Can positivity stop a war?

by importantly trivial

My name is Lauren and I’m a 22 year old student at the IDC in Herzliya. I’m originally from London but have been living in Israel for the past 3 years.

On a sunny Friday in Tel Aviv, a few dozen Israelis gathered on the beautiful Rothschild Boulevard to shoot a video to be posted on YouTube. It was the latest effort in the “Israel Loves Iran” campaign that Israeli graphic designer Ronny Edry and his wife, Michal Tamirm, launched last week. The indie marketing campaign is an outreach initiative aiming to bridge the sociopolitical divide between Israel and Iran by sending out simple messages of love to show the solidarity between the civilians who refuse to follow their leaders into war.

Just like the Kony 2012 documentary, I believe that this campaign seems to have found a unified voice in the unlikeliest of places. It is spreading rapidly into cyberspace and engaging people from different countries worldwide. Although the campaign organizers have not yet set an agenda, there is planned to be a major anti-war demonstration in Israel on Saturday, which shows that this campaign may rightfully be working.

I have been living in Israel for the past 3 and a half years, and every single spring, friends, relatives and (shamefully) myself included say, “this summer, there willdefinitely be a war with Iran.” It has never been the case of an “if,” but more of a “when.” Although no one wanted/ wants war, people never really discuss how we might prevent it.. until this campaign came along!

I have been thinking a lot about what makes this campaign so powerful and why people have been responding so positively towards it. Of course, there are many reasons but I think these might be some of the strongest:
Empowerment. Individuals feel empowered by the message and the hope that they might actually be able to prevent war between the two countries.
The truth. No one wants the war, so why does it have to happen?
The humanity of it all. Individuals realizing that they might not be so different as they share a common goal- peace.

I know that I am a sucker for positivity and that I always see the glass as being ‘half full’ but I really think that the more people that jump on the love bandwagon, the better! So, start spreading the love people.

I would love to hear what you think about the “Israel Loves Iran” campaign, so please feel free to comment. And if you want to support the cause, Like their Facebook page.