committees, international people and everything's happening here. so just being here, having this privilege of sitting here today talking to you and meeting all internationals in the city expand their horizons and deeply enhances our leadership skills. >> i would like to add two small points. first of all, this is an international place which means that we can actually meet here because back home israelis from israel and palestinians from the west bank and gaza cannot meet. you have to go through checkpoints, you have to go to get permits. it's just impossible. so therefore we need to have an international place where we can all meet together. the second thing is that here we have a platform to talk, to american policymakers, and we all know how america is involved in our conflict. therefore i think that it's one of the most important things of the program. that we are able to actually speak our minds and let our voices be heard in front of american policymakers and

american audiences. >> hi. my name is minnie and i'm joining you in d.c. this summer. i have two questions. i don't know if you mind. the first one is for each of you. where do you see yourself in 10 years? i kind of know about yara. it would be nice if we know all about you. and maybe the second question is for n.s.l. we have an israeli-palestinian in the panel. have you reached out to the palestinians from west bank and gaza or is it only focused to the palestinian -- israeli-palestinians? thank you. >> on the program, i'm the only palestinian-israeli. four of my friends are palestinians. one from gaza and the west are from the west bank. so the focus of the program is not only on israelis and palestinians who live inside the state of israel. but rather it focuses on the

whole region and the diversity of people here. it's just amazing. about 10 years, you know where i hope to be. >> that is quite a difficult question as i am not completely sure what i would want to be when i grow up. however, i do believe that i would want to make some kind of change. so i think that i will just follow up on the west -- on the best drenk that -- direction that i can do it. if it's opening a new n.g.o. which focuses on bringing young children, meeting together since a young age and meeting together every six months or so, or will it be to work with human rights organizations or with the u.n.? whatever i would feel best at the moment in order to promote peace in our region. >> i would like to just add that maybe i would like to just quickly just say that we have miri, we have walid from

bethlehem and we have five amazing israelis sitting in the audience and i hope that you will have a chance to interact with them later on. >> my question is not over. >> in 10 year's time i will probably be the recreational officer for the political party. [laughter] other than that, i see myself working with intercultural dialogue. i spent the last seven months teaching in the former soviet republican of -- republic of georgia and for me it's an amazing experience to see how somebody's life can change when they meet somebody from a different part of the world. and that's something that i would love to be involved with. >> i personally would love to enter the irish diplomatic corps.

but i think more than that i just hope that in 10 year's time i'm still involved in -- years' time i'm still involved in a program like n.s.l. that is no longer dealing with a current violence but, as the irish program has now moved on to moving forward and how to build a sustainable peace, i hope that these guys can be working on that as well and that for me would be a great place to be in 10 years' time. >> we're only going to be taking a few more questions. >> hello. i am mexican-iranian though i feel -- i don't feel, i know i am a citizen of the world. and my question -- well, first of all, thank you so much for allowing us and sharing, to know your stories, sharing your stories with us. it's an honor for us, or at least for me, to hear your stories. you are such an inspirational

group. and my question is, how can someone like me, i live in mexico, i just came here for the summer, how can i have an effect, how can i help, and not only me, how can people around the world help into this issue? because i have been following up since several years ago and it's truly important how even i go to congresses, where they were going to speak about peace, they end up speaking about how they don't want -- they want to continue being divided and it makes me feel really small sometimes because the politicians are very hard-minded sometimes. i just want to know how can someone like me help and contribute to a solution? thank you. >> if i can maybe answer your question first. although i'm not from the region, i think dish want to refer to robert kennedy's speech about the ripples of

hope. robert kennedy was an american visiting south africa and i think there are actually some people that named their children kennedy or robert after he visited south africa with that speech. and it's about raising awareness and just knowing that are you not small in this. by speaking up you release a ripple that would touch another ripple and in the end help ignite the change. >> well, i'll answer it in two parts. first of all, there's a very famous helen keller quote that says, something like, the world is not pushed only by the mighty pushes of its heroes but it is pushed by the tiny pushes of its each and every honest workers. each tiny person when we punish, -- push, we can together move the world. but i would also like to add that maybe you would like to

listen to diane's speech and see how as an international living in the region, what she recommends. >> i would just add a small comment. first of all, thank you so much. i thought you spoke very nicely. i also see myself as a global citizen. i think that another aspect in which you can take part in the solution is through social media. social media has so much power at the moment in resolving -- in helping resolve these kind of conflicts. first of all, there's the n.s.l. facebook page which you can join. there's also different facebook pages such as yala and a lot of different other organizations that have facebook pages and which you can engage in conversationsed a and hear about conferences and hear about protests and it's all out there. just go for it and if you want i will talk to you a bit more about it personally afterwards. >> the students also write

blogs during the summer and i think that's a great way to follow what's going on. they're fantastic blogs and they have a lot of good things to say. >> i would like to quickly just add an incident that happened here a few weeks ago when walid and i walked into this shop at the pentagon city mall. we were talking to the fella at the store and walid told her, i'm from bethlehem. the lady there just stood there and stared at him and was like, bethlehem. yeah. that's from somewhere in the middle east. and walid told her, yeah, we're palestinian. she's like, yes, yes, i know. palestinian, that's a religion, right? [laughter] so another suggestion would be just not to be ignorant about the fact that if you want to be involved in a conflict or if you want to help, just know the facts. get the facts straight. and raise awareness among others. that's the most important part, i think, that rikus already

said. >> all right. this is going to be our last question. >> let me add, if folks want to help on this particular program, go to our website, the folks in the television audience, it's www.newstoryleadership.com. and we --.org. and we need help. the reason we only have 10 young people is because we don't have the funds. so if you can help that's another way to get involved. sorry for the paid announcement but we do need your help. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> donate now, though. >> thank you, bob, for that. now perhaps to our final question. >> hi. i'd like to ask the panel, given that we're here in d.c., i'd like to ask about the american role in the conflict.

it seems to have been a pretty biased role so far. so i was wondering if you think the that america needs -- if you need policymakers to become more neutral and how important is that going to be in finding a solution to the conflict? thank you. >> yara, if you'd like to go first. >> i mean, if you saw how fascinated i was with bill clinton and that was for a very simple reason. back home, every time you watched the news or opened the news, the united states was always there. whether we like it or not, the united states is very involved with our conflict and what saddens me a bit is that when the american voters go to the poles -- polls and vote they do not think their vote will tremendously affect our lives back home and i just said a few minutes ago, this lady that said, is palestine a religion, when she votes she affects my future. so i would like for the american people to be more

educated and for them to know that what they do here affects lives of other people around the world, where it is in palestine and syria or in iran and afghanistan. people of the world are tremendously affected by the united states. >> this concludes our first question and answer session. we're now going to have a 20-minute break. there are food items and water bottles and sodas in the back. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> good morning, again. and i hope all of you are ignoring the program as much as i am because i'm not megan siritzky. my name is patrick omar. i'm interning on the management team for n.s.l. and i will be chairing this second panel. our first speaker is with a lid issa from palestine. walid. [applause] >> first i would like to thank everybody for being here. this is not part of my speech but i feel the need to say it. thank you, everybody. but i would like to thank jane and bob for their generosity and for their hospitality and

thank you for accepting me as a son in your house. it's been wonderful and thank you so much. i don't know how much -- what can i do to appreciate that. and want to thank my host brother for being patient on me when i'm rushing things, running around the house, getting things ready. thank you. salam, peace, shalome. my name is walid issa. i'm a palestinian from bethlehem. i grew up in a refugee camp with five sisters and three brothers. my family is very rich when it comes to care and compassion. even though we were not wealthy moneywise, i grew up in the beautiful land of the occupied palestine. i grew up loving my identity, my history and my culture. i can still hear the echo of my

grandfather's stories about the glory of the olive trees in palestine. my grandfather planted a seed of love for my country that has grown to be a strong tree in my heart. it was a sunny, beautiful spring day in palestine when my story began. on march 23, 2003, i was 16 years old. i was out with some friends at a coffee shop in the heart of the city of bethlehem. ky still remember the smell of the coffee mixed with the scent of spices in the air. you know? i was sitting next to the door when i saw a car. the car that i recognized coming toward the coffee shop. i realized that was my school teacher's car. him and his daughter,

christina, were in it. my teacher had taught me most of my morals and values as a little kid growing up. naturally, without thinking, i ran outside to wave and greet him, outside the coffee shop. all of a sudden a big white van swerved towards us from the other direction, trapping me in the middle. three scary looking men holding fully automatic guns jumped out of the van and aimed their weapons at my teacher's car. my heart was racing. i ran back to the coffee shop in panic. i peered out of the little window by the door. the three big scary men started showering my teacher's car with bullets. i tried to focus on the car but the bullets had smashed through

the back window and slowly the faces in the car had disappeared. i couldn't see christina's beautiful face anymore. all i could see was blood everywhere. in less than two minutes, the scary men had left and the street became silent. i ran out of the coffee shop to go and check on my teacher and his daughter. but as a 16-year-old, i couldn't do nothing. i could do nothing but wipe the blood with my shirt. i cried. i screamed for help. for help. finally my dad came and got me home. on that day i stopped seeing bethlehem as the holy land. i stopped seeing palestine as a holy land. all i wanted to do was leave. run as far away as i could. i decided that when i grow up,

i will get myself the biggest ak-47 in the world, big enough to kill those men who killed my childhood. my family tried to help me transfer all these negative energy and hate that i had planted in my heart into something that would make me appreciate life again. through their efforts and through my school i was accepted into a program called art corps peace. at the beginning i thought it was going to be my last vacation. i will go to the u.s., spend the summer there and come back to my ak-47 for revenge. nevertheless, it was a critical point in my life. at arc, i met youth from guatemala, lithuania, african-americans, native americans and white americans.

connecting with people from different prounds, i found a way to appreciate humanity and value cultures and ethnicities. as arc i understood how important it is to be open-minded and be educated, to make a real difference. i did go back to palestine and i finished high school but because of the limited resources of my family, i couldn't make it into college at home. at arc i met kate pier who was so generous to help me get accepted into college in the united states. hosted me at her house and accepted me as her son. i recently graduated from st. cloud state university in minnesota. ever since i was a little kid, my dream was to graduate from college and celebrate my success with my family. unfortunately my parents did not get the visa to come to my graduation ceremony. my parents never got to see my

school. my parents never got to meet my friends. and as a family-oriented person, i began wondering, is this really a success if i cannot share it with my family? what matters more to me? my identity or my security? my heart is torn. i don't want my life to be in the hands of scary men in a big white van. i don't want my kids to grow up in fear. i do not want my kids to miss the sun because there is a huge wall surrounding our house. i do not want a 17-year-old kid on a checkpoint 20 feet away from my home to control my freedom. i also don't want to be silent. my place is not in the corner. i need to go back, i need to share my happeniness and my sadness with my family and my

community. i need palestine to be part of my daily life. i need my kids to grow up in palestine. i'm very proud of my identity. and i need my kids to know their history, to know their culture, share my beliefs and my love for my heritage. it was the same -- it was this that made me realize, i need to do something, i need to go back and make my homeland a safer place for my children, my nieces and my family. i need to take a part in this and help create a new, better story for the middle east. my friends, i'm standing here today with these nine incredible people because peace is not god's gift on earth. peace is people's gift to each other.

i'm here today with the new story leadership because in the near future i will start a family in the little town of bethlehem and one day hopefully i will have a daughter. my daughter will grow up with happiness and love. my daughter will graduate from college. and i promise each one of you i will not miss her graduation. i will not -- i will be sitting with her mother in the first row cheering for her and cheering for her success. and i know, leor, my host brother, and his daughter will also be sharing her success. let us no longer be silent. let us no longer live in fear. let us no longer accept life that we have been dealing with. let us start creating our own lives, our own future.

plato once said, we can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. thank you so much. >> thank you, walid, for sharing your dreams and your visions for a better future. our next speaker is guy cherni. >> thank you, patrick, and thank you for coming. you have to excuse me for my accent. i'll try my best. thank you for being here and accepting me to your home.

thank you all again. my name is guy and i'm an israeli. i was born and raised in the most beautiful place in the world, jerusalem. descended of a family with both branches escaped extermination in europe, i live the duality of jewism. a secular, everyday life on the one hand, but with tradition as a strong guidelines on the other. for me the most important part of that tradition is the jewish moral code. which was famously summarized by the immortal sentence, love the other as you love yourself. the importance of this code dates back to my childhood. like my parents before me, i was brought up on the values of labor-oriented zionist beliefs.

democracy and equality to all. as well as adherence to the jewish religion and the state of israel. the same value that our country was established upon by our forefathers. as a young boy, my parents sent me to a unique school, a labor movement one. situated in a disadvantaged neighborhood. the main objective of this school was to integrate kids from this disadvantaged neighborhood with other kids from more privileged backgrounds. that came to this school for the same purpose. it was that school that i -- it was if that school, i'm sorry, that i first learned the importance of really getting to know other societies. only when you meet them, face to face, hear their stories and understand them, only then you can gain trust, cooperate and

try to build something together. unlike many other israelis, the disadvantaged population from this neighborhood wasn't the only disadvantaged population i have encountered. as a young man in jerusalem, i met israeli-arabs and palestinians on daily basis where i worked. a small swimming pool. we always enjoyed good relationships and mutual respect. i always took that as a sign of hope in a fruitful future. in the year 2000, with the outbreak of the second intifada, it all changed. suddenly the palestinians stopped coming to work and instead of the nice smell of laundry and sun screen that we had in the pool, a powerful sense of uncertainty permeated the air, followed by the scent of fear from suicide bombers and terror. the light of hope was shaped -- shaded by a mountain of doubt and dread and as we all know,

fruits cannot grow in the dark. trust was lost. a few years later, i met one of the palestinians that i used to work with. he was an undocumented worker in a restaurant in jerusalem and seeing his recognizable tattooed arm serving my dish, pleasantly surprised me. we had a quiet chat about old times, old faces and old stories. we loofed a lot -- laughed a lot. he was the same person i knew and i was very, very fond of him. that unexpected meeting made me think. i thought about our current situation and i decided that things can be different. i knew that there is still hope but i also knew that there are no instant solutions. we like those rapid solutions so much, though.

instant food, executive salaries and fast cars. in these modern times, we have lost our ability for long-term thinking and our capacity to be patient. we have learned the hard way that we can't just put our leaders in a room, make them talk, sign agreements and hope for a better future, rights and freedoms. this freedom is not free. we have to invest time in it. leaders talk down solutions are necessary but they have to be in tandem with society bottom-up solutions, of building trust inside the two communities in a direct way. and this process takes time and effort. i don't know yet what is the best way of doing this. but i do know that our leaders have big influence on our

impression that dialogue is impossible and that is the reason i am here now. i and the other people you have heard today are very different from each other. we have -- we come from different places and different backgrounds and we have different opinions about our conflict and how we should resolve it. what binds us together is our willingness to get to know each other and believe the trust can be regained by this process. change demanned the qualities of youth, one great american statesman once said. we are the young generation and there comes a time that young people get tired, tired of stalemate. we, the young generation, respect our past but unlike some of our leaders, we don't want to live it. we, the young generation, want

to live for the future. this is why we, the young generation, are eager to start now. let us begin anew. gaining trust that will build platforms for future solutions. it's a long process, full with obstacles and it will not be finished in a seven-week program. nor it can be finished in three years. nor it can be finished in 64 years as we all have learned. but let us begin. we are here to take this first step toward it. now is the time to pack our bread and prayer and start climbing this shadowy mountain. we are here to take the first step toward this shadowy mountain, toward this path for new trust. we are experienced enough to see the obstacles in danger of this road but we're still young enough to dream, to believe the

change is possible and that fear can be defeated. thank you.[applause] >> thank you. now, diane will speak about how nsl came together. >> good morning, everyone. i have the daunting task of not only having to speak last this morning but also to have to follow these amazing interventions and the earlier speeches that you heard today.

everyone calls me d. i am from the south of ireland. i am a washington-ireland program graduate from 2001. which is the program that paul spoke to you about earlier which was actually my first time in washington, d.c. and the u.s. i am also a co-founder of new story leadership for the middle east. i undertook my initial visit to the middle east while working as a human rights adviser at the european parliament in brussels. today i have just met in the audience the director of the human-rights unit from the european parliament, mr. jeffrey harris, who we are going to somehow rope into supporting new story leadership.

