0:00:13.042,0:00:14.876
So, here I am:

0:00:17.253,0:00:21.767
a straight, white, male,

0:00:21.768,0:00:24.147
without even glasses

0:00:24.148,0:00:27.046
talking to you about racism.

0:00:27.047,0:00:31.307
You may be thinking,[br]"What does he know about discrimination?"

0:00:32.627,0:00:35.928
I'd like to remind you[br]that I also have a red beard.

0:00:36.608,0:00:39.178
So I do know a bit about discrimination.

0:00:40.343,0:00:42.152
Over the past four years,

0:00:42.153,0:00:45.820
I've been lucky enough to call Jerusalem,

0:00:45.821,0:00:49.868
Montreal, and then London my home town.

0:00:50.477,0:00:52.506
It didn't hit me straight away,

0:00:52.507,0:00:54.936
but then I realized that all three cities

0:00:54.937,0:00:58.559
have a very interesting[br]relationship with diversity.

0:00:59.532,0:01:02.853
Those experiences coupled[br]with an education

0:01:02.854,0:01:07.340
to [inaudible] me inclusiveness,[br]openness, and respect,

0:01:07.341,0:01:11.531
made me very aware of the discrimination[br]that happens around the world.

0:01:13.774,0:01:16.673
With all the unfolding events[br]at the moment,

0:01:16.674,0:01:20.533
I really felt that I had to do,[br]or at least, say something;

0:01:20.534,0:01:23.475
and because I'm a minimalist,

0:01:23.476,0:01:25.199
I decided to say something,

0:01:25.736,0:01:28.186
and apparently, it's worth spreading.

0:01:29.483,0:01:31.595
I'd like to start by telling you a story.

0:01:32.235,0:01:36.573
The year is 1934, in Nuremberg, Germany.

0:01:37.533,0:01:39.712
My great-grandparents are the owners

0:01:39.713,0:01:42.483
of one of the most prestigious[br]hat shop in the city.

0:01:43.209,0:01:47.584
Their family came from AufseB,[br]a small country town outside this city.

0:01:48.045,0:01:49.504
At one point,

0:01:49.505,0:01:53.495
it was best known for having[br]the highest rate of breweries per capita.

0:01:53.496,0:01:56.649
And also... No; actually, that's it.

0:01:57.359,0:02:00.551
it was a small town with nothing much,

0:02:00.552,0:02:02.487
but that's where my family came from,

0:02:03.307,0:02:05.737
that's where they lived[br]for over 200 years.

0:02:06.464,0:02:08.502
They were proud of their origins.

0:02:09.594,0:02:11.413
They were not really religious,

0:02:11.414,0:02:16.004
but still, they were very proud[br]of their Jewish heritage, as well,

0:02:17.165,0:02:21.234
and it is for that sole reason,[br]that in 1934,

0:02:21.235,0:02:26.159
after one of my grandad's classmate[br]was attached to a fence the whole night,

0:02:26.584,0:02:30.133
they decided to flee[br]what was their home for a new one;

0:02:30.974,0:02:33.102
what was then called Palestine.

0:02:34.862,0:02:38.788
Their heritage, their roots[br]were in Germany,

0:02:39.266,0:02:41.735
in Nuremberg, in AufseB,

0:02:41.736,0:02:44.291
where my name literally comes from.

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But because of racism[br]and Nazism, they had to flee.

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How do we challenge that?

0:02:54.954,0:02:59.161
As a society, how do we make sure[br]that this kind of event

0:02:59.162,0:03:01.528
doesn't happen again in the future?

0:03:02.268,0:03:05.669
This is where the magic trick happens.

0:03:08.202,0:03:11.892
Together, we'll see how we can use[br]racist tools against them.

0:03:12.692,0:03:16.772
Together, let's reverse[br]engineering racism.

0:03:19.129,0:03:22.938
One day, I was on YouTube watching videos,

0:03:22.939,0:03:24.885
as we often do,

0:03:25.609,0:03:29.255
and then, I saw[br]a panel discussion on Fox News,

0:03:29.256,0:03:33.766
America's largest news channel[br]and its strongest conservative voice.

0:03:35.203,0:03:39.023
The panel was discussing Jesus and Santa.

0:03:40.521,0:03:41.861
I was baffled.

0:03:42.674,0:03:47.824
There it was: a panel of professional,[br]well-educated journalists

0:03:47.834,0:03:51.876
vehemently defending the fact[br]that both icons were white.

0:03:53.660,0:03:56.573
When it comes to Santa,

0:03:57.263,0:03:58.592
- spoiler alert -

0:03:58.593,0:04:00.044
he doesn't exist.

0:04:00.045,0:04:03.725
So it doesn't really matter;[br]he's a commercial product.

