Forget two states, forget one state – let’s do “Face-state”

Ami Kaufman By Ami Kaufman December 10, 2010 | Edit
An interesting graph that brought a smile to my face. Call me naive, but I’m a sucker for good news

Thanks to a Facebook friend I stumbled on to an interesting blog, which linked to a very interesting project that a lab at Stanford University is running.

Facebook is taking part in this project, and the graph below shows some very interesting numbers about connections between people of different countries, religions and political affiliations.

Forget two states, forget one state - let's do
Happy numbers on Facebook

As you can see, over 18,000 connections were made between Israelis and Palestinians in the last 24 hours. 18,000!!!

Sorry, I just think that’s amazing. I couldn’t help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

The Stanford lab, run by Dr. BJ Fogg, is working on bringing about peace through technology. Here’s an excerpt from Fogg’s personal blog (my bold):

Perhaps the most unusual work I’m doing these days is Peace Innovation. In a big step forward, my lab has spun out the Peace Innovation Lab at Stanford. The vision is to inspire people to use the power of innovation to create a substantially more peaceful world. The time frame: 30 years. This is an ambitious vision, but I believe it is entirely possible. But it’s not just us working alone. We’ve helped other universities start Peace Innovation Labs. And that’s important because achieving substantial peace in 30 years will require thousands of innovations from around the world. The good news: Today’s new technologies can create peace in ways never before possible.
Definitely something I want to read up on. Could technology – and Facebook – solve all our problems? And in 30 years?!?!?

(h/t Roi Ben Yehuda)

Ami Kaufman

Ami Kaufman was chief night editor for Haaretz, for the prominent Israeli financial daily Calcalist, and correspondent on Israeli affairs for 93.6 RAM FM, a joint Palestinian-Israel radio station. His interest in food and cooking led to culinary studies at the "Israeli CIA" (Tadmor, Herzliya) and a brief stint in the restaurant business. Born in Tel Aviv, Ami lives in Bat Yam with his wife and two daughters. In his spare time he blogs at Half & Half.

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