during this initial visit, i visited israel and palestine, including gaza, a few weeks after the 2008-2009 gaza war.' the purpose was to assess whether there had been breaches of international humanitarian law by either side during the conflict. upon visiting gaza and seeing in the extended devastation to homes, schools, and factories after the war, i also remember noticing many smiling faces. kids on their way to school waving at our convoy, adults. at us from behind their places of business to salute our delegation. this is what set me -- struck me most. the incredible resilience of the people of gaza and their ability to get on with life because they

just have to. at the same time, i remember learning of the fear and aid that israelis live with every day as rockets were fired. this entire experience awakened in me a desire to find a way to continue to work in support of palestine and israel and young people in this important part of the world. with regard to my program experience over 10 years ago, i was felt a sense of indebtedness to the program. reconnecting with the director nsl on facebook in 2009 presented me with an opportunity to give back where returning to d.c. to help him

build a program called new story leadership for the middle east. i became part of a wonderful set up team comprising of those he met -- you met earlier and some in the audience today. and some who came afterwards. we came together as former alumni of sister programs to lay the foundations new story leadership so as to afford the same opportunity we have to our peers in palestine and israel. i spent the last three years living in beautiful jerusalem and working in mollah -- romah la supporting the security and

justice institutions. while in the region, i stayed involved in nsl and i hosted the director while he came to jerusalem to recruit for the program each spring. each year, the host a gathering of nsl candidates and alums in my apartment in jerusalem, right next to the famous ymca. it is here where i had the privilege of my home being the stage. there have been occasions where an israeli met a palestinian for the first time and vice versa. looking to my personal experience of having lived in a building in west jerusalem and having worked with many palestinian arab colleagues in counterparts, i reflected upon

the role of the international working in this important region. i have sometimes felt that my role has been to inform and sensitize one size about -- one side about the other. when my is really friends heard that i travelled there every day, they sometimes believe me to be crazy that i would put myself in such a perilous situation. that is until i share with them with a vibrant and progressive city it has become. when asked by my palestinian friends and colleagues what it is like to live and in west jerusalem, i tell them positive stories of my interactions with mike is really-jewish neighbors, my doctor, my dentist. my role has entailed humanizing one side to the other through my exposure to both.

but i would also like to admit that perhaps members of the international community take sides with regards to the conflict and become somewhat polarized by living in the region. when you passed -- pass through check points with ease because you are an international in its diplomatic vehicle and you see palestinians waiting to make the same transition in their own country, this is where some international's can become galvanized to sympathize with one side more than the other. but the boy or girl at the checkpoints is but a teenager being conscripted to monitor in such a way. i feel strongly that the israeli-palestinian conflict is far too complex and the

international community taking sides does not help. as the famous irish united nations in director once said to me, we must not allow the pendulum to swing too far to one side. several people have asked me in the past few weeks since finishing my position in the region whether i leave with any hope at all. there appears to be somewhat of an immediate assumption that everyone who departs the middle east does so dispirited and resigned. i tell them that i am optimistic for the future. my work did not revolve around the political situation between israel and palestine which leaves many despondent after many years a valiant efforts. my work was specifically geared towards supporting the

palestinian authority in justice and security institutions as they advanced for fully fledged statehood. i would say as with a number of my colleagues that i am very hopeful given the capacity i have seen and considering some of the wonderful palestinian individuals i have worked with of various human-rights initiatives throughout the past three years. i am now back supporting nsl and seeing an amazing some more stories unfold. connecting and living again with my host mother who first put me up in d.c. in 2001 is of huge importance to me and she remains one of the truly inspiring women i have met so far in my life. on a final note, what can be the future of nsl? we are now in the midst of our

third summer in d.c. with 30 exceptional young individuals such as those here who of all spoken today will pass through the program. what if we can bring out israelis and palestinians in even greater numbers next year? and they continue to graduate into an ever-growing nsl alumni network upon their return with a mutually reinforce each other, personally and professionally, to the benefit of new leadership in their region? what if an irish alum, a south african, an israeli and palestinian alum were to set up another program for young people in another conflict-stricken zone in the world to pay it forward to their peers and show the same solidarity to others once shown on to them? these our our humble hopes for

nsl's potential. this is my final note, once we finish this morning, if you want to speak to us in any way about how you can partner with nsl and support us and this inspiring group of leaders for the future, please come and talk to us. thank you for listening. [applause] but we will begin our second session. if you have a question, raise your hand. when you ask your question, please stand up and give us your name. >> my name is patty johnson. i was part of a group of people

of been involved in the israeli- palestinian conflict for a long time. in this group of perhaps 45 people, someone challenged us to come up with in 30-50 words, what is the palestinian narrative? how many of us can really in an elevator give that speech and be clear about the palestinian narrative? i have challenged other people and i have still not heard it. i would love to put the challenge out there to these brilliant young people and i would love to hear it. thank you. >> that is a very good question. i like it. >> as part of the palestinian heritage. palestine is a rich country and palestinians have an old history.

there is a label that says made in palestine. i think if you look around, you will find out more about palestine and i invite you to go and visit. if you go there, try to meet the people and see the culture. thank you. >> it is a question -- maybe this is the main objective of this program. for two people to meet on a safe ground and talk about those things because as i said in my speech, we come from different places and we see things differently. i think this is exactly what is beautiful about this program.

we can hear each other's stories and try to relate the is released to the palestinians and the palestinians to the israelis. -- the israelis to the palestinians and the palestinians to the israelis. >> the hope of our spring that has swept across the mediterranean region, had changed the way you feel about the work you are engaged in? >> i am very interested in the revolutions and the arab spring from tunisia to egypt to syria. i was talking to my father the other day. 10 or 15 years ago, it is hard

for an israeli to communicate with the palestinian. it is kind of impossible to see what he's doing from day to day. for me, every single day i go to facebook in the morning and i checked the jerusalem post and i see the times of israel. these are newspaper is directed to the israeli population. i go to the facebook and other facebook pages and i see the updates every day. social media has connected people in a very strong way. i found the nsl through a facebook pace. my friend's facebook group mentioned something about nsl and that is how i found these incredible people here. i feel that the new generation,

the way they can reach each other through different social media, they can relate to each other. a palestinian who is a good artist can check and is really -- can check an israeli good artists. i fill the strong generation will make a difference and get to know each other and realize that we're both human. and not at each other as a tank driver. >> to add to that, i must agree. what fascinated me about the air of the spring is not -- the arab spring -- i cannot know how it will end. i do not know if it is good or bad.

i am not in a position to say. i just think that the interesting question is how the arab spring was possible and this is exactly what walid said. i heard about this program as well through facebook page. the information was a different platform which we could talk to each other and argue and not agree and disagree and then agree a little bit more. but it is the platform for some kind of change to start. a platform that is being performed right here, right now. this is what is really interesting about it. thank you for the question. >> i would just add that having worked with palestinians for

three years while the arab spring was unfolding, i think that as it looked to those countries with the arab -- where it emanated from, those movements were mainly led by young people. i think that underscores that young people can have the power to change the regime's in their country to overthrow the dictatorship. that is the premise behind new story leadership. people can create momentum and chains. -- and change. >> i am a member of the board of new story leadership. along with paul and d and others, i have been involved since the beginning of the program. i would like to make a remark and invite the comments of the panel. it is an extension of something that guy said. those that have been interested

with this program -- with this problem for a long time are sometimes paralyzed by not having our being able to answer -- to imagine the answer. the same leadership being recycled within the country, but there is increased polarization and racism that is evidence in the country now. i think what these young people are demonstrating is that -- to all of us, that the important thing is not to have the answer but to engage in the conversation. to be connected to the process. and the answer will emerge out of that process. that is something that all of us can be involved in. not just them but everybody in the room. everybody watching this event. if you are curious about how you can be involved, go to the web site. find out how you can into the

conversation, how you can support as financially so we continue to bring people like this to washington year after year. there is a critical mass of people that have graduated that will announce in the solution and the answer. >> thank you. i think that there are no instant solutions. sometimes we try to get them. we try to get our leaders with some foreign country to be in the middle and put them together and try to make something quick and think that it can be over. it cannot. in every country, i do not think something like this has ever happened. you need to build trust. this is what we are here to do. we do not have the edges. we had them, we would not be here. i also think that bringing as

much people as you can do a program like this will do the effort but what we are going to do is take this and move it on in our societies because it cannot just be with people coming here because you cannot bring the whole population of israel or the palestinians here. each of us has different perspectives on how he will pass it over. i see it as a form of community development. this is how i think we should do it. i think this program allows us to do the first step towards passing it over. >> in the past stories, there were two stories -- violence and the illusion of peace. where people get at the table and are pointing figures at each

other. and trying to prove their point. what amazes me about new story leadership and what i wanted to be part of this, i looked at it as a movement, not as a program. when you are bringing people from different sides and me and guy hiking or doing some activity together, looking at each other on a personal level, we can actually talk about different issues. that way we can actually understand each other and not try to prove our point but to try to understand each other. i do not like the idea of dialogue or panel as much as i like the idea of neighboring and understanding each other through activities and things we can do together. i did washington, d.c. is the perfect place for that were you can go to the lincoln memorial,

jefferson memorial and see how conspiring these people are. and having a discussion there that will inspire us to have a better understanding for each other and talk about different issues. i am not here to normalize anything. i am here because i want a future for my daughter. i am here because i want to have justice and through justice, i will have peace. thank you so much. >> i am from the bush school of government at texas a&m university. how do you take the experience you have had on neutral ground and extend that back to people for logistical reasons. not everybody can leave and come to a program like this. a lot of people who participate are already a kind of predisposed to dialogue. how do you take it back to the

people who do not already have that perspective? walid, it seems like he came into it with the spirit of revenge and somehow he must a lot. >> that is a very good question. i am studying economics in college. i believe that there is a new generation in the middle east. the the the palestine, the have genius ideas. beautiful minds. architects, engineers. a lot of things they can do. there are a lot of them who are very productive. i think the best way to change things is through appreciating each other. one day i will go back to bethlehem and i will start a program for start-ups. kickstart, where palestinians put their product in a safe environment.

that with the palestinians and israelis can realize the humanity on each side and they can reach out in the world were a lot of people will be willing to support and help them. that way we will help the palestinians and israelis who are young stark their products -- start their projects. that is what i hope i will work on as an economist. we work in a different organization. americans for peace now, an organization. she is working for american for palestine. we are working on a project which is to create facebook page

to connect the media and facebook and twitter and different media to the nsl and the american task for palestine and americans for peace now. we can create a safe environment where people in the region can meet and talk about ideas on a personal level and people are living in the u.s. in different colleges will go and get in touch with them. we can create a little bit of difference. maybe a small change will create a bigger change in the future. >> i think that as walid as mentioned before, one of the most powerful tools we have today is social media. it creates people getting together, and creates community. cooperation and trust.

this can be translated to a lot of things that create the exact same thing we do here. it could be a corporation. i have experienced learning with different societies. it could be economical. corporations. all these things bring the society together. we have several people here that are willing and have a lot of ideas about how to make this social change. and i hope we will succeed with that. the key for the question. -- thank you for the question. >> guy, a few years back and let settle -- several students from the interdisciplinary center and

we were discussing things and one of the things that struck with the most for the vast majority of the group. for an institution that is politically oriented, i was intrigued by the fact that i was the first palestinian. one of the students told me there is a problematic issue of apathy in tel aviv and other cities in israel. on how you deliver the message back to israel, what kind of challenges to you, ross and terms countering the apathy and triggering interest and the social movement change? >> thank you for the question. in the last panel, we talked about the youth movement

uprising in israel these days. it started last year and is gaining force again now. the youth in israel are charging for = = to lead this country. we want to change things. we want to change our leaders. there is a sense that we get from our leaders sometimes that the dialogue is impossible. it is a big challenge. but i think that our generation is willing to take the first step and the generation doing it here with the israeli and palestinian issues and in the streets of tel levied now with a demonstration about social justice.

i think there is an obstacle to transfer that message into more israelis. what i think this is exactly what the last question is about. it is not is the -- not easy but is really youth are seeking and want change. i think we will see new faces and the next election -- in the next election. i hope i can come here afterwards and say i told you so but i believe that i work with a lot of young people in jerusalem. israelis that are very active in social rights and social justice. people from the hebrew

university. i believe it will be there and it will make this change. been living with my host family. i have a host a brother who is an israeli. since the first day i met him, he was telling me about his genius project he is working on. he is very passionate. the idea is bringing palestinians from college students and israelis, college students, to study resolution and negotiation at the university in the u.s.. i think there are problems but the amount of compassion and love for the project he is working on, i think he will succeed to overcome any optical -- any obstacles. >> thank you.

>> we will take a couple more questions. >> my question is an amorphous one. i am not sure either of you will have the answers. there have been in the past in my lifetime giants in the muslim world and the jewish world to of stepped-up a created the opportunities for peace on some level in some limited way. what do you see as having prevented in the last 15, 20 years, the emergence of similar giants who are willing to take the risks for peace? >> thank you for the question. i think that what has stopped

this emergence was the disappointment of future solutions not working and the thinking that we do not want to deal with it. we do not want to be involved, we want to live our lives. i think that there is something changing right now. we can feel it in israel everywhere. young people are getting much more involved. the attitude is changing. as i am trying to predict, i think we will see that there will be -- the seeds will grow into flowers in the next election. we are trying to move it forward.

you have these young people here that he met -- that you met, the ten people in this program that are dealing with these issues even more in their place of birth or where they are now. they are trying to make a difference. making a difference is hard. it is really hard and it is hard to see it, especially from here. but you will see it soon. i hope. >> you ask the question and the answer the question yourself. -- and you answered the question yourself. these giants that you're talking about. they lack the power that they the powerheuy like they have and they're willing to

have -- chase positions but they want to keep the giant power. they are not looking for new generations to take up the power. if we can give hope to the young generation, there will be muslims, jews, christians creating a new difference. >> having worked in in ramallah, i think the issue is accountability. sometimes you have a level of corruption in leadership and impunity. people stay in power. where i see hope this institution but the palestinian anti-corruption correct -- commission. these are institutions and organizations that are creating a greater sense of accountability for leadership emanating from the palestinian authority. i think those institutions will be very important in the coming years in terms of creating

greater accountability for leadership in palestine. >> any last questions? >> i have a bit of a different question. the first panel about how the issues in south africa are different than those in ireland, and israel and palestine. can you talk about from your experience here what you think are the most important lessons that we as americans can learn from you? >> i have been living in the u.s. for the last five years. i got my degree in economics from st. cloud university. i have been living with a wonderful host family in minnesota.

