Nobody knows how to fight terrorism. In spite of having co organized the largest conference to study terrorism ever hosted, neither do I. Still I will make a statement about terrorism and Israel´s anti terrorist policies.

Terrorism is about angry people who hate the status quo and want change it through terror. The key to deal with terrorism is to focus on recruitement, in what turns a non terrorist into a terrorist. Terrorism is an industry that is fueled by anger. To make it harder for terrorists organizations to recruit we have to make it harder to make their case for anger. I imagine Hamas or Hezbollah recruiters as people who go to sympathizers and show them proofs that USA, UK, Israel, Spain, are countries who should disappear from the face of the earth. Some are convinced and the terrorist ranks are increased. So the more “proofs” we give these recruiters the easier we make their job.

I don´t think global terrorism will ever vanish. It will be more or less intense. I also believe that fighting terrorism is like trying to tackle a statistical process in which we don´t aim to stop it altogether, we simply aim to make it unlikely. Like many other forms of crime there will always be some frustrated individuals who believe that killing innocent people will somehow make the world the world a better place (remember Timothy McVay).

This leads me to a conclusion about Israel policies against Hezbollah and Hamas. Even though I am Jewish and have a natural sympathy for Israel I disagree with the Israeli invasion of Lebanon of 2006 and the current invasion of Gaza. I disagree on three grounds. One is that I believe attacks of this kind make the moderates in Lebanon and Gaza more likely to become radicalized against Israel. Secondly that I believe it is immoral to kill innocent civilians regardless of the fact that Hamas uses them as human shields. And thirdly I believe that just as Hezbollah went from being a minor force in Lebanon disliked by most Lebanese to being seen as the defenders of Lebanese sovereignty I see it likely that Hamas will emerge from this conflict as victors in the eyes of the Palestinian population. And while I think that Hezbollah has no reason to attack Israel nor hate Israel and should focus instead in making Lebanon a better country I do think that while I disagree with the methods of Hamas I and probably most of my readers agree that it is time that the Oslo two state solution is implemented. So far Hamas is easier to oppose because their aim is the destruction of the state of Israel but if their objective evolved to the creation of the Palestinian state they would be as legitimate as Fatah. And most of us want to see a sovereign Palestinian state alongside a sovereign and safe Israel.

Israel went into war with Hamas with a clear military objective, to make Hamas stop their rocket attacks on Israel. But these attacks that had not been lethal before the invasion are now both lethal and more intense making it easier for Hamas to claim that they are “winning the war”. Now when Israel negotiates a cease fire Hamas will be seen as victors by the Palestinian because they were able to fight until the negotiation, that they were not defeated just like Hezbollah was not defeated. And in the future it will be easier for Hamas to recruit members among the angry unemployed youth of Gaza.

What could have Israel done in both cases? More targeted and limited air attacks without a ground operation with an objective that is clearly military. If Israel invades Lebanon because they kidnap two their soldiers or kills 600 people in Gaza because they fire rockets without victims and in both cases there´s tremendous infrastructure damage the enemies of Israel will grow in numbers throughout the Middle East and around the world. If PR plays a significant role in conventional warfare in the case of terrorism it plays a crucial role and Israel is losing the PR game and so far not increasing its safety.

Three out of my four children are of Facebook age. I am friends with all of them. I consider that an accomplishment. In some cases I am friends of their friends and in many they are friends of my friends. But I have been asking around and found out that Facebook´s success has been annoying for teenagers who dread what their parents may learn about them on Facebook. But I guess this tension reflect real life tension. If you get along in real life you get along in Facebook and if you don´t, well, why should it be different in Facebook. Yes, I do admit that when I see pictures of them going wild at a party I occasionally wonder if they were drunk, stoned or under some influence but then the “observation” goes both ways. When others post pictures of Nina and I going wild at some party…they are there for my kids to see. It´s been over a year now of Facebook co existence and so far the experience has been a great way to keep in touch. Especially with my daughter Alexa who left Madrid to attend college at Columbia University. Through Facebook I find those irrelevant details about my kids lives that turn them into even more lovable people who are out there to have a great time. I particularly enjoy the comments that other kids make on them. When buddies publicly praise your kids on their wall or in their pictures I feel an unavoidable parent´s pride. I am also happy that Facebook has destroyed the culture of privacy. For years I have felt that the conversation on privacy among parents and kids was an excuse for lack of communication. And when the phone was the only tool you would not get a lot of the stories just because your kids may not feel like calling you to tell you some seemingly irrelevant detail about their lives. Still when you love them so much those irrelevant details become News. And that is the genius of Facebook, to discover that when love is involved those “news” can be more important than whoever Obama is appointing to be a new cabinet member.

When I moved to Spain in 1995, I was very surprised to see that my Spanish friends, who as most Spaniards nowadays are former Catholics, are all great promoters of the Epiphany. As a result while a minority of Spanish kids today go to church and hear about God, almost all of them are told about the existence of the Magi who bring them gifts on January 6th. For Spanish kids the Epiphany is more important than Christmas. When I asked a Spanish friend called Jesus (Jesus is still a very common name in non religious Spain, another paradox) why he told his kids about the Magi and not about God he said very plainly “because I don´t believe in God”. The real identity of the Magi, namely the parents, is generally revealed to kids only in Grammar school. So because both Atheists and Catholics teach their kids about the Magi but only Catholics about God more kids believe in the Magi than in God.