0:04:04.518,0:04:07.944
When it comes to Jesus, however,[br]it's a whole other story.

0:04:08.594,0:04:12.144
I think we can say that he had[br]quite an impact on our world,

0:04:12.145,0:04:14.515
and so his figure is quite important.

0:04:15.619,0:04:19.338
This panel was defending[br]the fact that he was white

0:04:19.339,0:04:21.274
so seriously,

0:04:21.276,0:04:25.436
that it felt that for them[br]if he weren't, he would be less of a God.

0:04:25.724,0:04:27.247
And that troubled me.

0:04:28.727,0:04:31.897
If you will, let's look[br]into Jesus's origins.

0:04:33.300,0:04:37.300
Jesus was born in Nazareth,[br]as most of you know,

0:04:39.415,0:04:41.514
in today's West Bank.

0:04:41.515,0:04:43.494
Then, it was called Judea.

0:04:43.495,0:04:46.560
But Jesus actually comes from Galilea

0:04:46.561,0:04:49.487
which is just north of Judea.

0:04:49.501,0:04:52.740
According to anthropologist Richard Neave,

0:04:52.741,0:04:57.611
this is what a Galilean[br]would've looked like at that time.

0:05:01.043,0:05:02.902
Interesting, isn't it?

0:05:02.903,0:05:06.522
It's more of what[br]we would refer to today as an Arab

0:05:06.523,0:05:09.228
rather than a white Caucasian male.

0:05:10.101,0:05:15.261
I think that by looking into the origins[br]of certain things or people,

0:05:16.033,0:05:20.252
we're able to show,[br]explain, and gap bridges

0:05:20.253,0:05:23.094
between people that thought[br]they had nothing in common;

0:05:23.095,0:05:26.715
for example, Fox News and an Arab.

0:05:29.205,0:05:32.155
Another admirable man is Trevor Noah.

0:05:32.805,0:05:34.774
He's a South-African comedian

0:05:34.775,0:05:38.142
and he's the host[br]of "The Daily Show with Trevor Noah"

0:05:39.312,0:05:41.328
on Comedy Central.

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Trevor was born in 1984,[br]in Johannesburg, South Africa

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and he has a very interesting story.

0:05:51.571,0:05:57.545
His mom was a Black South African woman,[br]and his dad was a Swiss white man.

0:05:58.459,0:06:01.849
So Trevor's very own existence[br]was illegal.

0:06:02.678,0:06:06.555
He was referred as "colored,"[br]and he couldn't go to play outside

0:06:06.556,0:06:10.516
as he was rejected[br]by both Black and white communities.

0:06:11.414,0:06:15.233
In a very interesting documentary[br]called "You laugh but it's true,"

0:06:15.234,0:06:18.811
Trevor explains[br]how in post-apartheid South Africa

0:06:18.818,0:06:21.027
as he was becoming a comedian,

0:06:21.028,0:06:25.028
what was once a handicap[br]became an advantage,

0:06:25.029,0:06:27.268
what was once a threat to his life

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became a way for him to distinguish[br]himself from other comedians.

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He could relate to both communities,

0:06:35.442,0:06:40.772
and both Black and white communities[br]saw him as an outsider and an insider.

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From a Johannesburg's slum,

0:06:44.709,0:06:50.334
he came to host one of the America's[br]progressive, most influential shows.

0:06:50.335,0:06:54.262
And all of this by a lot of work,[br]a lot of talent, of course,

0:06:55.020,0:06:58.439
but also by understanding[br]how to use his origins

0:06:58.440,0:07:00.420
to his own advantage.

0:07:03.447,0:07:05.486
So now that we understood

0:07:05.487,0:07:08.759
that we can use origins to fight racism,

0:07:08.760,0:07:10.660
let's see how we can apply it

0:07:10.661,0:07:13.917
to one of today's most important issues:

0:07:13.918,0:07:16.419
the rise of islamophobia.

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Because when you go to Yad Vashem,

0:07:19.585,0:07:22.128
Jerusalem's Holocaust Museum,

0:07:22.129,0:07:24.586
which I've visited over five times,

0:07:24.587,0:07:26.238
you come to realize

0:07:26.239,0:07:30.673
that one of the main issues[br]that allowed this atrocity to happen

0:07:30.674,0:07:33.223
was the passivity and the silence

0:07:33.224,0:07:35.654
of those who were not concerned.

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Not that they were especially racist,

0:07:38.602,0:07:40.772
but they just didn't act out.

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Of course, there is a problem today[br]with Muslim extremists,

0:07:48.810,0:07:51.011
but Islam is not the problem.

0:07:52.805,0:07:56.314
It is a political, a financial issue,

0:07:56.315,0:07:59.875
but definitely, religion is not the issue.