after i came the first year, i would try to go back and visit my family. my cousin was sick. my american sister started crying. she said if you go back, stay at home. do not go to the streets. there are some asat -- there are a suicide bomber is everywhere. i went there to palestine and talked to my mom. she said if you go there, stay home. what in the street with five or seven guys together. [laughter] my mom back home, all she sees is the american movies and it is all about gangsters and guns and killing and drugs everywhere. and my american sister when she

watches mainstream media, she never sees a palestinian family in bethlehem making cookies are going to the park. she sees suicide bombers everywhere. that is what the american media wants you to think and have a stereotype. the biggest challenge for the americans is to break the stereotypes and start looking at the palestinians or israelis or the south africans from the inside and try to understand their stories before they stereotyped them. >> i will add this small thing. we have and lot to learn from you and we are enjoying it very much and are meeting people and experiencing in hearing stories. i think what we bring to the table and least for this program is the real belief that we can make a change. to believe oyou

with us. that's it. >> that was our last question. thank you all for coming. newstoryleadership.org. paul would like to say a few words. >> thank you. i hope as you leave that your heart is in a different place then maybe it was when he walked in. i hope you will walk out with some hope. will you walk out with some hope? i want you to acknowledge the

people on this panel and the previous panel because it is the power of their spirit and words and hard and passion that has killed our hearts with that hope. can i ask you to recognize all the town us -- all of the panlists and speakers? [applause] as he did that, i should have asked them to take that to because he saw presentations today with it or five hours of workshops last night. the speech as you heard this morning are the work of the whole team. with the rest of the team please stand up and acknowledge your work? -- would the rest of the team please stand up and a knowledge your work? [applause] i also want to recognize -- you have seen meghan and patrick

leading the panels. we have an extraordinary staff this summer. it is the management team led by some extraordinary alums of sister program joined by our local american leaders and our irish and south african. some of these people have a working from the beginning. there are some americans in the foundation story of nsl. so would all the management team please stand up to be recognized? [applause] lastly, we are very honored to have this story beamed through c-span around the world so that the chance of these stories being heard not just in this room, it accelerates the power

of the stories to inspire. we want to be grateful to c-span and to all the networks to a covered this presentation today. and to say thank you to the school of conflict management who have for the second time invited us to use their name and facility. i am the chairman emeritus of the alumni association of these three programs so i can draw on almost 550 alums from ireland, south africa and the middle east plus all of these wonderful internes and student leaders from american university and georgetown university. these people made it possible and one of them is an alarm -- an alum. patty flannigan was on the irish

program in 2007. it is his connection that gets us this venue. thank you so much for allowing us to use your good will and your good credit for this operation for this program this morning. practice, where is fadhi? another graduate. thank you for coming and thank you for allowing this to happen. go to our web site, www.ne wstoryleadership.org. if you want to support these young people, this is the news story. we have to get with the program. dare we not. if these guys fail, we cannot afford to let them fail. if help is being reborn in you, it is because they are being

reborn in them. the believe in you. you inspire us and we have a lot of work to do. you take the lead. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> next, mitt romney talking about the latest job numbers. the president, on the economy speaking at a rally in pittsburgh. then bobby jindal and tim pawlenty in pittsburgh at the mitt romney rally. >> we pulled in that morning. we had more of the ship to appear in the middle of the

harbor. >> on the of that surround the al qaeda plaza october 2000 attack that left 17 dead and 37 injured. i return to my desk. there was a thunderous explosion. you could feel all tons of the destroyer thrust up and to the right. it was almost like we hung in the air. the ship was doing this ought twisting and flexing. we came back into the water. the lights went out. everything on my desk lifted up about a foot. i grabbed my desk in a brace positions until the ship stopped moving. but more with the former commander sunday at 8. >> the labor department has announced that unemployment remained at 8.2% for the month of june. with the was employers adding

just 80,000 new jobs. republican presidential candidate mitt romney says the report shows the president's economic policies have not gotten america working again. the president is going to up to take responsibility for it. here are his comments. >> good morning. we have seen the jobs report this morning, and it is another kick in the gut to middle-class families. it is consistent with what i have heard as i have gone across the country and met with families in their homes, in

cafes and restaurants and in break rooms. american families are struggling. there is a lot of misery in america today. these numbers understate what people are feeling, and the amount of pain occurring in middle-class america. not only is the 8.2% number unacceptably high, and one that has been in place for over 41 months, but in addition, if you look at the broader analysis of people who are out of work or have dropped out of the work force, or that are underemployed in part-time jobs, needed full- time work, it is almost 15% of the american public. there are those working in jobs well beneath their skill level, or working in multiple part-time jobs, kids that are coming out of college, not able to find work, veterans not being able to do anything but stand in an unemployment line. these are difficult times for the american people.

there are other things that are troubling, the manufacturing reports of the last several weeks. manufacturing is not growing as we would have expected at this stage. that is a trend that is troubling. the president's policies have clearly not been successful in reigniting this economy, in putting people back to work, in opening manufacturing plants across the country. the heartland industries, where manufacturing occurs, are struggling by virtue of policies on the part of the president of have not worked. the highest corporate tax rates in the world do not create jobs. the highest regulatory burdens in our nation's history -- those do not create jobs. trade policies that do not open markets for goods, particularly in latin america, do not create jobs. failing to crack down on china for cheating and stealing jobs has not helped.

the president's policies have not gotten america working again. the president has to stand up and take responsibility for it. he has been celebrating what he calls "forward." it does not look like forward to the millions of families that are struggling today in this great country. it does not have to be this way. the president does not have a plan, has not proposed new ideas to get the economy going. just the same ideas of the past that have failed. i have a plan. my plan would get america working, and will create jobs, but the near-term and long-term. it involves finally taking advantage of our energy resources, making sure we create energy jobs and convince manufacturers that energy will be available and low-cost.

he is opening new markets for american trade, particularly in latin america. the means cracking down on china when they cheat, making sure they do not steal our jobs unfairly. it means bringing our marginal tax rates down, and cutting out the exemptions and loopholes that are unfair, in many cases. in other cases, we are going to limit deductions and exemptions, so we maintain our revenue, but bring our tax rates down, so that our competitive and attractive. it means having a government that sees its role as encouraging enterprise, rather than crushing it with the burden of new and unnecessary regulation, and without regulations that have not been cleaned up in years. finally, in means having a health care plan that focuses on bringing down the cost of health care for american families, not just adding new expenses and taxes.

this is time for america to choose whether they want more of the same. whether unemployment above 8%, month after month, is satisfactory or not. it does not have to be this way. america can do better. this kick in the gut has got to end. i am happy to take a couple of questions. >> what about campaign planned -- [unintelligible] >> i put up 59 steps for how we get the economy going. i do not think i have seen any from the president that show what he is planning on doing. take a look at them. i think you will find them very specific. going through them one by one, taking advantage of energy resources, opening up drilling, taking advantage of oil, natural gas, coal, stopping these extraordinary regulations that are making those in the manufacturing sector feel they cannot rely on american energy.

opening new markets -- the president has not done that. in 3.5 years, no new trade agreements. cracking down seriously on china, going after them aggressively and saying, you cannot continue to steal our jobs. how you go across pennsylvania and ohio and not talk about manufacturing policies that make america more attractive for investment and growth? tax policies. i want to bring down the corporate tax rate from 35 to 25, and the individual marginal tax rate, 20% across the board. >> president obama said in an interview with a newspaper in ohio that you were effectively abandoning your principal in the form of the individual mandate you supported because of criticism from the right and rush limbaugh.

what would you say to that? >> i have spoken about health care from the day we passed it in massachusetts, and people said, should the supply of the federal level? i said the right course for the federal government is to allow states to create their own plans. the proof is that i was right, because obamacare is costing jobs in america. three-quarters of small businesses are less likely to hire people because of obamacare. you know the president has put his liberal agenda ahead of the interest of creating jobs. for may, the first job of the president has to be about creating good jobs for middle income americans. >> will there be deep spending cuts if you are elected? how do you reconcile and what you will do with the economy with getting jobs going again? >> changes to programs would save more and more money over time, so we are able to get

america to a balanced budget in eight to 10 years. not in the first year. by virtue of taking those cuts, and at the same time, taking the pro-growth steps, you are going to see the growth of the economy pick up about 4% or better. i see it getting better and better. >> it you have criticized president obama for taking vacations and often. you are taking a vacation right now, particularly at a grim economic time. >> i am delighted to be taking a vacation with my family. americans appreciate the memories they have with their children and grandchildren. i hope more americans are able to take vacations. as president, i will work hard to make sure we have good jobs for all americans who want them.

as part of a good job, its capacity to take a vacation now and then with their loved ones. >> [inaudible] you said there were a number of factors outside your control. why is that not the case for president obama? >> and the jobs figures, there are going to be factors that come and go that you cannot control. the things you can control, you want to give right. this is not a monthly statistic, or even a yearly statistic. we have looked up almost four years of policies that have not gotten america working again. his tax policies have not encouraged investment in america. obamacare has made it less likely for small businesses to hire. his financial regulatory burden made it less likely for small banks to make loans to businesses that need those loans to get started. his policies have not worked.

that is not just a short time. that is over four years. the american people have had a chance to see whether his policies will help america and help them, and help people looking for jobs, or whether those policies are counterproductive when they come to jobs. i think the evidence is in again and again. remember, the president, at the beginning of his term, predicted that if he was able to put in place his stimulus and his other policies, the would be able to keep unemployment below 8%. 41 months above 8% pretty much defines lack of success. it has been a failed series of policies. the prediction was unemployment would be at 5.6% now. instead, it is 8.2%. millions of families are struggling and suffering, because the policies of the president have not worked for them.

i represent a different course, a better path, one that has been demonstrated over our history to encourage job growth in our country. that is a simple strategy. keep the burdens down from government. encourage the dreamers to invest in america. we do that again, you will see america working again. thanks so much. >> good to be with you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

>> and president obama responded by saying the policies failed before. they would undermine the economy and weaken the middle class. he spoke about the economy in a rally in ohio. here is a portion of his remarks. >> learned this morning that our businesses created 80,000 jobs last month. that means businesses have credit 4.4 million new jobs over the past 28 months, including 500,000 new manufacturing jobs. [applause] that is a step in the right direction. that is a step in the right direction. but we cannot be satisfied, because our goal was never to just keep on working to get back to where we were back in 2007. i want to get back to a time when middle-class families and those working to get into the

middle class have some basic security. that is our goal. we have to grow the economy faster. we have to put even more people back to work. we have to tap into the basic character of this country, because our character has not changed, even though we have gone through some tough times. it has not changed what made us great. it has not changed why we came together in 2008. again, our mission is not just to get back to where we were before the crisis. we have to deal with what has happened over the last decade, manufacturing leaving our shores, in comes flat lining. all those things are what we have to struggle and fight for. that is the reason i am running for a second term as president of the united states. i want to move this country forward. [applause]

>> four more years. four more years. >> thank you. here is the thing. i told you this was a choice we have to make. what is holding us back right now is not that we do not have good answers for how we could grow the economy faster or put people back to work. the problem is we've got a stalemate in washington. fundamentally different ideas about where we should take the country. [laughter] we are trying to put congress back to work. and this election is about how we break that still might. the good news is, it is in your power to break the stalemate. it is in the power of everybody who lives in ohio, everybody who lives in poland, everybody who lives across the midwest. all those folks out there, whether you are punching the clock or starting a business --

you have a chance to move this country forward. but you have to make a choice about which direction we go in. my opponent and his allies in congress, and the special interests that support them -- they have a particular idea of how you grow an economy. it is actually a pretty simple idea. the basic idea is that if we spend trillions of dollars more on tax cuts, most of the benefits going to some of the wealthiest individuals in the country, so the average a millionaire gets a $250,000 tax break -- even if we have to gut education to do it, even if we have to cut job training programs to do it, even if we have to increase middle-class taxes to do it -- if we cut trillions of dollars in taxes and we eliminate regulations,

all kinds of regulations, the regulations we just put in place to make sure that wall street does not engage in reckless behavior that we have to bail out later, or regulation to prevent insurance companies from excluding people with pre- existing conditions from coverage, or regulation to protect consumers from being taken advantage of by credit card companies -- if we eliminate all those regulations and combine those with the tax cuts, wealthy investors and companies will do very well, and the benefits will spread to everybody else. that is the idea. i am not making this up. i am sure they would say it differently.

they would describe it differently. but that is the basic theory. you can go to mr. romney's website or look at the plan and the republicans in the house of republic -- the house of representatives voted on, and you'll see that is basically their plan. that is their vision. the basic idea is if everybody is on their own, doing what they do, everything is going to turn out just fine. now, it is a theory. [laughter] but i think it is wrong. i think it is wrong. [applause] i think it is wrong. and the reason i think it's wrong is we just tried it. we tried it in the decade before i took office. let us look at what happened.

we saw us fighting two wars on a credit card. the tax cuts turned a surplus into a deficit. and the lack of regulation resulted in what happened on wall street, and we ended up with the biggest crisis we have ever seen. it is not right. it is not a smart theory. if we had not tried it before, you might say, let's give them a shot. but we just tried it, and it did not work. if you look throughout our history, that kind of top down economics has never worked. we have to have somebody who is fighting for you, somebody who is thinking about how to grow the economy from the middle out, from the bottom up, not from the top down. i have a different idea. i have a different theory.

>> the president's bus tour in did in pittsburgh, on the campus of carnegie mellon university. president obama called on supporters to stand with him this november, so he can continue fighting to make their lives better. this is about 40 minutes. ♪ >> hello, everyone. i want everyone to know one thing. i will be two minutes. but i have just two questions.

the first question -- i know you are ready for this -- are you ready to win in 2012? [cheers] and the second question, even if you are not from pittsburgh or southwestern pennsylvania, but i know most of you are, how about those pirates? we meet here today in pittsburgh in a region that is known for so many things, known for winners, hard workers, and we are also known for history and a heritage of hard work and sacrifice. we know in this region generation after generation has had to struggle and face those struggles, but ultimately triumphed over those struggles, whether it was job loss or economic dislocation, whenever it was. the people of pittsburgh, allegheny county, and all of southwestern pennsylvania have overcome so much because they know that the only way is forward, the only way we should focus is on the future, and so the people here today know that in pittsburgh and allegheny

county, the people of this region did not wait for the future, they invent the future and move forward. there's only one candidate for president who is going to move us into the future and move us forward, and that is barack obama. let me conclude with a thought about the man and a person. this is a person of integrity, of a remarkable commitment to public service, he is a person and a leader of strength and compassion. he is a husband, a father, a man of faith, president barack obama. [cheers] ♪

>> hello, pittsburgh. it is good to be back in pittsburgh, pennsylvania. a couple of people i want to acknowledge. first of all, one of my favorite people, one of our finest united states senators, give it up for bob casey. i think we have in the house as well your mayor, and congressman mike dole is in the house.

the allegheny county executive is here, and we want to thank others for the free programs. great job. great job. now, first of all, before we do anything else, before we do anything else -- >> we love you! >> i love you back. let's also be clear about a very important situation that has arisen.

the white sox and the pirates are in first place. so we may be in the world series together. >> go pirates! >> we love each other and can root for each other until we get to the world series. then it's every man for himself. i know is hot, i know you guys have been waiting for a while, so i want to just say thank you to everybody for taking the time to be here. >> thank you! >> i hope everybody had a great fourth of july. we had some folks over for a barbecue in my backyard, had some fireworks. it was also malia's birthday on the 4th. she is now 14 years old.

i used to be able to convince her that all these fireworks work for her, but she no longer believes me, but she sends her love. michelle, sasha, and bo all say hi. we have been on the bus tour for the last couple of days. i have been traveling through ohio. we just came from beaver, pennsylvania, and everywhere i go people have said, mr. president, you are getting too skinny, you need to eat. and so we have been eating a lot, and i have had a chance to talk to folks everywhere i go. and people are aware of the fact that we are now in full campaign swing.

i know that sometimes modern campaigns are not pretty to watch because, basically so much of it involves millions of dollars on television, most of the ads are negative, and at a certain point people get discouraged, start feeling like nobody in washington is listening to what is going on to ordinary folks all across the country. but i have got to tell you, despite the cynicism, despite the cynicism and the negativism, what i think about is my first race, when i was running for state senate, i could not afford television

commercials. and michelle and i used to go door to door with fliers that we would print out at kinko's. we would march in fourth of july parades, and i did not have air force one back then. when i think about my first race, i think about why i got into politics. the reason i got into politics is because this country is blessed so much, and i thought about my own family, how my grandfather fought in world war ii while my grandmother was working on an assembly line. when my grandfather came back, he was able to go to college on the g.i. bill.

they were able to buy a home through the fha. then i thought about my single mom, because my dad left when i was very young, and how despite all the struggles, she was able to get a great education, because that is the kind of country this was, and she was able to pass on a great education to me and my sister. then i think about michelle, and the fact that their parents did not come from a wealthy family. her dad worked at blue-collar jobs at a plant in chicago, and my mother-in-law stayed at home until the kids got older and she ended up becoming a secretary, and that is what she worked at most of her life, a secretary in a bank. none of us came from privileged

backgrounds, none of us had a lot of wealth, but what we understood was that in here, in america, no matter what you look like, the matter where you come from, no matter what church you went to, no matter what region of the country, if you were willing to work hard, if you were willing to take responsibility for your life, you could make it if you tried here in the united states of america. and that basic idea, that basic bargain that says here we all deserve a fair shot, and everybody should do their fair share and everybody should play by the same set of rules, the basic idea that says if you're

willing to work hard and take responsibility in your own life, then you can find a job that pays a living wage and you can buy a home and you will not go bankrupt if you get sick. maybe you can take a vacation with your family once in a while, nothing fancy. you can go out, visit some of our national parks. i remember my favorite vacation when i was a kid come up traveling with my mom and grandmother, sister, and we traveled the country on greyhound buses, or trains, and once in a while we would rent a car, stay at howard johnson's. it did not matter how big the pool was. if there was a pool, i would just jump in. i was excited to go to the vending machine and get the ice bucket and get the ice.

then the chance to retire with dignity and respect -- that dream of a strong middle class -- that is what america has always been about. [cheers] that is what led me to get into public service. that is what led to my first campaign, making sure that access to that middle-class, that growing, driving heartbeat of america, that that was available for everybody. it was not just available for me and for michelle, but it was available for every kid across this country. and that is what led me to run for president of the united states, and that is what led me

to ask you for a second term as president of the united states, to fight for america's middle class, and everybody is trying to get into the middle class. >> four more years! four more years! four more years! >> you know, that idea has been getting battered a little bit over the last decade. part of the reason i ran in 2008, the reason you came together to work in that campaign is we had seen a decade in which those middle- class dreams were under assault, folks were working harder, but making less, the cost of

everything from health care to college to groceries to gas kept on going up, but your salaries, your wages did not. we had put two wars on the credit card, and it culminated in the worst financial crisis we had seen in a lifetime. so what we came together to do it 2008 was to start this process, to turn this country back towards those core values, to turn this country back to our best selves, our best ideals, and we knew we would not be able to do it overnight, because these problems were not created overnight. but we believed in this country

and we believed in the american people. we understood that this has never been a country of folks looking for handouts. but what they do want is this, a fighting chance. for the last three years, when some folks said that detroit should go bankrupt, we said we are betting on the american worker, we are betting on the american industry. and now gm is back as number one and chrysler and ford are back, and we have started to see manufacturing come back to our shores, more manufacturing jobs created than in any time since the 1990's.

