inviting

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me. It's a pleasure. I grew up in Porto, Portugal.

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It's the second biggest town in the country in

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the north. I would say I was basically the only

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Jewish person my age at the time growing up at

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that period of time in Porto. It's a unique situation

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because I'm not really all that religious or

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didn't grow up all that religious. But my parents

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felt a need to do something with the community.

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It's a very old community, but it was kind of...

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dwindling dying uh and so you know they felt

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they had to do something and they did and my

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dad eventually became president uh and this was

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of course before i was born that they began participating

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but of course i had a bar mitzvah you know i

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went there frequently for all the high holidays

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um but it's the trend the trans the the the transfer

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from porto to miami and the shift from like a

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place that has zero Jews to a place that has

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all Jews in places like 41st Street where you

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literally see Hebrew building signs, right? That's

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a shift that's very bizarre and hard to describe.

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But I would say that that's the unique part of

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this. Okay. Talk to us about, so what was your

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first experiences with Judaism? my first like

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that i can remember yeah because you can remember

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yeah um well i remember being very little and

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being at the at the sukkah on the terrace of

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the the synagogue okay um and you know they they

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made like a whole table out there um and the

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rabbi because i was very interested at the time

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right and what rabbi was doing the whole thing

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he said you know you're going to be a little

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rabbi and for some reason at the time that completely

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turned me off. I'm like, Oh my God, the hell

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did he, why is he telling me this? Why is he

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trying to, you know, turn me into, into him?

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I'm like, okay. So, um, I just remember as a

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little kid finding that very bizarre that he

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was, you know, so interested. I didn't really

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realize what the fact that there was, um, that

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he felt a need to try and get the younger generation

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into it. Right. That I was, you know, he felt

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that I was this, this hope, right? Yeah, exactly.

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This glimmer of hope for the community. But at

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the time, I almost felt rebellious and like,

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oh, now that he's telling me, I don't like it

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anymore. You know, it's like when, you know,

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you enjoy a subject and suddenly it's like you're

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learning in schools. I don't like that anymore.

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You know, but but, you know, it took me later

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to it took me, you know, a few years of growing

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up and experience in life to understand. You

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know, obviously, I was a bit silly as a kid and

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the intentions were definitely pure there on

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his part. So growing up in a place where there

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were very few Jews. What was your sense of community

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like there? Oh, I mean, very strong bond, of

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course. I mean, this was the only little Jewish

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sphere that existed, right? So the funny thing

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is my parents would drive, right? Because we

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lived very far away. We lived like 30 minutes

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outside of Porto, so we'd have to drive into

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the city. And we would park down the block so

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they wouldn't see that we would. We were driving.

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It's like, oh, yes, of course. We're walking,

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you know. Of course, they would see our car.

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They knew we were driving. We just wanted to

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play the game. But, you know, the sense of community

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was very strong. We had a huge respect for each

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other. There was, for all the high holidays,

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I mean, everybody knows each other, right? So

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it's not like there's a... Here, if you go to

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the Chabad in Midtown, right? You'll see that

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there's... I love the Chabad Midtown, but there's

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a lot of people, right? People come and go. It's

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a bigger place, right? So on the high holidays,

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it's full. You'll see people you've never seen

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before. And I love that, too. There's an element

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to that, that you always meet new people that

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you can connect to. But in the community at home,

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in the Porta Jewish community, these are people

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that I've known since I was this tall, since

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I was a little kid, right? Since I was a toddler,

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literally. So the sense community there, of course,

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is very strong. These people are like family.

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Of course, that doesn't mean that there weren't...

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you know obviously issues especially with the

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when it became political in the sense that there

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was an immigration thing it was a i'm sure it's

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been public a lot of people have heard about

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it about how um if you can prove sephardic jewish

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lineage from portugal you know from before the

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you know from the period of the inquisition uh

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then you can get citizenship and that's what

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of course a lot of people managed to do jews

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you know fled the ottoman empire north africa

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um they managed to gain portuguese citizenship

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through this program there were two rival programs

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yeah well the spanish one of course but within

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portugal one through lisbon and one through porto

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and they're slightly different systems but there

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was a bit of a a rivalry between the communities

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right so you know that's not unusual right but

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uh but other than that of course there's you

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know huge sense of community okay all right well

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wonderful um And so then you go from there to

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coming here and living in Miami. How has that

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changed in terms of your Jewish identity? One

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would think that being in a place where there

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are no Jews makes you feel like you stand out

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more as being Jewish. But that isn't really the