0:07:59.876,0:08:02.418
It is important to make this distinction,

0:08:02.419,0:08:07.564
because we should include[br]those Muslims who are not extremists

0:08:07.565,0:08:11.253
and not exclude them[br]in the arms of those who are.

0:08:11.254,0:08:13.432
To those who say,

0:08:13.433,0:08:16.873
"Well, Islam is not compatible[br]with our modern society,"

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"It is a hateful,[br]it is a destructive religion,"

0:08:21.429,0:08:23.367
I'd like to challenge you,

0:08:23.368,0:08:28.448
and once again, let's go look[br]into Islam's origin and history.

0:08:32.147,0:08:35.135
First thing: the numbers.

0:08:36.006,0:08:39.754
Have you ever tried counting[br]from one to ten without numbers?

0:08:41.014,0:08:42.682
Pretty hard task.

0:08:42.683,0:08:46.815
We have to thank the influence[br]of Islam for this invention.

0:08:48.125,0:08:53.751
al-Razi, a Persian scientist,[br]was the first to use alcohol in medicine.

0:08:54.183,0:08:55.812
Quite ironic, isn't it?

0:08:58.498,0:09:02.525
Who here hasn't heard[br]of the "One thousand and one nights"?

0:09:03.105,0:09:05.020
A poetry masterpiece.

0:09:05.021,0:09:08.441
Again, this was written[br]under the influence of Islam.

0:09:10.584,0:09:12.043
The Taj Mahal -

0:09:12.545,0:09:14.473
an architectural prowess.

0:09:15.493,0:09:19.353
It was both requested[br]and designed by Muslims.

0:09:20.144,0:09:24.453
For those who have seen it,[br]you know how beautiful it is:

0:09:24.454,0:09:26.641
in the details, the arts,

0:09:26.642,0:09:30.116
the little stones[br]that make the beauty of it all.

0:09:31.645,0:09:34.925
Then, finally - belly dancing.

0:09:35.943,0:09:40.723
Oh, yes, we have to thank[br]Muslim influence for this, as well.

0:09:45.411,0:09:51.023
You can have a real impact in fighting[br]racism and discrimination around you,

0:09:51.024,0:09:53.353
simply by speaking out

0:09:53.354,0:09:56.684
and by using racist tools against them

0:09:56.685,0:09:58.011
because nothing hurts more

0:09:58.012,0:10:01.051
than being beaten[br]at your own game, with you own tools.

0:10:01.052,0:10:03.191
Imagine a golfer

0:10:03.192,0:10:07.570
being beaten by his opponents;[br]but with his own clubs.

0:10:08.300,0:10:11.790
He would probably disregard[br]the importance of the clubs

0:10:11.791,0:10:14.999
and just admit his opponent was better.

0:10:15.000,0:10:18.001
I believe it goes[br]the same way with racism.

0:10:18.002,0:10:22.238
If you can fight their ideology[br]with their logic,

0:10:22.239,0:10:23.998
then you put them in a position

0:10:23.999,0:10:27.797
where they are not able to say[br]that your argument is invalid.

0:10:31.247,0:10:33.607
So I urge you to speak out.

0:10:35.286,0:10:38.196
All people are countable[br]for what they say.

0:10:40.221,0:10:43.340
Don't be afraid of arguing with someone.

0:10:43.341,0:10:46.050
Don't be afraid of being a fool,

0:10:46.051,0:10:47.780
because in front of a racist,

0:10:47.781,0:10:49.799
they will always be the fool.

0:10:52.212,0:10:54.082
I'm just a student.

0:10:55.017,0:10:57.346
I don't have more credentials than you do.

0:10:57.347,0:10:59.696
I don't have more knowledge than you do.

0:10:59.697,0:11:03.164
I just have the will to be[br]on right side of history.

0:11:03.165,0:11:05.516
So tap into your origins,

0:11:05.517,0:11:07.633
your story, and your history,

0:11:07.634,0:11:11.547
and use them to fight discrimination[br]and racism around you.

0:11:13.867,0:11:15.114
Before I finish,

0:11:16.284,0:11:18.453
I'd like to share with you a quote

0:11:18.454,0:11:20.262
than I saw when I was visiting

0:11:21.076,0:11:24.626
the Genocide Museum[br]in Kigali, Rwanda, this summer.

0:11:25.281,0:11:28.291
And to this date, it's stuck with me.

0:11:30.231,0:11:33.841
"When we said never again[br]after the holocaust,

0:11:35.211,0:11:39.171
did it concern only certain people[br]and not others?"

0:11:40.203,0:11:41.652
Thank you very much.

0:11:41.653,0:11:42.789
(Applause)