we saw people go back and get retrained for jobs, getting jobs for the future, advanced manufacturing, advanced technologies, and new industries. we have seen small businesses who almost had to shutter their doors during the crisis, but sometimes the owners did not take a salary so their workers would remain employed, and they have been able to come back and are now starting to hire workers again. over 4.4 million jobs created over the last 2 1/2 years, over 500,000 manufacturing jobs. we have been fighting back, but what we all understand is that we have got so much more to do. too many of our friends and family members and neighbors are still out of work, too many

folks are still seeing their home property values underwater. so the question for all of you at this moment is, how will we determine our direction, not just for the next year or five years, but for the next decade, the next two decades? because this election is not just about two candidates or two parties. it is about two fundamentally different visions of where we could take america, and the stakes could not be higher. and ultimately the way we are going to make this decision is you. there is a stalemate in washington right now because there are different visions on how we should move forward, and you have got to break that

stalemate. let me briefly tell you what the choices are. you have got mr. romney and his allies in congress -- [boos] and their basic vision is one that says we are on to give $5 trillion of new tax cuts on top of the bush tax cuts, most of them going to the wealthiest americans. they will not be paid for, or if they are paid for, they will be paid for by slashing education funding or making college loans more expensive or eliminating support for basic science and research, the kind of work that is being done here at carnegie mellon, or making medicare a voucher system. that is one part of their plan,

and the second part of their plan is let's eliminate regulation we just put in place to make sure that wall street does not act recklessly and we can prevent a bailout when the financial system goes out of whack, regulations that protect our air or water, regulations that protect consumers from being taken advantage of. that is it. that is their economic plan. do not take my word for it. go on their website, the republicans in congress voted for this plan, and you know what? it is a theory, an idea of how you might grow an economy if we had not just tried it for 10 years before i took office. we tried it and it did not work. why would we want to go

backwards to the same theory that did not work before? they are banking that you do not remember what happened when they were in charge. the last time they were in charge of the white house and house surpluses became deficits, and job growth was more sluggish than it has been in 60 years. and we ultimately ended up with the worst financial crisis since the great depression. pittsburgh, i want you to know that i have a different theory. i have got a different idea. let me be honest, it is not a silver bullet, it is not going to change completely in the next day or week, but it moves us in a direction that is true to our tradition, by building not from the top down, but from the middle class up. it is a vision that says we do

not need to just bring automaking back. we can bring manufacturing back to america. we can invest and advanced manufacturing research like what is being done right here at carnegie mellon, and we can change our tax code to make sure instead giving tax breaks to companies that are shipping jobs overseas, let's give those breaks to companies that are investing right here in pennsylvania, in pittsburgh, right here in the united states of america. that is my vision for the future. my vision is one that says we have got to invest in our young people so they get the best education in the world. i want to hire new teachers,

especially in math and science. i want to keep on making college more affordable. we just prevented congress from raising student loan interest rates, and we need to bring tuition down and give americans the chance to study at colleges for the jobs in the 21st century, because a higher education is not an economic luxury, it is an economic necessity, and i am committed to making sure that everybody gets that chance for the skills and the training they need to succeed. my vision says we ended the war in iraq as i promised and we are winding down the war in afghanistan. let's take half of that money we're saving in war and use it to pay down the deficit.

let's take that money and start building broadband lines, wireless networks, and high- speed rail. let's invest in the basic science and research that helped to send a man to the moon and create the internet. that is what makes america great. we are innovators and risk takers. i believe in an america in which we control our own energy future, where we are producing more oil in the last eight years, we're importing less, but we can do so much more. we have got to bet on not just an oil industry that is already profitable, but we have to bet on a clean energy industry that

can create jobs and help our environment and free ourselves from dependence on foreign oil. i have got a vision that believes that everybody, all families who are responsible, be able to have the basic security of health care. [cheers] the supreme court has spoken. the law we passed is here to stay. if you have health insurance, the only thing that changes for you is you are more secure because companies cannot drop you when you are sick, they do

not have a lifetime limit where they can drop you even though you are paying your premiums. we have millions of young people who can stay on their parents' plan right now because of that health care law. we have got millions of seniors who are seeking cheaper prescription drugs, and if you do not have health insurance, we will help you get health insurance. i believe it was the right thing to do because that's part of making sure a middle class is thriving in this country. that they don't have to fear that when somebody in their family gets sick, that somehow they're going to lose everything they've worked for all those years. i make no apologies for it, it was the right thing to do and we're going to keep moving forward. that's why i'm running for a second term as president of the united states.

we need to deal with our deficit. we need to deal with our debt and part of america's character is the understanding the government can't solve every problem. we don't expect it to. some folks can't be helped if they don't want to help themselves. not every government program works. we've already cut $1 trillion in spending that wasn't helping families succeed. and we're going to do more but we're not just going to cut and balance the budget on the backs of middle class families, asking them to pay more taxes,

asking them to suddenly not get help when it comes to sending their kids to college. i think we can ask the wealthiest americans to do a little bit more. we need to have a tax code where sex aren't paying a lower tax rate than their bosses. there are lots of very successful americans who agree with me on this because they understand the only reason they scood succeeded was somebody helped them. didn't give them a handout but gave them a hand up. this idea that we are all in this together, that we rise and fall as one people, that theory of mind about how to grow the economy, we've tried that, too. we tried it as recently as when bill clinton was president. and you know what? we created 23 million new jobs.

and we created a whole lot of wealth and a lot of millionaires along the way. because that formula that says we're in it together means that everybody can do well. the reason we built the hoover dam or the golden gate bridge, the reason we sent a man to the moon or invested in the internet, we did those things not for any individual to become rich, we did it so that all of us would have a platform for success. because we understood there's some things we do better together. i continue to believe that. i think most americans understand that. that's the reason i'm running for a second term as president of the united states.

now, over the next four months you're going to see more money spent, these guys are writing $10 million checks. and, you know, you'll hear the same thing from them over and over again. because they know that their economic theory isn't going to sell. so all they've got to argue is the economy's not moving as fast as it needs to, jobs aren't growing as fast as they need to and it's all obama's fault. that's basically their only message. now, i guess this is a plan to win an election but it's not a plan to create jobs. it's not a plan to grow our middle class. and, you know what? i might be worried about all this money being spent if it

wasn't for my memories of previous campaigns. that first campaign i ran, the last campaign i ran in 2008, i've been outspent before. i've had a lot of money thrown at me before. but i know what i've learned? is that when the american people decide on what's right, when all of you decide on what's true, when you remember the story of your families just like the story of my families, all the struggles our parents and our grandparents and great-grandparents went through, some of them maybe came over here as immigrants and started working in the mines or working in the mills not always knowing what to expect but understanding that there was something different about this country.

looking out for one another. taking care of the community together. being responsible. having those old-fashioned home-spun values. believing that being middle class wasn't a matter of your bank account, it was a state of mind in terms of what you believed, that there were some things that were important and nothing was more important than looking after your family and being with your family. and caring for your family. when americans come together and tap into that spirit that is best in us, all that money doesn't matter. all those negative ads don't matter. you make change happen. you inspire each other. you inspire me.

in 2008 i told you, i'm not a perfect man and i wouldn't be a perfect president. but i told you i'd always tell you what i thought. and i'd always tell you where i stood. and i told you i would wake up every single day fighting as hard as i knew how for you. to make your lives a little bit better. to give you more of a fighting shot to succeed and live out your creams -- dreams. and i made that promise because i saw myself in you. in your grandparents i see my grandparents. in your children i see malia and sasha. and i've kept that promise. i've kept that promise every

morning and every night. i have thought about how we build america and how we build america's middle class and how we give everybody a fair shot and how we make sure everybody's doing their fair share and how we make sure everybody's fighting by the same rules and if you still believe in me like i believe in you, i hope you will stand with me in 2012. because if you do we will finish what we started in 2008 and this economy will be moving again and we'll remind the world just why it is that the united states of america is the greatest nation on earth. god bless you. and god bless the united states of america.

[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

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♪ >> louisiana governor bobby

jindal and former minnesota governor tim to lenty are on a tour, campaigning for republican presidential candidate mitt romney. the tour was scheduled to coincide with president obama's two-day campaign swing through those states. this is about 25 minutes. >> we're trying to bring a little balance to barack obama's message as he travels across ohio and pennsylvania. he's got a tour, a bus tour that you may have heard, he's dubbed it the betting on mesh tour. well, we should all bet on america this tremendously blessed and beloved country. but we shouldn't double down on barack obama, his presidency's a losing hand for america. and he's coming across the great state of pennsylvania and he's talking about what he can do for the middle class. but don't be duped again.

he made all these big promises last time, in 2008, to the middle class and to america more broadly and he's broken just about every one of them. now, let me go through a few examples with you. you know when he was running last time, he said that he wasn't going to raise taxes on anybody under $200,000 in income. remember that promise? and amongst the other broken aspects of that, the united states supreme court just said his individual mandate on health insurance is a tax and it goes right to the heart of the middle class and people of modest incomes. he broke his promise, didn't he? and then he became president of the united states within the first couple of months of his presidency. he looked the american people in the eye and he said, i'll cut this gar gant one federal budget deficit in half during my first term. you remember him saying that? the president broke his promise to america, didn't he? he didn't cut it in half. he's nearly tripled it.

now, the other thing he said is, look, if you pass my stimulus bill, that junkie, smelly, porked-up stimulus bill, he said and his administration predicted that unemployment could go down and would go down to 5.6%. well, they passed his stimulus bill and unemployment went way up, way beyond 5.6%. he broke his promise, didn't he? now, are you ready for a better president? barack obama has taken hope and change and turned it into bait and switch. now, he has waffled back and forth on a lot of issues. but he said just yesterday, i believe in ohio, to a local media outlet, that when you're president of the united states your words matter. well, here's his words on obamacare. he first came out when he proposed it and a little bit afterwards and said, it's not a

tax. it's not a tax on people. and then he got in legal trouble before the supreme court and the court system and he sent his lawyers into the court system once they found out they were in trouble on a legal argument and said, yeah, it is a tax, because they thought congress had broader powers as it relates to taxation, rather than the commerce clause. and then the supreme court said, it is indeed a tax. and now the president and his people have come out and said, no, it's not a tax. is your head spinning yet? he shouldn't be going to the places he's been on this tour, he should go to the waffle house and they should have the barack obama special. he's bounced around more than anything that you could imagine. we should have waffle man or waffle woman follow him in a waffle suit. he's changed his position so many times. [applause] this election just isn't about

the failure of the barack obama presidency. it's also about the men and women of this great state, the men and women of bobby's state and my state and all of america. i grew up in a meat packing town. in the 1960's. home of some of the world's largest -- america's largest meat packing plants, these huge, mammoth meat packing plants. my dad for a good chunk of his life was a truck driver. my mom for a good chunk of her life was a home maker. my mom died when i was in 10th grade. my dad got laid off noo not too long after that and in that chapter of my hometown when those big meat packing plants shut down, i saw the face of unemployment and dislocation from the economy and the effects that has on moms and dads and people and family, neighborhoods and communities. i saw that at a young age, up close and real personal. so when we talk about barack obama, we talk about jobs, these aren't just statistics.

they're not just 40 months of above 8% unemployment. they're not just 23 million people unemployed or underemployment or stopped looking for work. these are moms and dads and peoples whose hopes and dreams are tied up on whether they're going to have access to a job, because when you talk to them about what matters here's in pennsylvania, they talk first about faith and family, then they talk about their hopes and dreams for them or their children or their family. they talk about their hope to be able to get a house or pay their mortgage. they talk about the ability to get their kids to college and pay for it. they talk about the ability to be able to afford health care and some other things. all of that for most people requires that we have a job. and hopefully a good-paying job. and so this isn't about numbers. it's not about rhetoric. it's not about statistics. it's about whether we're providing the american dream and real hope and real opportunity to people through a

growing economy and the private sector and good-paying jobs for pennsylvania and good-paying jobs for america. president obama's had his chance. he got his policies enacted. the stimulus bill, the -- didn't work, the health care bill, i think an impending economic disaster and drag on the economy. he's had his other policies approved in many ways. it's not working. it's not just that his presidency has failed, he's failing america. and when he comes to pennsylvania today and he tries to make the case that it's working and you look the people in the eye who are unemployed, underemployed, you don't have to listen to barack obama or bobby jindal or tim pawlenty. go talk to people who are on the job or want a job. there's six million businesses in this country. 5.9 million of them have 500 employees or fewer. and if you go it talk to the

folks who are in those businesses, who are trying to start them or grow them, they all say it a little differently but they all say the same thing. some say the taxes are too high and we're taking them out of business. others say the regulations are too expensive and too heavy and they become too difficult to deal with. others talk about energy costs being too high and being too much of a burden on their business. others say these rising health care costs are killing them or dragging down their business as well. and they can't provide jobs, they can't grow their business because they say the burden from government is too heavy and they are pleading with the president, they're pleading with barack obama to listen, they're saying, please get the government off my back. [cheers and applause]

i don't know -- i don't know if he's not listening or he doesn't care or he doesn't understand but we've had enough of his teleprompter speeches, we've had enough of him flapping his jaws. we've got too many americans who are hurting, too many americans who are unemployed, too many americans who are underemployed and when moms and dads look at their young children like these young folks in the front row and they say, if you work hard, if you try hard in school, if you play by the rules, there's going to be hope for you, there's going to be opportunity for you and now this president is going to -- has got a country where half of the high school graduates, half of the college graduates are either unemployed or underemployed. it makes moms and dads feel like the stuff they're telling their children isn't true. and his hope and change words don't pay the mortgage. his teleprompter speeches don't

pay the grocery bill. his big rhetoric and extensions of his words don't go -- put gas in the tank of the car or the truck. we can't live on his teleprompter speeches. [cheers and applause] so i hope when he comes here today pennsylvania will look him in the eye and ask him those questions. and i think we should thank him for his service but tell the president, you had your chance. it's not working. it's time for a new president. now, mitt romney has got -- [applause] mitt romney's got a tremendous vision for this country. it's a vision not based on a european style of more government, everything, it's based on the american tradition

of limited government. he's got proposals to lower taxes for businesses and for individuals. he's got proposals to lighten the regulatory lood and modernize the regulations, to encourage business and jobs. he wants to get back to market and consumer-based health care, not government takeover of health care. he wants to get federal spending under control. that's the kind of direction america needs. [applause] he wants american energy. he wants to build the keystone pipeline. he wants to take full advantage of shale oil and shale gas. [applause] somebody who understands all that is our next speaker. i've had a chance to get to know bobby jindal as a governor when we were governors together. he is a fabulous man.

he's a fabulous leader. and he's got a state that was challenged in many ways under his leadership it has moven in the right direction. he's one of the smartest, brightest voices of the conservative movement in our country. he's significantly younger than me but he's already, like, been to the moon and back and he's invented stuff -- no. but seriously he is a tremendous leader, not just for louisiana but for america. and it's a delight to have him with us this morning. i think you'll see in just a minute the energy and the power and the passion that he brings to the debate and what he can do for his state and for our country. please help me welcome a great governor, a great friend, bobby jindal from louisiana. [cheers and applause] >> thank you all very much. thank you. thank you. thank you all very much. thank you all very much.