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case. There's almost like an incentive to hide

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it. You don't really feel that identity. keep

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it away you know from the public sphere but then

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when you're here you don't really have that same

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feeling because there's so many jews it's like

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okay well what does it mean to be jewish what

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does it mean to you know culturally openly to

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be jewish um so i would say became much more

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connected to my jewish i mean i also grew up

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that's the other thing because i came at 11 so

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i i don't know how much of that is just because

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of the exposure to that or if it's just because

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of me you know growing up and finding my way

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in life um but definitely the the presence of

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a jewish community here makes it uh easier to

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be able to associate with that right to feel

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you know you can wear a magen david or a kippah

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and walk on the street and not feel like oh you

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know i'm culturally out of place right in this

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spot um in portugal of course it's a very welcoming

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country but it is a you know very catholic country

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and people aren't used to it so they see that

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it's like That's odd. Maybe it's a tourist or

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something. They don't make that connection that

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there can be people that are Jewish that are

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Portuguese here. So I would say that that was

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the big shift, was feeling more open. I would

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say I went voluntarily to these things, to a

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lot of Jewish events, without my parents, obviously.

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My parents would go. When I was in high school,

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I would go to stuff. But again, I don't know

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what part of that is just exposure to that or

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if it's just... Growing up here, right? Because

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I came here at 11. And of course, I wouldn't

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have done that if I was a kid. Not that there

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were any available, because there were no youth

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Jewish events. There may be now. Now there is

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a larger Jewish community in my town. So what

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about being here at FIU? How has your experience

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been? Oh, amazing. Amazing. I mean, there's a

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very large Jewish community here, a huge presence.

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I would say that people are very, very welcoming.

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All religious communities overall. There's no

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problems. People are super friendly with each

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other. I mean, obviously, there's some issues

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that there's anywhere, but I think FIU is among

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the best, really. So, I mean, yeah, I only have

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positive things to say. I did stuff with Chabad,

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with Hillel, all sorts of Jewish organizations,

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and I was still here. I try to still come when

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I can, try to participate in their events. I

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help sometimes organize stuff here and there.

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But other than that... I really just come for

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the social side of it. Because I think that there's

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something that's unique and not replaceable to

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sitting around a Shabbat table. And I think here

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you have that kind of environment where there

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is a community here too that I recognize and

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I know that I went to school with for the past

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four years. So again, it's a similar situation

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where it's that sense of community that's unique

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that I built here in my time in university. But

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yeah. Only positive things to say about FIU in

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that regard. Great. One of the things that's

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been a challenge, I think, after October 7th

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is things about the challenge of anti -Semitism

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more generally. What has been your experience

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either in Porto or here in Miami with anti -Semitism?

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I think a lot of people attribute a lot of the

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world's problems to Jews. I think that there's

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an... antisemitism is very different from other

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forms of racism and the other forms of racism

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tend to paint people as inferior or being worse

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in some way and frequently people will say why

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is this particular comment antisemitic? Why is

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this antisemitic? You're saying Jews have a very

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high IQ and Jews, you know, they control all

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the banks or they do all the... And it's like,

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why is that bad? It's like, well, it's proven

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to be bad because the message that you're controlling

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everything means you're also to blame for everything.

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And that's frequently the kind of antisemitism

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I've seen, right, from a lot of people. And that's

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not unique to the U .S. or to Portugal. It's

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just a historical thing, right? That's an ancient

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form of antisemitism. And I've seen it. You know,

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in all forms, I see people that are on the far

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right that are, you know, neo -Nazis that believe,

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you know, a lot of these things about Jews. But

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the newest form is I see it on the far left as

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well, right? A lot of people that may, you know,

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at some point have good intentions with, you

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know, the advocacy for Palestinian rights, you

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know, etc. But then they convert that into a

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hatred against Jewish people, right? Or against

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Israelis too, right? If you look at any sort

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of discrimination policy or hate policy or racism

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policy, it says, race, ethnicity, religion, nationality.

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These are all issues. And you see all of it increasing.

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In the US, I think Jews are the highest victim

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of hate crimes, statistically. But it's kind

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of presented, I think, almost on the new left

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form of antisemitism. Well, all Jews are white.

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They're no different from white Anglo -Saxons.

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So there isn't really a problem. They kind of

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try to define it out of existence, almost. And

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so, you know... That's the way I've seen it politically

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is in these various forms. And you just see it

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ramping up. Now, in my personal experience, I've

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really only had experiences talking to people

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that are, you know, extreme. Thankfully, they've

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never attacked me or done things to me physically.