“In the general European euphoria over the election of Barack Obama, there is the beginning of self-reflection about Europe’s own troubles with racial integration. Many are asking if there could be a French, British, German or Italian Obama, and everyone knows the answer is no, not anytime soon”.

These are the words of Steven Erlanger in a brief article published in the International Herald Tribune.

But now, as I just visited my native Argentina – which has many problems, but fortunately not the nationalisms that my adoptive country, Spain, does – I am wondering if it would be possible for the President of Spain to be someone with the look of a foreigner, or more specifically, a child of immigrants.

Currently, immigrants comprise 11.6 percent of the population of Spain, which is practically the same percentage that the United States has: 12.9 percent. But despite the fact that their population percentages are basically the same, the difference in political representation between the two countries is abysmal. In the United States, minorities are better organized and better represented in the political system. Obama is not the only case of an immigrant or child of immigrants in politics in the United States; others include: the former ambassador of the United States to the United Nations, current governor of New Mexico and Secretary of Commerce Nominee, Bill Richardson and Antonio Ramón Villaraigosa, the current the mayor of Los Angeles.
In Spain, there are practically no immigrants or children of immigrants among the 200 most influential political figures.

It is possible that it will only a matter of time: the United States was founded by immigrants and their descendants. A fairly recent New York Times article provides an interesting look at the history of immigrant and racial identity in the country. Indeed, the founding father Benjamin Franklin himself was once worried about “swarthy Germans” outnumbering his fellow white Pennsylvanians.

In contrast, immigration is a recent phenomenon in Spain, having begun just a decade ago – two at the most. As such, at the dawn of the 21st century, the country finds itself stuck in the 19th or 20th when it comes to immigrant and racial integration, at least in comparison to the USA.

Ever since the Muslims and Jews were expelled in 1492, Spain has been a catholic, monolithic, and relatively poor country, and its people have emigrated to others. However, thanks to democracy’s comeback and its admittance into the European Union, the country has transformed itself and made progress in that aspect. As part of that transformation, Spain has received nearly five million immigrants in ten years, and the immigrant population has jumped from a mere three percent in 1998 to its current level of 11.6 percent.

The majority of immigrants are not yet able to vote in Spain, since they are still not Spanish citizens and thus cannot be represented in the Spanish government. This means that there are still very few Spanish citizens of immigrant origin. In contrast, think about the massive efforts undertaken by the candidates in the recent American elections to win the Latino vote. Regardless, in Spain, this level will grow in the next few years. It is very important to keep in mind that immigrants have twice as many children as natives, meaning that they make up 11% of residents but have 22% of the babies.

Could Obama’s election in the United States be influential and mobilize Spanish society and spark a demand for immigrant rights? Could the immigrants in Spain have their own Barack Obama?
To me, it seems unlikely.

In order for Spain to have its own Barack Obama, three preconditions that already exist in the United States would have to be met. One: that immigrants mobilize themselves and generate leaders to enthusiastically fight for the rights of immigrants and minorities (Spanish Martin Luther Kings, so to speak). Two: that the immigrant and minority movements grow more cohesive in order to demand their rights. And three: that voters in Spain be mature enough to vote for a child of immigrants.

I believe that the immigrant society in Spain has the ability to organize and mobilize through hundreds of organizations, but lacks leaders to represent the multiple interests of immigrants and be reference points for Spanish society as a whole. In order for immigrants to make that political leap, it is absolutely necessary to have leaders who mobilize, unite and demand minority rights.

As to whether Spanish society is ready to vote for an immigrant or a child of immigrants, to me it seems unlikely today. Spain lacks a lot in this sense because the level of prejudice is high. Just look at what Madrileños (natives of Madrid) and Catalans say to each other. It is hard for me to imagine that Spain could vote for a man or woman born to African immigrants.

A little while ago, I wrote an article in my blog in which I warned about the prejudice against minorities being demonstrated by Spanish high school students. It is hard for me to believe that, with these racial prejudices firmly established in Spanish high schools, this very group of young people will vote for a half-African or half-Latino president within a few years.

“In this election, the Americans not only chose a president, but also their identity. And now we have to think, too, about our identity in France. We realize we are late, and America has regained the torch of a moral revolution” wrote the French analyst Dominique Moisi in the International Herald Tribune.

I believe that it is also time for Spain to rethink its identity and, through an inclusionary campaign, better integrate its immigrants and open the doors to political process for them.

If so please contact me at martinvars@me.com. I have some ideas for you 🙂

I just spent the morning with the management team of Ydreams including founder Antonio Camara, Jose Miguel Remedio and Ines Henriques. This is a Youtube Channel with their work and here´s one of the many examples.

Ydreams clients include Nokia, Vodafone, Coca Cola, and many government agencies of different governments around the world. They are specialists in not online virtual reality that is mostly used in museums, movie theaters, public spaces and other locations where you would not normally expect Ydreams to be. Hence the positive shock.

And Ydreams is not only about amazing reality present now in exhibits around the world. Ydreams is also about future dreams. One of the most interesting part of the meeting was listening to Ines Henriques describing her research (team of 8 scientists) on non conventional displays. Yes, it is possible to have say paper displays. I saw one today. Still primitive but promising. Imagine packaging displaying information in electronic ink format. Or your clothes showing your friend´s Twitter updates. Is it possible to embed a display in a fabric? Or a battery in a piece of paper? Until today I thought it wasn´t.