let's give tim pawlenty another great round of applause. what a great job governor pawlenty did. thank you, tim. you know, before i even start i just -- we're in this museum. we celebrated our country's birthday this week. and remember, july fourth is our country's birthday. i have young kids, i have a 10-year-old girl and 8-year-old boy, a little 5-year-old boy. they always remind me. every christmas we have a birthday cake for jesus. they say, if it's a birthday, you should have a birthday cake. [applause] july the fourth is a birthday. you think about the fireworks and parades, it's a birthday for our country. for the freest, greatest country in the history of the world, but i think we should give a great round of applause for the men and women in uniform who run towards danger and not away from it so we can live in this great country. [cheers and applause]

now, you know, it's not politically correct to talk about american exceptionalism. it's not politically correct to say what i've just said. that this is indeed the greatest country in the history of the world. you may remember when they asked president obama when he was campaigning, they asked him, what did he think? not when he was campaigning but when he was overseas, they asked him, what did he think about american exceptionalism? he said, i'm sure the british think they're exceptional. yeah, america is an exceptional country. and this is the most important election in our lifetimes. tim did a great job talking about all the broken promises the president has made to the american people. but when you really blow down this election, it comes down to one essential question. what is our vision for the future of this country? you say, we've got two candidates and they couldn't be more different. these are probably two candidates more different in ideology, in resumes, in practical experience than in many, many election cycles. president obama, he represents

what i call kind of the occupy wall street mentality. you know what i'm talking about. he gave a speech in ohio a few weeks ago, it was his big economic speech. spoke for about an hour, hope and change became divide and blame. it was everybody else's fault but his. and it was all about dividing us. it was all about trying to pit one group against the other. you've heard the occupy wall street mentality. you've heard that rhetoric. it's about demonizing those that have been successful. it's about dividing us apart from each other. that's not the america i grew up in. america i grew up in, we've always believed, you're not entitled to your neighbor's property. you don't have a right to your neighbor's car or house. the reality is in america, you're not promised equality of outcomes. that's not what makes america great. we're not like europe. we don't want a bigger, more expensive federal government, redistributing the wealth, dividing a shrinking pie. that's not what america's about. we don't want a president to manage the slow decline of this great country. we know our best days are ahead of us.

we know this country belongs to america, not china. we're a young country at heart. [cheers and applause] our best days are ahead of us. [applause] part of what makes us such a great country is it does not matter what your last thing is or the circumstances of your birth or race or gender. none of that determines your outcomes as an adult. what is so brilliant about america is that if you want to work hard and get a great education, you can do better than your parents. every generation of americans develop more opportunity for our children that we inherited from our parents. we must not become the first generation that mortgages are children and grandchildren as feature that does not leave them opportunities to succeed. at that everyone here has the same story.

your family at some point, maybe it is you or your parents for me, it was my father. one of nine kids. worked extremely card -- hard. everyone of us want that for our children. that is what is at stake at this election. tim talked about the promises this president has broken. he made a promise i would like him to keep. four years ago he said if we cannot turn this economy around in three years, i will be a one-term president. [applause] i want to ask -- i think every american voters should think about this. are we as a country and voters better off than we were four years ago because -- when he was elected president? i absolutely not. you saw the jobs report today. you heard the president say he

would turn around the economy. 23 million underemployed or unemployed americans. median family income has gone down $4,000 under his leadership. down for $200 in the state of pennsylvania. we cannot afford four more years of president obama get he thinks the private sector is doing just fine. what is his response to this recession? he wants to borrow more money from the chinese to create more programs will be cannot afford the government we have today. he promised to cut the deficit in half. trillion dollar deficit every year since he had been president. $15 trillion of debt. my little girl got home a button from school the other day. it sets please do not tell the president what comes after chilean. look at this obamacare program. he creates a brand new entitlement program.

look at the broken promises there. promises that you can keep your doctor and health care. as many as 20 million americans could lose their health care plans provided by employers. he promised to protect medicare and cut over $500 billion from it. raised taxes over $500 billion on obamacare alone. over 2000 pages. we will spend more under this law than if it had not been passed. another series of broken promises. what the supreme court did was awful. i think they have given congress' unprecedented taxing authority. this will be one of the largest tax increases on the middle class. i do not care if you call it tax increase, penalty, or fine. we just need to repeal this. this is bad policy needs to come off the books. -- this bad policy needs to come off the books.

[applause] i do not know about you -- when i go to the doctor, i cannot want a government bureaucrat telling my doctor how to treat me or my child. i want my doctor to make those decisions without the government anywhere near them. [applause] the final point is on energy. my state has suffered through this administration's policies. you want to talk about exporting jobs? we have seen -- he has declared war four years ago. they wanted to open a new facility in this country. 48% of power in pennsylvania comes from coal. he has declared war on oil and gas.

look what the shale has done. lower national gas prices. think about what that does to our steel industry. our plastics industry and fertilizers. if we have reliable affordable energy, we can compete with anybody in the world but if he continues to declare war on kohl, we will see more jobs could to china and other countries. he was elected to create jobs here, not in any other country in the world. [applause] i want to close on this. the president cannot run on his record. he cannot run on his broken promises. he is going after what he did in high school, what he did as governor. i'm glad we are not talking

about what i did in high school right now. [laughter] those facts are not true. governor romney's record of massachusetts' unemployment was below the national average. they gained jobs when he left. the per-capita income growth and grew faster than the national average when he was governor. one of the top-10 turnaround states in the country. i would compare those records in the day of the week. this election is about the future of our country. mitt romney understands we are not a great -- the founding fathers did not intend for our federal government to spend this much of the economy. he understands the future of america as not becoming more like europe. what is right about this economy is going to private sector, not the public sector. this is the most important election of our lifetimes. it is important for you and me.

we are mortgaging our children's and grandchildren's future. they are destroying our present. we cannot afford another four years of president obama and the liberal -- the most liberal president since jimmy carter. but at him to the 23 million unemployed americans. let's elect mitt romney president. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

cox after returning from campaigning in ohio and pennsylvania, president obama welcomed students to the white house where he signed the transportation and to the loan bill. he said it will keep thousands of construction workers on the job and keep to the loan rates from bubbling. last week, congress approved a package that funds the transportation project through the next two years and freezes federally subsidized student loan rates at 3.4% for one more year. the ceremony is about 10 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the president of the united states. [applause] >> hello everybody. thank you very much.

thank you. everybody please have a seat. i apologize for keeping you waiting a little bit. i hope everybody is staying hydrated. because it is hot. welcome to the white house. we would not normally keep you this late on a friday afternoon unless we have a good reason the bill i am about to sign is a pretty good reason. i want to thank the members of congress who are here. in particular, congressman mica his leadership made this bill to reality. [applause] we are doing this late on friday afternoon because i just got back from spending the past two days talking with folks in ohio and pennsylvania.

about how our challenge as a country is not just to reclaim the jobs that were lost to the recession. although obviously that is job number one. it is also to reclaim the economic security that some americans have lost over the past decade. i believe with every fiber of my being in the eighth strong economy comes from a strong middle-class. that means having a good job that pays a good ways. and home to call your own. health care, retirement savings that are there when you need them. a good education for your kids. so that they can do even better than you did. that is why for months i have been calling on congress to pass several common-sense ideas that will have an immediate impact on the economic security of american families. i am pleased that they have acted. the bill i am about to sign will accomplish two ideas that are very important for the american people.

this bill will keep thousands of construction workers on the job rebuilding our nation's infrastructure. second, this bill will keep interest rates on federal student loans from doubling this year. which would have hit nearly 7.5 million students with an average of $1,000 more on their loan payments. these steps will make a real difference in the lives of millions of americans. some of whom are standing with us here today. make no mistake -- we have a lot more to do. the construction industry, for example, was hit brutally hard when the housing bubble burst. it is not just about keeping construction workers on the job to a product that or already under way. we have got mayor villaraigosa here. they know how desperate it is to do some of this work.

i have been calling on congress to take half of the money we are no longer spending on more to do nation-building here at home. there is work to be done building broke -- roads and bridges and wireless networks. there are hundreds of thousands of construction workers ready to do it. the same thing is true for our students. this is vital for millions of students and their families but it is not enough just to keep interest rates from doubling. i asked congress to reform and expand the financial aid that is offered to students. i have been asking them to help us give to million americans the opportunity to learn the skills that businesses in their areas are looking for right now to partnerships between community colleges and employers. a higher education is the surest path to finding a good job and earning a good salary and making it into the middle class. so it cannot be a luxury reserved just for a privileged few. it is an economic necessity that every american family should be

able to afford. this is an outstanding piece of business and i'm very appreciative of the hard work that congress has done on it. my hope is that this bipartisan spirit spills over into the next phase. so we can start putting more construction workers back to work. not as though the upper already on existing products who were threatened to be laid off but also getting new products done that are vitally important to communities across the nation and that will improve our economy. as well as making sure that now we have prevented a doubling of student loan rates, we actually start doing more to reduce the debt burden that our young people are experiencing. i want to thank all of the americans -- the young, or the young at heart, who took the time to sit down and write a letter or type out an e-mail or make a phone call or send a tweet, hoping that your voice would be heard on these issues.

i promise you, your voices have been heard. many of you who believe your voice had made a difference, i want to reaffirm your belize. you made this happen. i'm very pleased that congress got this done. i am grateful to members of both parties who came together and put the interests of the american people first and my message to congress is what i have been saying for months now, let's keep going. let's keep moving toward, let's keep finding ways to work together to grow the economy and to help put more folks back to work. there is no excuse for innaction. with that, let me sign this bill and let's make sure that we are keeping folks on the job and keeping our students in school. thank you very much, everybody. [applause] >> alright, it's done. [applause] >> thank you, everybody.

[applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012]

[applause] >> if form on the feature of the middle east. after that, republican presidential candidate mitt romney talking about the latest job numbers. and president obama on the economy at a rally in pittsburgh. tomorrow on washington journal, an economics correspondent discusses the latest job numbers. a personal finance magazine that kept near talks about the impact of the dodd-frank act on debit and credit cards. we discussed in washington lobbying. washington journal, live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> for anyone who knew about it, where star wars' was filled. it became on the radar as protests began getting plant. i started taking the techniques i used in tunisia and improved upon them until my twitter followers became my newsroom. rather than being in a studio as anchors what would someone talking into an ear piece telling me that it pundit here or an eye witness there, i was sitting on a park bench with my phone, have been dozens of followers doing those roles for me so i could do coverage of these revolutions in fact check.

>> you can see that discussion on how social media is changing the way the media covers the news tomorrow night at 8:00 p.m. eastern on c-span. now it discussion about israel- palestinian relations and the future of the middle east. panelists who represent the use of israel and palestine shared their views on the ongoing conflict -- the youth of israel and palestine shared their views on the ongoing conflict. it was a joint host the program at the johns hopkins university. just over two hours. >> good morning, everybody. welcome to this wonderful occasion this morning.

our second conference. i know you have battled through stormy weather and power outages so fingers crossed that the lights stay on and that we are in for a wonderful morning. my name is paul costello. you can tell by my accent that i am not a local. i hail from australia originally. i am the proud director of a new story leadership and part of the team that helped to found it in 2009. i want to welcome all of you who are friends of the program and give special recognition to some of our distinguished guests that include members of the diplomatic corps, the palestinian delegation, members of the israeli embassy and members of the european union.

i think we have a representative from the embassy of china. we had some students here who are on a program studying in oxford and the university of edinburgh. you are all very welcome. in a moment, i will ask andy to come up to welcome you all. in partnership with a lot of key sponsors like some of the local churches, the state department and ourselves seem to have a common purpose about investing in a rising generation of young people and the palestinian territories and israel. i want to tell you briefly about nsl and where it began and what it is about and how it has worked for the last three years.

today we are specially privileged to have some of the founders of nsl here to tell you their own story. as you can tell by the name, new story leadership is about stories. for the last 20 years, i have been the director of the center for narrative studies which teaches people that stories are profoundly powerful in inspiring change. stories have power. stories shape identity. and destiny. when you know that and have some methods to deal with that, you can work with situations of change and the conflict. we think new story leadership is special because it is different. the stories, we say if you can

change the story, you can change the world. anyone who follows the middle east day-by-day will know that story is feedback conflict daley. -- that stories feed that conflict daley. -- daily. we use internships to be the catalyst to broaden the imagination of young people from the region to see that maybe there is hope. maybe there is another feature that can be imagined the -- beyond what they have dared to imagine today. it is a special program because it is not for children. these are young professionals. these are young people who are on the cusp of their careers. they already. already they are making a difference. our program is an adult program and it treats young people as responsible to dozens ready to ship a better world. we think our program is special

because it is a seven week summer that is only the beginning of a story. once they finish this program in september, they will join an alumni network and that is when the real work begins. you will hear more about that later in the presentation. i want to hand it over now briefly to our cosponsor, our key partner in this work who works for the u.s. department of state and members of the board met with him and some of the state department people two or three years ago to tell us about this work. they have been as supportive ever since. andy is a special advisor for use -- youth development. i would like to invite him to come up and say keywords. [applause]

>> good morning. i am the special adviser for youth engagement at the state department. i am incredibly excited on behalf of the state department to welcome you all and the rest of the class of 2012, the third installment of the new storage leadership program, to washington, d.c. and your summer programs here on the hill and elsewhere. i had a chance to meet a couple of the participants this morning and a few in the region this past december. it is an inspiring group. he hears some of the stories after this and the rest of the morning. we are happy to be a partner and contributor to this great program. we are thrilled to be a partner in building coexistence, capacity and furthering people- to people engaged in it.

we think -- we thank paul and the news story leadership team. we know it is a difficult time in the region but programs like these and speier leaders like you all and give us hope and inspiration that this feature will be much more brighter and prosperous. on behalf of the state department, i would like to thank you all and we look forward to a great morning of your stories and what is to come. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. send out or appreciation to your colleagues in jerusalem in here in washington. you will hear some wonderful speakers from the region and then you will hear some accents from ireland and south africa.

that explained the context for why these young people are also on the panel engaged in this conversation. even today as the secretary of state meets with other world leaders to discuss syria, every conflict in the world, while it is local, and packs and has an influence on the global conversation. when working with the middle east, it is not a novel idea but you can go to northern ireland and you can see people there who have had that same struggle. you can go to south africa and see people there who are on that same path. this program is not just an issue based program around the middle east question but it connects young people across the globe. one of the reasons we have some of these panelists from other parts of the world is nsl is also their story.

i have been the director of the center for narratives studies for 20 years, putting stories to work in peace education were 15 years ago, we had the chance to build an iris program called the washington-ireland program. you will hear from alum of that program. alums of the average program got together and created a south african program. you will hear from alums of that program. in 2009, alums of the irish and south african program came together with us with the inspiration to say young people from the north of ireland and the south of ireland, young people from the rainbow republic of south africa, they get the chance to be in washington to work in internships and stay with host families and work together as a team and learned the american story and learn to tell their -- their story.

why not young people from the west bank and gaza and israel? in 2009, that team assembled and put together a plan, which you see the outcome of today. some of the original planners are here today, taking a chance to look back on the baby they created and to look forward and dream of even greater possibilities. before i handed over to megan, i just want to say that your support here means so much to us and to the young people. you cannot create a new story unless you create a new audience. and you are that new audience. if you want to follow up on facebook, new story leadership/facebook.

if you want to check the website, brilliantly designed by michael, newstoryleadership.org. the story is unfolding. do not miss out. without any further ado, i would like to hand it over to mate again -- megan. [applause] >> thank you, paul. i am on the management team of new story leadership. i will be facilitating the speakers on this panel this morning. i would like to call nitzan regev-sanders to the podium. [applause]

>> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. my name is nitzan regev-sanders. i am an israeli and i served 21 years in the israeli defense department. my father was an air navigator in the israeli air force. i was born and raised in israeli army bases. i was drafted into the israeli army the day i was born. the bases were always surrounded by guards. i was allowed to be independent from a young age. the experience of growing up on army bases was also speckled with fear. fathers and friends around me died or were injured. i had a terrifying feeling that something horrible might happen to my own father. as a young girl, i remember

looking out the window of our small house and every officer who used to pass by killed me with terror that he might take the right turn and go on the pathway leading to my house, not on the door, and give me some horrible news. that not never came. it did make me realize in an innocent, childlike way, that the only way i could save my dad would be by creating peace. i used to think to myself, if only i had the chance to talk to people -- the palestinians and explain to them that we are actually good people. in the place i grew up, we used to hold weekly meetings of the u.s. movement. in one of the meetings, a guy who was 16 years old took duct tape and divided the room. she asked us to pick a side. she said, whoever believes that

land is worth more than human life go to the right side of the room. whoever believes human life is worth more than land, go to the right side -- left side of the room. even though i was 8 years old, the answer was obvious. he met life is more important than land. as i turned around, i was stunned. i was the only one standing on the side of humanity. that was the first time in my life where i took a stand. little did i know how defining that moment would come to be in my life. even though i was just a young girl, i was not ashamed of being the odd person out. i was proud of my choice. even as i grew older and became a teenager and me and my family moved out of the army bases and

moved into a small suburb, the israeli defense forces continue to play an important part in my life, as it did for many other teenagers in israel. when you go to high school, i presume you are preoccupied with grades to get into the best college you can. in israel, most of the israelis are preoccupied with israeli defense forces examinations. most of us are not encouraged to take football or cheerleading as their activity. we are encouraged to take combat capacity courses as part of our preparation for the army. in a way, we grow with the understanding that the army is our destiny and our goal. we are raised to be fighters like our fathers and grandfathers were. in fact, just before i came to washington, i had an interesting conversation with my grandfather in the back yard of my house.