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But I've had conversations with crazy people

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that, you know, say all these things. And to,

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you know, harassment to an extent with, you know,

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we had a Shabbat event. And, you know, we had

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some people come speak that were former IDF soldiers.

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and the protest was unbelievable right they organized

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the whole thing they you know surrounded surrounded

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the room were like banging on the doors saying

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everybody's like genocidal baby killer murderer

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all these things right here at FIU yeah here

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at FIU saying all these things you know um and

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they tried to break in of course they were like

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banging on the doors it was you know it was a

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it literally changed the rules on protesting

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in the Graham Center because of the degree of

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aggression of this protest And of course, we

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had to, you know, we recorded some of these clips

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went viral, right? It was people following kids

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to their cars, right? It was a kid who was eight

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years old. His mother was followed and people

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did Nazi salutes. And it's all on camera. I mean,

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it went viral. But, you know, I think there's

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been an effort to try and curb that. And I think

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even a lot of the students that may have participated

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in that later probably saw, you know. Looking

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back, okay, what was I doing there? At least

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I hope. But yeah, I mean, that's the kind of

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thing that happens with the scale of brainwashing

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when it comes to how people think about minorities.

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It's not just Jews, but this is just my experience

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with it, right? One of the other things that's

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been a big thing, I think, after October 7th

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is the U .S. relationship with Israel. Talk to

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us a little bit about your understanding of Israel

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and kind of your relationship with it. Well,

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I think Israel, obviously, it has a importance

00:12:43.860 --> 00:12:47.720
for a lot of Jews in that Jews were persecuted

00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:52.980
everywhere for thousands of years. And when it

00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:54.759
comes to Europe, when it comes to the Middle

00:12:54.759 --> 00:12:57.120
East, when it comes to really anywhere. There

00:12:57.120 --> 00:12:59.539
hasn't really been a place that's been a consistent

00:12:59.539 --> 00:13:02.200
home for the Jews, right? In the sense of a lot

00:13:02.200 --> 00:13:05.000
of people, they feel Jews kind of should have

00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:06.960
a sense of self -determination. They have a unique

00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:09.740
culture. They have a unique, you know, connection

00:13:09.740 --> 00:13:13.179
to each other and to, you know, Jerusalem, you

00:13:13.179 --> 00:13:14.820
know, praying the direction of Jerusalem. You

00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:17.419
know, there's a whole culture around that. Now,

00:13:17.460 --> 00:13:19.360
I'm not super religious. I don't live in Israel.

00:13:19.399 --> 00:13:21.700
I'm not Israeli. So obviously I can't speak to

00:13:21.700 --> 00:13:24.960
what that's like or to the degree. But of course,

00:13:24.980 --> 00:13:26.600
Israel is important to me in the sense that,

00:13:26.600 --> 00:13:27.899
you know, I don't know what happens. I don't

00:13:27.899 --> 00:13:29.600
know what the solution is. Right. I don't know.

00:13:29.700 --> 00:13:31.320
You know, I think everybody should be able to

00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:34.360
live there equally. But the fact is the Jews

00:13:34.360 --> 00:13:36.279
have a right to live there. Right. Jews should

00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:39.740
have some degree of self -determination. And

00:13:39.740 --> 00:13:42.559
whether that's important in your religion or

00:13:42.559 --> 00:13:44.200
that's important for your own safety or that's

00:13:44.200 --> 00:13:46.879
important for your identity, whatever way that's

00:13:46.879 --> 00:13:49.220
defined, I think that there is an importance

00:13:49.220 --> 00:13:52.100
to that. Right. When it comes to the political

00:13:52.100 --> 00:13:54.730
side and to the conflict side. I have no idea

00:13:54.730 --> 00:13:58.090
how that ends. I have no idea what a two -state

00:13:58.090 --> 00:14:01.250
solution would look like. I have no idea. But

00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:05.610
the fact is, obviously, the Jewish self -determination

00:14:05.610 --> 00:14:10.269
is important. And of course, a lot of people

00:14:10.269 --> 00:14:14.309
try to separate elements of that from Judaism.