he was sharing stories from the formation of israel and the fight for israeli independence. he asked me, what is the point of you going to washington? what the point of doing a program like nsl. i paused for a second and i took a deep breath. i said, you fought in 1948 to create a secure space for your children and grandchildren and the entire jewish population. i love israel just as much as you do. but the fight is not yet over. today, we need to fight to create a peaceful future for our children, our grandchildren and all human beings living in our region. my grandfather smiled at me. i think he understood. and now, i stand in front of you today a fighter, but a fighter from a different time.

i am fighting because -- so that my children will not have to go into the army when they are 18. i am fighting now so that my children will be able to play on the same playground as palestinian children. i am fighting now to create a better, brighter, and integrated future for israeli and palestinian societies. you might say i am is a dreamer. but i am not the only one. 18 years ago, when i was 18 years ago -- 18 years old, i know longer stand alone. there are friends i have gathered throughout my life, israelis and palestinians. it includes palestinians who are fighting for peace in israel. and it includes my palestinian hostess. we had been living together for the last three weeks.

we have gone through a lot together, including three -- two trips to the emergency room and and a long power outage. what binds us most is our -- and a long power outage. what binds us most is our fight for change. we will not quit until we ignite the spark of change. it also is standing in front of you today and i am in writing you, purging you to come and -- inviting you, urging you to join us on our side of the line for the ultimate fight for peace. thank you. [applause]

>> thank you, nitzan. now i would like to call yara owayyed to the podium. [applause] >> hi. what will you do if i burn your hair, my classmate asked? he had a lighter in one hand and a lighter in the other. i nervously laughed and told him, you will not burn my hair. but a second later, my hair was on fire. ladies and gentlemen, my name is yara owayyed. i am 24 years old. i am a palestinian citizen of israel.

during the armed conflict of 1948, we would not leave our home. we remained in the land that became israeli territory after the war. we were granted citizenship in 1966. my family comes from a small village in the north of israel that houses the jewish community that i was born and raised in. beautiful jerusalem. until the six bank -- xith -- sixth grade, i enjoy it -- i attended a jewish school. as a young girl, i was fascinated watching bill clinton on tv standing in front of the white house speaking to the enormous crowds of people.

reporters were so eager to capture a snapshot of this figure that radiated power. one day, when i was 9 years old, the same day that my hostess shows the side of humanity, i decided to play pretend. instead of having tea with my dolls and teddy bears, i turned the table into a podium. i remember myself standing in the middle of the room talking and laughing and smiling, imagine that my dolls and teddy bears were the crowds that stood in front of the white house. my mother came home to find her beautiful living room as the with my toys and tables. she was furious. she asked me, what were you thinking? i wanted to be like that man in front of that house who was white. a mother told me i could not be president of the usa because i am not an american.

little did i understand that the u.s.a. was not my country. in a later stage of life, i could become president of my land. i was unaware of the complications and the real meaning of being a palestinian inside the state of israel. a few months ago, while i was working at the ministry of justice in israel, i was engaged in a conversation with a co- worker. my co-worker jokingly said, when you become attorney general one day, you can change things around the office. an official told her, not to put ideas in my head. i was a strong level headed woman with both feet on the ground. i could handle the fact that we would probably not have an arab

attorney general. they are out life, i have struggled to overcome prejudice and discrimination based on nationality and religion. when i was 9 and what i was 17, i was faced with the cruel reality that being a palestinian in a jewish state meant being a second-class citizen. when i was 13, my house was appropriated by the state of israel to build a road. when i was 16, jewish classmate burned my ear because i was palestinian. but the young woman in front of you is nothing like the fragile high school student i was. i have graduated from law and i was the first palestinian israeli to be a clerk in the high justice department in the state attorney's office. i have passed the bar exams. now i am is studying at the law library of congress and i am attending columbia law school for postgraduate studies. despite the obstacles i have encountered, or maybe because of them, i did not give up and i never will.

i no longer want to be bound by my nationality. i no longer want to be treated as an inferior. i no longer want to feel like a stranger in my own land. president john kennedy became the first irish catholic to head the nation. president barack obama became the first president -- first black president. how many men and women of ability have been denied the opportunity to contribute to the american nation because of the color of their skin? i am where i am today because of my determination. people tell me that i cannot and i work hard enough to tell them that i can. i am speaking at a real podium

and not at my mother's table. today, i am speaking in front of you and not in front of my dolls and teddy bears. the slack asked not to be denied the opportunities i and so many others dream of -- i asked not to be denied the opportunities i and so many others dream of. we want to destroy the problems that unite -- focus on the problems that unite us. we want to shake a better future for society as equal human beings -- shape a better society for equal -- as equal human beings. those cripples -- ripple will build a tide. the tourist needs to be passed. there is no doubt that both my people, israelis and palestinians alike, are strong, determined to make the sacrifice.

let us sacrifice our burdens. let us use in this determination. -- use endless determination. we will make a change, so let us begin. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, yara. i would now like to introduce rikus wessels to the stand. [applause]

>> good day ladies and gentlemen. i feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to hear from our two speakers. i want to use this opportunity to relate my south african experience to the stories they told. first, i would like to introduce myself. my name is rikus wessels and i am a white african. i come from a farming family in south africa. born in a small town that means peace and later attended high school in the beautiful south african town of bethlehem. it is a part of the management team of 2012, following in the footsteps of the african co- founder. i am an alumnus of nsl. it is important for nsl students to get perspectives from other societies and other struggles. i was brought up in a traditional society.

my family has been in south africa since the 18th century. i may be white, and i know that white boys cannot dance, but i still feel the rhythm of the african drum. i may not speak with clicks, but i speak with the africans. in my voice. my personal story as a white african male does relate to yara's story. i also questioned my role in the land where i grew up. losing power led to some people losing their identity. my identity is not associated with power.

it is one associated with heritage. it is one associated with the land i grew up in. i could move to australia and canada -- or canada, but i do not want to because i feel i belong in africa. i feel my fellow countrymen be long in africa. it is the irresponsibility of the south african citizens to build a nation -- the response ability -- responsibility of south african citizens to build a nation. if we all had to go back to where we came from, we would all end up in the same place. we are all connected to time. we are shaped by change and then divided by conflict. after hearing nitzan and yara's story, i cannot, as a south

african, envisioned the conflict in the middle east. it is not my place to give a solution. but i can give my opinion. the struggle is not over. the peaceful transition to the new south africa is a transition still in progress. just like nitzan's grandfather's pursuit for peace or his people is still in progress. in order for south africans to shape the rainbow nation, they need to follow a road paved with hope, acceptance, and the forgiveness. they need to reach a compromise with their fellow travelers. the road to peace in south africa and the road to peace in

palestine and israel are completely different. although the conflicts differ, the main destinations seems to be the same. hope should play a role in building a road. and compromise should be used to determine the distance. people like yara and nutzan -- nitzan had already started the road to peace. they need to pick up a fellow travelers along the way. where is our men della? -- our mandella? the journey for peace in the middle east has already begun. the time to join is now. one of the most important lessons one can learn from the south african struggle is that one needs to have a vision of peace and one needs to reach a compromise with your opponent in order to reach a place of

peace. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, rikus. i would now like to call john callaghan to the podium. [applause] >> good morning, ladies and gentlemen. my name is john callaghan. i am a recent graduate of trinity college in dublin. i was a member of the startup team of nsl in 2009. i wasn't like it here to speak with you today on two point. firstly, as someone who grew up against the background of violence in northern ireland, i was asked to consider what

response or what inside our conflict could give to israeli and palestinian speakers that you see before you today. for nitzan to change her fight to a fight for peace. i was asked to compare the nsl of 2012 to beat nfl we hoped for and magic in 2009. first things first. i feel like this is an important point. mine is a good news story. i feel like today there are far too few of them out there. it is a good news story not only because today, on the island of ireland, we have

peace, but because the piece that has been secured there is a lasting peace -- peace that has been secured there is a lasting peace. last week, martin mcguinness, a former member of the terrorist organization, the ira, welcome and shook hands with queen elizabeth ii on her recent this it. each of them had plenty -- on her recent visit. each of them had plenty of reasons to avoid that gesture. as martin mcguinness which her safe passage and well wishes and she, dressed in her green down,

white gloves, and gold brooch, smiled back at him. it was clear that between them, a feeling of goodwill was there. i do not think any of us are naive enough to think that what happened in northern ireland can be applied to palestine. each situation has its own intricate and fragile complexities. each has to find their own route to peace through the kaleidoscope of road maps and peace plans, negotiations and handshakes. what one conflict can take from the other is a reason to hope. although that is possibly the least practical and maybe even most improbable lesson that someone could take from northern ireland, it also has

the greatest potential to possibly change the future incrementally and fundamentally. ours was considered the most intractable conflict zone in the world. today, it is a beacon for peace. there was nothing special, magical, or inexplicable about how northern ireland got to where it is today. that peace was built and it is still being built brick by brick on a foundation of hope and a willingness to work together. there is a well repeated phrase that is important to the core concept of nsl and its predecessors. it goes, never underestimate the transformational power of personal relationships. maybe the world will not pay as much attention to nitzan and yara as it did to martin

mcguinness and queen elizabeth. but theirs is a story just as no authority, just as important, and just as " inspiring -- just as important, just as inspiring. we must take hope because that is truly a relationship that could change the world. in 2009, as we work toward getting our fledgling program off of the ground, is this what i had imagined? well, no, because these speakers and this program and this audience of people who i hope a guest but we are all about is more than i hope for. and i still have a lot more hope.

thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, john. i would now like to initiate our first question and answer session of the morning. if you have a question, please raise your hand and someone with a microphone will come around to your seat. before you ask your question, please say your name and address your question to the chair person, which is me. so i guess we will begin now if anyone has a question. >> my name is ira. i wanted to ask the panel list -- panelists what they envision in terms of a political solution? >> that is the question that is on everyone's mind.

if we had the solution, we probably would have already gotten to it. we are here to try to reach some kind of understanding. i believe that only when we acknowledge and get the chance to know each other will we have an actual chance of making a solution. to be honest, i do not believe that after a handshake, if it will happen, the conflict will be over. it will still continue. only after the two communities reach the understanding that we are both here to stay and we have to create a joint future -- only then will we be able to reach a solution. thank you. >> yara?

>> as i said in my speech, it is a question of determination. when the two sides really want peace, we will create peace. our leaders have no kind of determination and no kind of desire to end this conflict. as i said before -- you have heard this metaphor. with a rotten salad, you take a bowl and put in all of the the vegetables you can think of. after five years after 10 years and 15 years, we still have the same salad. accept this time we flipped it a bit over. the prime minister becomes the minister of defence. -- defense. what we really need is new leadership and a new voice to make a change. >> i am with americans for peace. we partner with the american

task force for palestine in a program that dovetails with the new story leadership. we host the palestinian interns. both of the interns are here in the room. they are proud to be a part of this program. my question is a follow-up to the one that was asked. yara, how to use see the impact of the future and the resolution of the israeli-palestinian conflict on the state of israel? how will it improve? will it improve the lives of the citizens in the state of israel? >> thank you.

>> i would hope that when there is a solution and there is a new palestinian state, the state of israel will treat its citizens equally and i will not be looked upon as an inferior and i will be looked upon as an equal citizen in the state of israel. >> i have a question for nitzan. i'm penny mitchell. i wonder if you can give me some examples of what you can -- what you are doing in your fight for peace, concrete examples. and also, give us an assessment of how that fits into the general climate you see in

israel. is it a growing movement? is it a diminishing movement? your assessment of where that fits in the landscape. >> thank you. personally, my serious fight started two years ago when i joined a program that brings young israelis and palestinians together in order to study and live together for three years. that was the first time i was actually able to meet palestinians on equal ground and be able to talk to them. i live in london currently. i am also taking part in an organization called palestine place. it is an art gallery and i am and organizer for an organization that presents films about the region once every month. about the assessment, i would have to say that at the moment, i do have hope. i see people joining our

struggle. but at the moment, i see a decline in the left wing approach of the israelis. i see an up rise in violence and racism. i see desegregation between the two communities going farther and farther apart at the moment. i believe there will be a new beginning. the new generation will be able to put its boys -- voice out more and we will be able to convince people of the way we see things. >> i have a question for yara and nitzan. can you describe what is the most surprising thing you have learned about each other that will help you going forward? >> yara, would you like to go first? >> a few months ago, i got an e- mail from paul telling me how similar we were. i did not believe that.

meeting nitzan on the first day, i realized something was there. spending three weeks chatting and talking until late hours, i realize how much we have in common and how much passion we have to make our country a better place. there are some people out there who have the passion needed. our communities back home laxity enthusiasm to make change. finding this minority here is something that -- lacks the enthusiasm to make change. fighting this minority here is something that blew my mind. >> as you can see, she is quite small and cute and pretty.

but she is such a small -- such a strong woman. on the first impression, you did not release the it. she is so -- really see it. she is so strong and so determined. we thought we should start a new party in israel that would bring about change. what is surprising is our determination and also the fact that i met someone that i can feel like -- that i feel like i can cooperate with in the future. >> likewise. [laughter] [applause] >> hi. i come from the south african washington international program. my question is for yara and nitzan.

the single most important moment that happens with apartheid was in 1976 when the youth of the country said enough was enough and they stood up to the system. i see something quite similar to that in palestine. what do you think you need to do to get the units on both sides to have that 1976 moment -- youth on both sides to have that 1976 moment? what are your views on that? >> as i referred to in my speech, at the moment, there are tens of thousands of young israelis that are calling for social justice. at the moment, they are not referring specifically to the palestinian-israeli conflict. it does give us more hope that the young generation is putting itself out there. hopefully, as we get to have

our voices heard, we will have the opportunity to show ourselves as cooperating young adults. then more people are on the streets -- that are out there now. we just need to deliver the message and make them hear that message. we already have the group. we just have to adjust to the right goals. >> personally, i would like to add that after i finished my studies at columbia law school, i will go back to the region to try to bring change from down to the top. maybe one day, who knows, maybe i can become president of my country. hopefully. >> thank you for your time. i am from palestine.

just to follow up on your statement, nitzan, you said you are witnessing a surge in racism and violence. in palestine, it is similar. recently, i came across several articles that targeted programs of a similar nature. how do you guys experience that at all -- if at all and how did you overcome it? >> this is something that has come about a lot in this -- in discussions lately.

many people define it in different ways. if you define -- these organizations are perpetuating the conflict because they are built on it. i disagree with that statement. when i was living in israel, the conflict was normal for me. i was living my regular, normal life. usually, the conflict was far from sight and far from mind. once i joined these programs i am in, i cannot ignore it any more. i feel the urgency for a solution much more than i felt before i joined this program. that is what i think is the most important thing here. we are bringing the conflict in default lines, even for people who've lived the conflict -- to the front lines, even for people who have led to the conflict. >> we have the option to the this it down and wait for someone to be our mandella or you do something.

the fact that you have 10 people here today who want peace and change, that is much better than sitting down and waiting for someone to take the lead. [applause] >> i have a question about a gender gap. the leadership in palestine and israel is mail -- male and it is also older. the question is, is there a gender gap in palestine and israel? how do you intend to proceed. >> thank you for the question. in israel and palestine, we lack women and that is something that is sorrow for -- sorrowful. today, we have a few really strong women in the group. a lot of us are going back home

to lead our communities. i personally would love to be president. i just need the right -- to be one. i will be more involved in politics and create a party and run the country. join us. [laughter] >> i am the treasurer of nsl. you can tell i really have my heart in this. my question is to all four of you. some people might ask, why washington, d.c.? none of your issues take place here. what do you get from being here as opposed to in your own country doing the same thing?

>> we will start with john. >> one of the great things about these programs is that they don't take place at home. it take you to a place that is neutral, basically, which is the first step to open dialogue. also the fact that washington, d.c. is the powerhouse of world politics. it is where so many of the world leaders converge. it is a great place to, and to experience some inspiring people. we all take a lot from that in just seeing how diplomacy works firsthand. that is the best reason to come to d.c.

>> i have to agree with john on that. d.c. is the perfect international platform where we can go from our own country and come here to interact with leaders from all parts of the world. we can learn more about ourselves and the different peace organizations here. we have a chance to listen to other people's stories. it is an international platform for me and it makes it a worthwhile program to be in. >> i would like to add that being here in washington, d.c. away from the concerns of the conflict is amazing. it allows us to expand our horizons and meet new people. everything is happening here. just being here and having the privilege of sitting here talking to you and meeting all of the international people in the seat deeply enhances our leadership skills.

>> first of all, this is an international place. they have to go to the checkpoint. it is impossible. we need to have an international pleas we can be together. here we have a platform for american policy-makers. it is one of the most important things for progress. >> hi, i am in intern for the

summer. would you see yourself in d.c. -- in 10 years? the second question is for nsl. we have an israeli-palestinian on the panel. have you reached out to the palestinians from the west bank and gaza? >>thank you. >> i am the only palestinian israeli. four of my friends are from palestine, the focus is on the whole region as the diversity is amazing. you know where i hope to be --

>> i am not completely sure what i want to be what i grew up. i do believe that i would want to make some kind of change. i will follow up on the best direction and i could do. it is opening a new place which focuses on breeding children every six months or so or will it be to work with human rights organizations or with the u.n.. but ever i would feel best at the moment -- would arrive with the best at the moment to provoked -- promote peace in our region. >> i like to quickly say that we have someone from gaza as well as others across the region. they are sitting in the audience. i hope you will have a chance to

interact with them later on. >> i will be the recreational partner for the political party. [laughter] other than that i see myself working with into cultural dialogue. i spent the last seven months teaching in the former republic of georgia. it is amazing to see how someone's life can change when they meet someone from a different part of the world. that is something i like to be involved with. >> i would love to answer the -- into the irish diplomatic corps. in 10 years' time, i hope to still be involved with a program like nsl that is no longer dealing with occurring violence . we would like to move forward

to build sustainable peace. i hope these guys can work on this as well. that would be a great place to be in 10 years' time. >> we will only take a few more questions. so -- >> hello, i am mexican iranian. i know i am a citizen of the world. thank you very much for allowing us to know your stories. it is an honor for us, or a lease for me, to your stories. you are such an inspiration a group. how can someone like me -- i live in mexico. i came here for the summer. how can i help? how can people around the world

help with this issue? i have been following this for several years ago. it is important -- i have gone to congress where they were going to speak about peace. they end up speaking about how they do not -- they want to be continued to be divided. it makes me feel really small sometimes because the politicians are very hard minded sometimes. i want to know how can someone like me help and contribute to the solution? >thank you. >> if i can answer your question. i want to refer you to robert kennedy's speech. he was an american visiting south africa. there are some people that named their children kennedy or robert after he visited south africa

with that speech. it is about raising awareness and knowing that you are not small. by speaking up, you released a ripple that will touch another ripple and in the end, helped ignite the change. >> i will answer it in two parts there is a famous helen keller quote that says the world is not touched only by the mighty touches by the viewers -- he roes. each one of us -- when we push, we can to get a move the world. i like to add that maybe you would like to listen to die in's speech and see how as an international living in the region how she recommends. i would also add a small comment. thank you.

you spoke very nicely. i also see myself as a global citizen. i think another aspect in which you can take part in the solution is through social media. social media has so much power at the moment in helping resolve this conflict. there is the nsl facebook page, which can join. there are also different facebook pages and a lot of different other organizations that have facebook pages in which you can engage in conversations. it is all out there. just go for it. if you want, i will talk to you a bit more about it personally after word. >> the students also right -- write blogs during the summer. they are fascinating. >> i would like to add an incident that happened here a

few weeks ago. we were walking into a shop at the pentagon city mall. we were talking to the teller at the store. he told i am from bethlehem. a lady just said -- stared at him. bethlehem, yeah, that is somewhere in the middle east. when he told her we are palestinians, she said yes i know. that is a religion, right? please do not be ignorant about the fact that if you want to be involved, know the facts. get the facts straight. raise awareness among others. that is the most important part. this will be our last question. >> if people want to help on this particular program, go to our web site. it iswww.

www.newsstoryleadership.org. we need help. if you can help, that is another way to get involved. sorry for the announcement, but we really do need your help. >> thank you for that. now perhaps to our final question. >> i will like to ask the panel given that we are in d.c., i like to ask about the american role in the conflict. do you think the americans need to become more neutral? how important will that be in

finding a solution to the conflict to atta? >> you saw how fascinating i was was -- fascinated i was with bill clinton. it every time you see the news back there, the united states was always there. the united states is very involved in the conflict. when the american voters go to the polls, they do not think that their vote will tremendously affect our lives back home. this lady who asked if palestine was a religion, when she votes, she affects my future. i would like for the american people to be more educated. know that what we do here affects people around the world. people of the world are tremendously affected by the united states

>> this concludes our first question and answer session. we lack a 20-minute break. there are food items and water bottles in the back. [applause] >> good morning, again. and i hope all of you are ignoring the program as much as i am because i'm not megan siritzky.

my name is patrick omar. i'm interning on the management team for n.s.l. and i will be chairing this second panel. our first speaker is walid issa from palestine. walid. [applause] >> first i would like to thank everybody for being here. this is not part of my speech but i feel the need to say it. thank you, everybody. but i would like to thank jane and bob for their generosity and for their hospitality and thank you for accepting me as a son in your house. it's been wonderful and thank you so much. i don't know how much -- what can i do to appreciate that. and want to thank my host brother for being patient on me

when i'm rushing things, running around the house, getting things ready. thank you. salam, peace, shalome. my name is walid issa. i'm a palestinian from bethlehem. i grew up in a refugee camp with five sisters and three brothers. my family is very rich when it comes to care and compassion. even though we were not wealthy moneywise, i grew up in the beautiful land of the occupied palestine. i grew up loving my identity, my history and my culture. i can still hear the echo of my grandfather's stories about the glory of the olive trees in palestine. my grandfather planted a seed of love for my country that has grown to be a strong tree in my heart. it was a sunny, beautiful spring day in palestine when my

story began. on march 23, 2003, i was 16 years old. i was out with some friends at a coffee shop in the heart of the city of bethlehem. ky still remember the smell of the coffee mixed with the scent of spices in the air. you know? i was sitting next to the door when i saw a car. the car that i recognized coming toward the coffee shop. i realized that was my school teacher's car. him and his daughter, christina, were in it. my teacher had taught me most of my morals and values as a little kid growing up. naturally, without thinking, i ran outside to wave and greet him, outside the coffee shop.

all of a sudden a big white van swerved towards us from the other direction, trapping me in the middle. three scary looking men holding fully automatic guns jumped out of the van and aimed their weapons at my teacher's car. my heart was racing. i ran back to the coffee shop in panic. i peered out of the little window by the door. the three big scary men started showering my teacher's car with bullets. i tried to focus on the car but the bullets had smashed through the back window and slowly the faces in the car had disappeared. christina'see beautiful face anymore. all i could see was blood everywhere. in less than two minutes, the

scary men had left and the street became silent. i ran out of the coffee shop to go and check on my teacher and his daughter. but as a 16-year-old, i couldn't do nothing. i could do nothing but wipe the blood with my shirt. i cried. i screamed for help. for help. finally my dad came and got me home. on that day i stopped seeing bethlehem as the holy land. i stopped seeing palestine as a holy land. all i wanted to do was leave. run as far away as i could. i decided that when i grow up, i will get myself the biggest ak-47 in the world, big enough to kill those men who killed my childhood. my family tried to help me transfer all these negative energy and hate that i had

planted in my heart into something that would make me appreciate life again. through their efforts and through my school i was accepted into a program called art corps peace. at the beginning i thought it was going to be my last vacation. i will go to the u.s., spend the summer there and come back to my ak-47 for revenge. nevertheless, it was a critical point in my life. at arc, i met youth from guatemala, lithuania, african- americans, native americans and white americans. connecting with people from different backgrounds, i found a way to appreciate humanity and value cultures and ethnicities. as arc i understood how important it is to be open- minded and be educated, to make a real difference.

i did go back to palestine and i finished high school but because of the limited resources of my family, i couldn't make it into college at home. at arc i met kate pier who was so generous to help me get accepted into college in the united states. hosted me at her house and accepted me as her son. i recently graduated from st. cloud state university in minnesota. ever since i was a little kid, my dream was to graduate from college and celebrate my success with my family. unfortunately my parents did not get the visa to come to my graduation ceremony. my parents never got to see my school. my parents never got to meet my friends. and as a family-oriented person, i began wondering, is this really a success if i cannot share it with my family?

what matters more to me? my identity or my security? my heart is torn. i don't want my life to be in the hands of scary men in a big white van. i don't want my kids to grow up in fear. i do not want my kids to miss the sun because there is a huge wall surrounding our house. i do not want a 17-year-old kid on a checkpoint 20 feet away from my home to control my freedom. i also don't want to be silent. my place is not in the corner. i need to go back, i need to share my happiness and my sadness with my family and my community. i need palestine to be part of my daily life. i need my kids to grow up in palestine. i'm very proud of my identity. and i need my kids to know their history, to know their culture, share my beliefs and my

love for my heritage. it was the same -- it was this that made me realize, i need to do something, i need to go back and make my homeland a safer place for my children, my nieces and my family. i need to take a part in this and help create a new, better story for the middle east. my friends, i'm standing here today with these nine incredible people because peace is not god's gift on earth. peace is people's gift to each other. i'm here today with the new story leadership because in the near future i will start a family in the little town of bethlehem and one day hopefully i will have a daughter. my daughter will grow up with happiness and love.

my daughter will graduate from college. and i promise each one of you i will not miss her graduation. i will not -- i will be sitting with her mother in the first row cheering for her and cheering for her success. and i know, leor, my host brother, and his daughter will also be sharing her success. let us no longer be silent. let us no longer live in fear. let us no longer accept life that we have been dealing with. let us start creating our own lives, our own future. plato once said, we can easily forgive a child who is afraid of the dark. the real tragedy of life is when men are afraid of the light. thank you so much.

[applause] >> thank you, walid, for sharing your dreams and your visions for a better future. our next speaker is guy cherni. [applause] >> thank you, patrick, and thank you for coming. you have to excuse me for my accent. i'll try my best. thank you for being here and accepting me to your home. thank you all again. my name is guy and i'm an israeli. i was born and raised in the most beautiful place in the world, jerusalem.

descended of a family with both branches escaped extermination in europe, i live the duality of jewism. a secular, everyday life on the one hand, but with tradition as a strong guidelines on the other. for me the most important part of that tradition is the jewish moral code. which was famously summarized by the immortal sentence, love the other as you love yourself. the importance of this code dates back to my childhood. like my parents before me, i was brought up on the values of labor-oriented zionist beliefs. democracy and equality to all. as well as adherence to the jewish religion and the state of israel. the same value that our country was established upon by our forefathers. as a young boy, my parents sent

me to a unique school, a labor movement one. situated in a disadvantaged neighborhood. the main objective of this school was to integrate kids from this disadvantaged neighborhood with other kids from more privileged backgrounds. that came to this school for the same purpose. it was that school that i -- it was in that school, i'm sorry, that i first learned the importance of really getting to know other societies. only when you meet them, face to face, hear their stories and understand them, only then you can gain trust, cooperate and try to build something together. unlike many other israelis, the disadvantaged population from this neighborhood wasn't the only disadvantaged population i have encountered. as a young man in jerusalem, i

met israeli-arabs and palestinians on daily basis where i worked. a small swimming pool. we always enjoyed good relationships and mutual respect. i always took that as a sign of hope in a fruitful future. in the year 2000, with the outbreak of the second intifada, it all changed. suddenly the palestinians stopped coming to work and instead of the nice smell of laundry and sun screen that we had in the pool, a powerful sense of uncertainty permeated the air, followed by the scent of fear from suicide bombers and terror. the light of hope was shaded by a mountain of doubt and dread and as we all know, fruits cannot grow in the dark. trust was lost. a few years later, i met one of the palestinians that i used to work with. he was an undocumented worker in a restaurant in jerusalem

and seeing his recognizable tattooed arm serving my dish, pleasantly surprised me. we had a quiet chat about old times, old faces and old stories. we laughed a lot. he was the same person i knew and i was very, very fond of him. that unexpecd meeting made me think. i thought about our current situation and i decided that things can be different. i knew that there is still hope but i also knew that there are no instant solutions. we like those rapid solutions so much, though. instant food, executive salaries and fast cars. in these modern times, we have lost our ability for long-term thinking and our capacity to be

patient. we have learned the hard way that we can't just put our leaders in a room, make them talk, sign agreements and hope for a better future, rights and freedoms. this freedom is not free. we have to invest time in it. leaders talk down solutions are necessary but they have to be in tandem with society bottom-up solutions, of building trust inside the two communities in a direct way. and this process takes time and effort. then't know yet what is best way of doing this. but i do know that our leaders have big influence on our impression that dialogue is impossible and that is the reason i am here now. i and the other people you have heard today are very different from each other. we have -- we come from different places and different backgrounds and we have

different opinions about our conflict and how we should resolve it. what binds us together is our willingness to get to know each other and believe the trust can be regained by this process. change demanded the qualities of youth, one great american statesman once said. we are the young generation and there comes a time that young people get tired, tired of stalemate. we, the young generation, respect our past but unlike some of our leaders, we don't want to live it. we, the young generation, want to live for the future. this is why we, the young generation, are eager to start now. let us begin anew. gaining trust that will build platforms for future solutions. it's a long process, full with

obstacles and it will not be finished in a seven-week program. nor it can be finished in three years. nor it can be finished in 64 years as we all have learned. but let us begin. we are here to take this first step toward it. now is the time to pack our bread and prayer and start climbing this shadowy mountain. we are here to take the first step toward this shadowy mountain, toward this path for new trust. we are experienced enough to see the obstacles in danger of this road but we're still young enough to dream, to believe the change is possible and that fear can be defeated. thank you. [applause] >> thank you.

now diane will speak about how nsl came together. >> good morning, everyone. i have the daunting task of not only having to speak last this morning but also to have to follow these amazing interventions and the earlier speeches that you heard today. everyone calls me d. i am from the south of ireland. i am a washington-ireland program graduate from 2001. which is the program that paul

spoke to you about earlier which was actually my first time in washington, d.c. and the u.s. i am also a co-founder of new story leadership for the middle east. i undertook my initial visit to the middle east while working as a human rights adviser at the european parliament in brussels. today i have just met in the audience the director of the human-rights unit from the european parliament, mr. jeffrey harris, who we are going to somehow rope into supporting new story leadership. during this initial visit, i visited israel and palestine, including gaza, a few weeks after the 2008-2009 gaza war. the purpose was to assess whether there had been breaches of international humanitarian law by either side during the

conflict. upon visiting gaza and seeing in the extended devastation to homes, schools, and factories after the war, i also remember noticing many smiling faces. kids on their way to school waving at our convoy, adults. at us from behind their places of business to salute our delegation. this is what struck me most. the incredible resilience of the people of gaza and their ability to get on with life because they just have to. at the same time, i remember learning of the fear and aid that israelis live with every day as rockets were fired. this entire experience awakened in me a desire to find a way to

continue to work in support of palestine and israel and young people in this important part of the world. with regard to my program experience over 10 years ago, i was felt a sense of indebtedness to the program. reconnecting with the director nsl on facebook in 2009 presented me with an opportunity to give back where returning to d.c. to help him build a program called new story leadership for the middle east. i became part of a wonderful set up team comprising of those he met -- you met earlier and some in the audience today.