00:14:15.590 --> 00:14:18.080
The fact that there is... praying the direction

00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:20.399
of jerusalem there's you know infinite talk about

00:14:20.399 --> 00:14:23.080
you know kingdom of israel or the location zion

00:14:23.080 --> 00:14:25.179
or all these all these things right these things

00:14:25.179 --> 00:14:28.240
are talked about a lot in in the torah um and

00:14:28.240 --> 00:14:30.919
of course there i saw there was uh there was

00:14:31.340 --> 00:14:33.279
There's attempts to try and remove that or to

00:14:33.279 --> 00:14:36.480
try and separate it a little bit. There's groups

00:14:36.480 --> 00:14:38.139
that people always point to like NATO -Dekarta,

00:14:38.340 --> 00:14:41.259
which is a very extreme anti -Zionist group.

00:14:41.480 --> 00:14:44.299
And by the way, not all anti -Zionist Jews think

00:14:44.299 --> 00:14:45.779
like NATO -Dekarta. A lot of them just don't

00:14:45.779 --> 00:14:48.259
think it's time or they have different ways of

00:14:48.259 --> 00:14:51.659
rationalizing. But NATO -Dekarta, they side with

00:14:51.659 --> 00:14:53.840
Iran. They side with a lot of radical regimes.

00:14:55.529 --> 00:14:57.470
There are 3 ,000 people. This is a very small

00:14:57.470 --> 00:14:59.850
percentage of Jews, right? But they're presented

00:14:59.850 --> 00:15:02.289
as if this is a large population, right? They

00:15:02.289 --> 00:15:03.710
go to a lot of protests. They're very vocal.

00:15:04.009 --> 00:15:05.529
So it's like, okay, well, these are the good

00:15:05.529 --> 00:15:07.909
Jews, right? I only agree with the good Jews,

00:15:07.950 --> 00:15:10.289
not the bad Jews. They're like the 90 % that

00:15:10.289 --> 00:15:12.389
are Zionists. Those are the bad Jews. And there's

00:15:12.389 --> 00:15:14.389
this kind of like dichotomy that's drawn, which

00:15:14.389 --> 00:15:16.450
is like, okay, well, if you mean Zionist as in

00:15:16.450 --> 00:15:18.850
like radical wants to kill people, then okay,

00:15:18.929 --> 00:15:20.570
then that's bad, you know, but that's not what

00:15:20.570 --> 00:15:22.889
it means, right? So people can try to redefine

00:15:22.889 --> 00:15:25.840
things to try and, you know. uh incriminate a

00:15:25.840 --> 00:15:28.600
group of people uh and that doesn't mean that

00:15:28.600 --> 00:15:30.159
there aren't radical people there's horrible

00:15:30.159 --> 00:15:32.399
radical people right like i don't like netanyahu

00:15:32.399 --> 00:15:34.580
i don't like a lot of a lot of people that are

00:15:34.580 --> 00:15:37.700
on you know to the far right of me uh but that

00:15:37.700 --> 00:15:39.159
doesn't mean that you can just label everybody

00:15:39.159 --> 00:15:40.879
that's you know that believes in there being

00:15:40.879 --> 00:15:42.539
a state of israel at all which is what zionism

00:15:42.539 --> 00:15:45.019
means as being somehow malicious right but that

00:15:45.019 --> 00:15:47.120
is kind of the direction i think it's it's going

00:15:47.120 --> 00:15:50.539
which is very disturbing yeah um but yeah i guess

00:15:50.539 --> 00:15:53.299
that's my that's that's what i can say right

00:15:54.009 --> 00:15:58.029
no that's great um what is something that drew

00:15:58.029 --> 00:16:00.429
you to intrepid dialogue and what is something

00:16:00.429 --> 00:16:02.529
that's important how do you see other religious

00:16:02.529 --> 00:16:06.549
traditions well i always had an interest from

00:16:06.549 --> 00:16:08.389
the time i was little i mean like i said i grew

00:16:08.389 --> 00:16:10.929
up in a catholic country so frequently i would

00:16:10.929 --> 00:16:12.970
see a lot of the things that my friends and their

00:16:12.970 --> 00:16:15.350
families would do you know sometimes on sunday

00:16:15.350 --> 00:16:17.370
i would go with them to church and i'd see the

00:16:17.370 --> 00:16:19.070
whole and it was fascinating right seeing all

00:16:19.070 --> 00:16:22.059
these all these angles to tradition and to how

00:16:22.059 --> 00:16:23.759
people live their lives, right, to humanity.