and some who came afterwards. we came together as former alumni of sister programs to lay the foundations new story leadership so as to afford the same opportunity we have to our peers in palestine and israel. i spent the last three years living in beautiful jerusalem and working in romallah supporting the security and justice institutions. while in the region, i stayed involved in nsl and i hosted the director while he came to jerusalem to recruit for the program each spring. each year, the host a gathering of nsl candidates and alums in

my apartment in jerusalem, right next to the famous ymca. it is here where i had the privilege of my home being the stage. there have been occasions where an israeli met a palestinian for the first time and vice versa. looking to my personal experience of having lived in a building in west jerusalem and having worked with many palestinian arab colleagues in counterparts, i reflected upon the role of the international working in this important region. i have sometimes felt that my role has been to inform and sensitize one size about -- one side about the other. when my is really friends heard

that i travelled there every day, they sometimes believe me to be crazy that i would put myself in such a perilous situation. that is until i share with them with a vibrant and progressive city it has become. when asked by my palestinian friends and colleagues what it is like to live and in west jerusalem, i tell them positive stories of my interactions with mike is really-jewish neighbors, my doctor, my dentist. my role has entailed humanizing one side to the other through my exposure to both. but i would also like to admit that perhaps members of the international community take sides with regards to the conflict and become somewhat polarized by living in the region. when you passed -- pass through

check points with ease because you are an international in its diplomatic vehicle and you see palestinians waiting to make the same transition in their own country, this is where some international's can become galvanized to sympathize with one side more than the other. but the boy or girl at the checkpoints is but a teenager being conscripted to monitor in such a way. i feel strongly that the israeli-palestinian conflict is far too complex and the international community taking sides does not help. as the famous irish united nations in director once said to me, we must not allow the pendulum to swing too far to

one side. several people have asked me in the past few weeks since finishing my position in the region whether i leave with any hope at all. there appears to be somewhat of an immediate assumption that everyone who departs the middle east does so dispirited and resigned. i tell them that i am optimistic for the future. my work did not revolve around the political situation between israel and palestine which leaves many despondent after many years a valiant efforts. my work was specifically geared towards supporting the palestinian authority in justice and security institutions as they advanced for fully fledged statehood. i would say as with a number of my colleagues that i am very

hopeful given the capacity i have seen and considering some of the wonderful palestinian individuals i have worked with of various human-rights initiatives throughout the past three years. i am now back supporting nsl and seeing an amazing some more stories unfold. connecting and living again with my host mother who first put me up in d.c. in 2001 is of huge importance to me and she remains one of the truly inspiring women i have met so far in my life. on a final note, what can be the future of nsl? we are now in the midst of our third summer in d.c. with 30 exceptional young individuals such as those here who of all spoken today will pass through the program. what if we can bring out israelis and palestinians in

even greater numbers next year? and they continue to graduate into an ever-growing nsl alumni network upon their return with a mutually reinforce each other, personally and professionally, to the benefit of new leadership in their region? what if an irish alum, a south african, an israeli and palestinian alum were to set up another program for young people in another conflict- stricken zone in the world to pay it forward to their peers and show the same solidarity to others once shown on to them? these are our humble hopes for nsl's potential. this is my final note, once we finish this morning, if you want to speak to us in any way about

how you can partner with nsl and support us and this inspiring group of leaders for the future, please come and talk to us. thank you for listening. [applause] but we will begin our second session. if you have a question, raise your hand. when you ask your question, please stand up and give us your name. >> my name is patty johnson. i was part of a group of people of been involved in the israeli- palestinian conflict for a long time. in this group of perhaps 45 people, someone challenged us to come up with in 30-50 words, what is the palestinian narrative?

how many of us can really in an elevator give that speech and be clear about the palestinian narrative? i have challenged other people and i have still not heard it. i would love to put the challenge out there to these brilliant young people and i would love to hear it. thank you. >> that is a very good question. i like it. >> as part of the palestinian heritage. palestine is a rich country and palestinians have an old history. there is a label that says made in palestine. i think if you look around, you will find out more about palestine and i invite you to go and visit. if you go there, try to meet the people and see the culture.

thank you. >> it is a question -- maybe this is the main objective of this program. for two people to meet on a safe ground and talk about those things because as i said in my speech, we come from different places and we see things differently. i think this is exactly what is beautiful about this program. we can hear each other's stories and try to relate the is released to the palestinians and the palestinians to the israelis. -- the israelis to the palestinians and the palestinians to the israelis. >> the hope of our spring that

has swept across the mediterranean region, had changed the way you feel about the work you are engaged in? >> i am very interested in the revolutions and the arab spring from tunisia to egypt to syria. i was talking to my father the other day. 10 or 15 years ago, it is hard for an israeli to communicate with the palestinian. it is kind of impossible to see what he's doing from day to day. for me, every single day i go to facebook in the morning and i checked the jerusalem post and

i see the times of israel. these are newspaper is directed to the israeli population. i go to the facebook and other facebook pages and i see the updates every day. social media has connected people in a very strong way. i found the nsl through a facebook pace. my friend's facebook group mentioned something about nsl and that is how i found these incredible people here.

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no society not pass to this

stage. what is interesting that the very moment he was writing the communist manifesto, a few miles away in britain, the salaries of the workers were going up rather than down. under marxist assumptions that is impossible, impossible. it was already refuted before he had read the book. it is possible because in certain economies we do not trade beneficially but create things that were there before. we create wealth that was not there before. the market reality is different. it is like a pie that grows. i do not know of any pie like that. i think the view of this, if you want to think of it this way, this is the market reality. the pine grows. i know you are stunned by this animation. it is the best i could do.

it helps to think about this. the pie is growing. this is a mysterious thing. how is this possible? pies do not grow. things like real estate and gold, the first thing is that if this is possible, what if somebody could get fabulously wealthy, not by taking money from someone else, but by creating wealth for themselves and others? steve jobs did not get rich by stealing ipads from homeless guys. that is not how it works. we tend to miss it. all economists know that free economies are going to create wealth over time. what i find fascinating is that is too economically but how is this possible? i think this is the point in

which the judeo theological tradition and the insights and discoveries converge. the biblical understanding, we are made from the dust of the earth and yet we have in us the very breath of god. we are created in the image of the freeze created. we do not create like god as. we take what god has created and we transform it into things that were not there before. god creates sand, and he grants to was the dignity to transform it. the fiber optics cables, the nervous system and the brain. we can transmit a thousand times more information and fiber optics cables made from the sand and we can transmit from a standard copper wire made from a thousand pounds of copper.

that is the image of god at work. what this means is there are certain types of economic systems that allow us to trade beneficially and also channel our god-given creativity to create wealth. i would not go so far to say as if intel's the free-market but i would say if you do not -- if you know what man is, you will want and defend economic systems that channel that creativity into greater things. i hope you find it inspiring because this means there is not this conflict between our morals and religious beliefs and the economic system we see that is under attack. people interested in social issues can work together around the same set of principles. those groups need to work together but the truth of the matter is a lot of people of faith to not know how to work

together. with that i went to introduce and james robison who has a passionate and inspiring message to give you. [applause] >> thank you. glenn beck texted me and said he did not connect with the people of colorado last night. did he connect with the people of colorado last night? [applause] it was impossible to see the audience. i was able to watch the people around me and i told him he hit a grand slam. he hit it out of the park. he was a statesman. i want you to know you are witnessing something that is

more significant than at first glance. i am a southern baptist, very conservative evangelist. jerry falwell you said the mass of us look like a bunch of liberals. -- you make the rest of us look like a bunch of liberals. last night, an evangelical introduced a mormon. i called him a friend because he is family. you just heard a catholic philosopher now followed by an evangelical protestant. what you are witnessing is what is essential to the survival of freedom as we know it. we have to stop the damaging division and dissension that everything within the capacity

in territorial creator god literally rebukes. god is calling for a unity, harmony, with the creator. as jay pointed out, we are born in the image of god, co-creator. we did not move out of the stone age because we run out of rocks. the very thought you can take a stand and create the greatest wealth in america with fiber- optic and microchips. we do not have an energy crisis, we have a crisis in with father god and we do not have a relationship with the family of the father. we have to get that healed. there is a prevailing spirit of divorce that is tearing marriage is a part, families apart, and a nation apart and we have to put a stop to it.

being created equal does not mean we are created the same. no two fingerprints the same, no tubing people the same. the new testament of firms that the family of fate is a body of christ. the world teaches what you need are connections. god says you need connected s. every part in the body connected to every other part. i have been pointing out to my friends come back and neck as part of the body to this part of the bobby, committed to the hand and hand works properly. the hand of god. the love of god. the compassionate care of god must be demonstrated by people who have submitted their lives to be father and creator, submitting to his lordship, a connecting to one another properly each one with a distinct roles but one connected together, we could put the arms

of our loving father around a broken world. let me say to every republican, you had better pull your head out of the sand and understand if you do not want your epitaph to be "thou fool" take the capacity god has given you to create prosperity and wealth and you focus on the needs of the downtrodden and overlooked. you had best learn to speak the language of the poor or they are going to destroy prosperity. we have been the most prosperous nation in history. we're going to either witness the rebirth of freedom and the restoration of the foundation upon which this nation was established to become the most benevolent in history, or we are going to witness the death of it. as ronald reagan said, if we do not remember we are a nation under god we will be a nation down under. god is calling us to a heart

harmony with one another that enables us to overcome all of the power of people. right now we are witnessing what appears to be a prevailing world view that is so upside-down, so inverted, with scott on the bottom -- god on the bottom, the philosophies of the men, socialism, liberalism, prevailing when they think they pull up, they continue to take us down. it is as though the chicago mafia has ended up in washington, d.c. [applause] i want to make it clear, i don't blame democrats or republicans.

the major responsibility rests on the shoulders of people who profess faith in a living, mighty god. will you stay at home and took care of business, somebody has given you the business. i can promise you that the enemy of faith and freedom, the enemy of anything that made our nation great, are walking in lockstep. the strangest, august bedfellows you have ever seen. but day march in step. just like the consuming locusts. they never broke rank, they walked together, they found the place is a vulnerability as these consuming the wealth of productivity. the consuming locust in america are the liberal, progressive

social lists. they are destroying the potential of our nation. [applause] there is only one way to stop it. rend your heart, not your garments. stop going through the motions of religion and get in a relationship with god. if you say you love god and you do not love your brother, you are a liar. the very fact i am standing here shoulder to shoulder, hart to hart, with a catholic philosopher, i don't even have a college degree. glenn beck and i are cut out of the same mold. i told you last night when i introduced him, i am the product

of a relationship forced on a home nurse. she concedes. in desperation she says i have to read of this child. the doctor said know. i lived in poverty without a father. i am typical in so many ways of the prevailing world view that is destroying our world. fatherless because people do not know god the father. they do not understand commitment. this room is filled with successive people. success is not our problem. thou fool, it is not your soul that is required of the. he did not say that because he has an abundant hard -- the abundant harvest. he does not say it -- he said it because he was so consumed with himself that he could not see

realistically the challenges which are opportunities. the wealth creators should all the poverty problem. don't give it over to the government. they cannot manage $1. things on your conscience because you give them 35% of your income to mismanage. stop doing it. do what it, cousins did in atlanta. rebuild the inner city. turn the place inside out. there is enough power in this room alone to correct our nation's course. there are enough christians here, and pull your head out of the sand. stand up on the rock of god's truth. worldgive the philosophy's prevailing your

future, your children's. we are robbing and stealing from children yet to be born. god forgive us all. i will not sit back and watch this nation died. -- nation die. i will use every ounce god has given me to a week and the church, to weaken the people of faith, to quit arguing, in answer to jesus prayer. that we be one with a father. and perfected in supranatural unity with one another. that is what you see with me and jay and glenn beck. you came to me, a mormon. it is like coming to a leper. but she loved me. you loved me. changing my life. fails.ver, never

hope does not ride into town on air force one. it does not ride on the back of donkeys or elephants. i know the bible says sunday malam -- someday the lion will ie down -- lie down with the lamb. my mother took me as a boy in poverty. i did not have an address. we got our mail at someone else's house. when i filled out the survey card at school, to tell about my

dad, i did not have one. i live in an alley behind someone's house, on a dirty river. i bathed in the colorado. i was a 5% white where i lived. a wonderful thing happened. no one taught me to hate opportunity and success. no one told me that the success was an enemy. i looked out from the mire in the misery of my empoverish situation in my dysfunctional family and i saw possibilities. i saw opportunity. i went to work at age 12, every day, for 40 cents an hour. no one told me that was too

little. no one told me i was too young. three months later the manager says you're the greatest worker i have ever seen. he put me over produce, he put me over gary, he put me over the stock department. he had university of texas students working in said son, i have never seen anything like you. i would like to run the meat department but you have to be 18. he said i'd that when you grow up you could manage the store just like this. my 12-year old line that had not been whipped into a world view, of my mind says when i grow up i could on the store. -- own this store. [applause] that is what must happen. the you know how we get the truth out? we become what jesus commission

us to be. we become salt and light. light to illuminate the way. how to put it in place and the proper way to go. jesus said, don't you hide that light under any covering our compromise. do not cover it with religion. let me tell you how many of my friends have allowed that light to be hidden. you have taken care of business in the light of your own situation and you have never gotten that on a stand to stand by their lights and become the city set on a hill that cannot, will not, and must not be hidden. unless we do that, what to jesus said about salt, you will witness. jesus said it -- what does all to do? it protects the precious.

it adds flavor. jesus said if the salt loses its of fact, it is nothing -- good for nothing to be trampled on and under the feet of men. we have hit and a light at church, at home, and we have enjoyed the blessings and benefits. we have not become the city they cannot be hidden. we are watching the sacred and precious trampled under the feet of god-denying individuals. the only hope is for us to come together and stand on our feet for god. he is the father. we are family. he is our hope in restoring freedom. god bless you. [applause]

>> wow, wow. james robison, "indivisible." robison and richards, a catholic-dave angelico, mormon, jews, americans of good will who understand we are a nation under god and we are indivisible and we will prevail. what an inspiring message. thank you, james. greiss see my good friend. -- thank you my good friend. we have people on this team. for the introduction of our next speaker, please welcome our dear friend ambassador marilyn ware. [applause]

>> i want to comment post script, it took me 20 -- 42 years to get there. remain resilient and determine in what she believed. john, good to be with you. some friends, all of us, it is my pleasure and will be yours, i am certain, to introduce a friend of her freedom, for next -- affairs expert and national- security experts. by way of background, you should know that kt worked in security for three presidents, and nixon, ford, and ronald reagan. she and i had a breakfast meeting this morning and we both commented ronald reagan's

foresight and vision and the encouragement she got in those early posts putting her on the track, making her a great american. those are my words. world,tion, in today's in a world of media and variations of media, kt has become the fox news national security in adel -- analysts, she appears raider li on fox news and fox business news. she is writing, communicating with every tool that you could have. she has a significant radio presence and i am sure you will recognize her having seen her there or her voice on one of these many radio programs. so now it is time to travel the world in a foreign affairs and come kt matters and wellcom

mcfarland. [applause] >> thank you, i want to tell you, you have no idea who this lady is. she should be speaking to you. she is a legend in diplomatic circles. she does not seen her on present -- praise as ever. she ran a major corporation and went on to be the ambassador to finland where they were not expecting a woman ambassador hand has continued to do great things for conservative causes and republican causes around the world. i am honored to share the stage with you. can you hear me if i walk over here? i also want to thank john andris because he guessed it. he understands that is not just

about winning enough votes to be president, and nafta votes to hold public office. it is about changing the way people think. i learned that from ronald reagan. he knew it was not enough to be president. he knew you had to get the support of the american people. we have had political leaders for the past decade who did not get that. that is why it is important, the work you are doing, to educate yourself and to be part of it. before i start, it is important, since i'm going to talk about national security, to ask if anyone who has worn a uniform in law enforcement or the military or his family member has done so, i am a navy mont. i like to thank my countrymen. please stand up. i want to give you a round of applause. this is awesome. look at this. [applause]

thank you, all. freedom is one generation from being lost. the fact that people serve the country and do so under difficult times, we owe you a debt of gratitude and i hope that the young people take the example from what you have done. i thought what i would do, and i will do it quickly, is to tell you who i really am. how many of you watch fox news? i am the brunette at fox news. [laughter] in that regard, i have to earn my keep every day. i want to talk to you about the national security issues we face today, the ones we will face four years from now, and then

the future beyond that. where are we today? what are the main issues we face? one year ago somebody had stood up here and said this is really great. the middle east is going up in flames and they're going to have new democratic governments. it has not happened that way. the countries in the middle east to help overthrow their dictators have come in the last several days, have voted to replace those dictators with islamic governments. particularly the case of egypt, is the muslim brotherhood. do we worry about them? they were founded dedicated to the extermination of the jews. there was no israeli state at that point but in modern days they have talked about the termination of the state of israel.

it could be like iran, they are very anti-american. or it could be like turkey. you do not know the direction. but as egypt goes, so will the rest of the region. it is the largest country in that part of the world. the elections that just happened are not a good indicator of where things are going. look at what happens with the arab spring. it is not where it's thought -- where we thought it was going to be. this administration has done a poor job of pulling the rug out of the country that was our friend. it started with iran. he gave a speech in cairo yes turn -- and he called out the muslim people to stand up for their rights and demand freedom. when the iranian people went to the streets, president obama

turned the other way, to the point where those people were saying obama, you have forsaken us. president obama did. he turned his back on the reform movement in iran because he thought he was going to negotiate with the iranian regime and convince them and charm them at of their nuclear weapons. it did not work that well. that is where we are there. the second thing, and this is the greatest threat to security, it ron's nuclear- weapons program. iran is trying to be a nuclear weapon states. they are working fast and furiously toward a succession of the nuclear-weapons and they want to expand. they want to be the most powerful country in the persian gulf. why? because that is the chokepoint of oil.