00:16:24.620 --> 00:16:28.679
It's beautiful. Now, when I came to the U .S.,

00:16:28.679 --> 00:16:30.960
I saw even more of that, right? You have Protestants

00:16:30.960 --> 00:16:32.600
and Catholics and Orthodox, all these different

00:16:32.600 --> 00:16:34.220
types. And then you have, you know, various kinds

00:16:34.220 --> 00:16:36.080
of Muslims and you have various kinds of, you

00:16:36.080 --> 00:16:37.539
know, Jews, different levels of practice. And

00:16:37.539 --> 00:16:40.080
you have such diversity here religiously, right,

00:16:40.220 --> 00:16:45.789
that... it increased my interest, right? Initially,

00:16:45.850 --> 00:16:47.669
funnily enough, I did chemistry, believe it or

00:16:47.669 --> 00:16:49.389
not. I mean, who would have thought, you know,

00:16:49.409 --> 00:16:51.990
science, right? Raw science, the central science.

00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:56.529
But eventually I pivoted toward political science

00:16:56.529 --> 00:16:58.909
as I became more interested in that field. And

00:16:58.909 --> 00:17:01.809
one of the things I did was for a certificate

00:17:01.809 --> 00:17:04.009
in the Middle East, I actually traveled to the

00:17:04.009 --> 00:17:05.789
region, right? To Israel, Palestinian territories,

00:17:05.950 --> 00:17:11.190
Jordan, and to get the certificate. And the group

00:17:11.190 --> 00:17:14.349
that I went with was the Christian Ecumenical

00:17:14.349 --> 00:17:17.410
Foundation, a Christian group. But it was with

00:17:17.410 --> 00:17:21.569
the Muslim Study Center, the Jaffer Center for

00:17:21.569 --> 00:17:26.349
Muslim World Studies. And I went with another

00:17:26.349 --> 00:17:28.650
Jewish friend. Most of the group, of course,

00:17:28.650 --> 00:17:31.789
wasn't, but one other Jewish friend. So it was

00:17:31.789 --> 00:17:33.950
quite interesting going with a Christian group

00:17:33.950 --> 00:17:38.609
led by Muslims as... a jew with another jew it's

00:17:38.609 --> 00:17:40.410
just a you know that experience in and of itself

00:17:40.410 --> 00:17:43.230
was uh kind of blending these cultures right

00:17:43.230 --> 00:17:45.329
we got to see churches synagogues mosques we

00:17:45.329 --> 00:17:47.390
got to see every angle right uh stay two weeks

00:17:47.390 --> 00:17:51.190
in ramallah and have that experience um and i

00:17:51.190 --> 00:17:53.210
think that that was extremely valuable and that

00:17:53.210 --> 00:17:55.609
increased my interest even more right and trying

00:17:55.609 --> 00:17:57.230
to understand these cultures trying to see where

00:17:57.230 --> 00:18:00.470
our points in common are uh and then when october

00:18:00.470 --> 00:18:04.750
7th happened it feels like so much work that

00:18:04.750 --> 00:18:06.630
people have been doing to try and bring people

00:18:06.630 --> 00:18:09.029
together was just undone like that right immediately

00:18:09.029 --> 00:18:12.150
you have a cold war immediately between people

00:18:12.150 --> 00:18:17.130
that were friends a day ago right um i had i

00:18:17.130 --> 00:18:19.890
know people that went to a protest on october

00:18:19.890 --> 00:18:22.410
8th saying victory palestine right as footage

00:18:22.410 --> 00:18:24.349
was still coming out of people getting you know

00:18:24.349 --> 00:18:28.309
slaughtered so obviously that was that's a difficult

00:18:28.309 --> 00:18:30.170
thing to get over i've tried to resolve that

00:18:30.680 --> 00:18:33.200
that's that that gap but of course that's very

00:18:33.200 --> 00:18:39.119
difficult right um but yeah i think uh that mending

00:18:39.119 --> 00:18:42.339
that that wound is i think something that everybody

00:18:42.339 --> 00:18:45.039
should be trying to do right uh that every jew

00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:48.200
and every muslim or to whoever at least has the

00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:50.519
resources and the knowledge and the contacts

00:18:50.519 --> 00:18:53.059
i guess to be able to mend that gap they should

00:18:53.059 --> 00:18:55.859
i think we have a responsibility to do that and

00:18:55.859 --> 00:18:57.839
you know i i don't think anybody should wait

00:18:57.839 --> 00:18:59.660
for somebody else to do it for them right this

00:18:59.660 --> 00:19:02.630
is you know We are in this, especially as Jews,

00:19:02.750 --> 00:19:04.549
I mean, Muslims, of course, but Jews, we are

00:19:04.549 --> 00:19:06.750
only 15 million people. I mean, there aren't

00:19:06.750 --> 00:19:08.210
many Jews. I mean, there's 2 billion Muslims.

00:19:08.309 --> 00:19:10.150
I don't think every Muslim knows a Jewish person.

00:19:10.210 --> 00:19:14.250
But at least with Jews, we have a duty to kind

00:19:14.250 --> 00:19:16.029
of try and be ambassadors. And I feel like not

00:19:16.029 --> 00:19:19.269
enough people have tried to do that. Or, I mean,

00:19:19.289 --> 00:19:23.190
people do, but it's quite small. And obviously,

00:19:23.230 --> 00:19:26.579
I can't speak to, you know, to... to muslim ambassadors

00:19:26.579 --> 00:19:29.099
right but of course you know there has to be

00:19:29.099 --> 00:19:30.619
an effort too i think everybody needs to try

00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:32.339
and come together and i think that's where interfaith

00:19:32.339 --> 00:19:34.759
comes in is our religions are more similar than

00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:36.299
they are different absolutely so i think that

00:19:36.299 --> 00:19:38.019
there is a lot of room that you know to come

00:19:38.019 --> 00:19:41.000
together and see okay well maybe our issues are

00:19:41.000 --> 00:19:44.880
a little bit silly you know right uh yeah yeah

00:19:44.880 --> 00:19:47.180
absolutely i mean i think that's the thing ultimately

00:19:47.180 --> 00:19:51.160
um one of the things that i hope that we're getting

00:19:51.160 --> 00:19:53.559
out of the connections are just kind of like

00:19:54.079 --> 00:19:58.140
the lived realities of how similar our religious

00:19:58.140 --> 00:20:00.880
traditions are, and then also navigating our,

00:20:00.980 --> 00:20:02.740
you know, kind of spiritual paths in the United

00:20:02.740 --> 00:20:06.359
States. And there's a lot of overlap and a lot

00:20:06.359 --> 00:20:09.940
of similarity. And I think that ultimately, you

00:20:09.940 --> 00:20:13.240
know, these beliefs of, I mean, one of the things

00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:16.039
I really enjoy about the Quran and the Talmud

00:20:16.039 --> 00:20:20.960
as well, is this, there's this, that if you've

00:20:20.960 --> 00:20:22.619
saved one life, you've saved all of humanity.

00:20:22.720 --> 00:20:24.660
And if you killed one person, you killed all

00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:28.980
of humanity. I think it's very powerful when

00:20:28.980 --> 00:20:31.200
you really think about it. And just part of what

00:20:31.200 --> 00:20:33.099
we're trying to do, I think, with our work is

00:20:33.099 --> 00:20:37.299
to try to see the full humanity in the other

00:20:37.299 --> 00:20:40.619
and being able to really deeply listen and to

00:20:40.619 --> 00:20:43.400
embrace the other. And I think ultimately, nobody

00:20:43.400 --> 00:20:48.009
wants... you know, to hate and to destroy the

00:20:48.009 --> 00:20:51.250
other. I think even in the Palestinian -Israeli

00:20:51.250 --> 00:20:55.650
sort of situation, you know, there are some extremists

00:20:55.650 --> 00:20:58.789
on both sides. And I think those voices, unfortunately,

00:20:59.009 --> 00:21:02.170
have taken sort of center stage and they're kind

00:21:02.170 --> 00:21:05.500
of leading. the action. Whereas I think the vast

00:21:05.500 --> 00:21:08.200
majority of people are, you know, want to live

00:21:08.200 --> 00:21:10.279
their lives peacefully and they want to have,

00:21:10.279 --> 00:21:12.539
you know, economic prosperity and they want to

00:21:12.539 --> 00:21:15.220
be able to provide for their families and sort

00:21:15.220 --> 00:21:19.039
of live in peace. And so how do we, in a way,

00:21:19.059 --> 00:21:23.099
kind of embolden, you know, the majority who

00:21:23.099 --> 00:21:26.200
have that perspective, you know? So it's very,

00:21:26.279 --> 00:21:28.140
it's a very... That's the goal? Yeah, it's a

00:21:28.140 --> 00:21:30.410
goal. Yeah, it's a very important... distinction

00:21:30.410 --> 00:21:33.170
well uh thank you so much for coming in i really

00:21:33.170 --> 00:21:34.849
appreciate you taking the time to talk to me

00:21:34.849 --> 00:21:37.950
thank you for being part of part of our it's

00:21:37.950 --> 00:21:39.750
an honor to be part of it yeah thank you so much