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Planet Ventures Manifesto | |||||
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Please contact the following if you sense that you can be a part any one of these innovative, collaborative enterprises being shaped up to produce the ultimate good in the Middle East: Planet Ventures c/o John Henderson 1755 S. Naperville Road Wheaton,IL. 60187 W. 630.871.3307 |
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On page 374 of the 9/11 Commission Report it records Defense Secretary of the US, Donald Rumsfeld asking his advisors: “ Are we capturing, killing, or deterring and dissuading more terrorists every day than the madrassas and the radical clerics are recruiting, training, and deploying against us? (Or) does the US need a broad, integrated plan to stop the next generation of terrorists? The US is putting relatively little effort into a long-range plan, but we are putting a great deal of effort into trying to stop the terrorists. The cost-benefit ratio is against us! Our cost is billions against the terrorist’s cost of millions.” The 9/11 Commission responds, ‘We need short term action on a long range strategy, one that invigorates our foreign policy with the attention that the President and the Congress have given to the military and intelligence parts of the conflict against Islamist terrorism’. They are saying two things to Americans: First, we will run out of money before we get the problem solved and we will lose this war on Terrorism to the Islamicists like the former Soviet Union lost the Cold War to the US. Second, the only way to avert this certain disaster is stir up an invigorating foreign policy that starts with each and every American (YOU) and leads to a short term series of strategic and coordinated actions in line with a clear ‘road map’ to a strategic goal that will have the greatest impact for the least amount of money (best cost-benefit) ratio. Ironically, nothing in the report suggests any specific strategic solutions to the problem; just a desperate entreaty for someone to take their findings and ‘do something’ before we run out of money , or time. The 9/11 Commission continues by noting that the current American engagement in the Middle East is being increasingly resented and the commission notes that ‘local newspapers and the few influential satellite broadcasters –like Al Jazeehra- often (distort the understanding of Americans) and often reinforce the jihadist theme that portrays the US as anti-Muslim’. Recent opinion polls in 2002 found that among America’s friends, like Egypt- the recipient of more US aid for the past 20 years than any other Muslim country- only 15% of the population had a favorable opinion of the US. And the drop off in public opinion is even more pronounced in Indonesia (61% to 15%) and Nigeria (71% to 38%). Our emphasis on military and governmental involvement has not produced a core of strong sympathizers and friends who understand, believe in or are committed to our ‘core values’ However, the commission acknowledges that although a small percentage of Muslims are under the spell of Usama Bin Ladin’s version of Islam and that they are probably impervious to persuasion, there is a large majority of Arabs and Muslims that we can and must persuade (that it is in their best interests) to produce reform, freedom, democracy, and opportunity. Some historians, like Harvard’s Samuel Huntington, in his national bestseller The Clash of Civilizations, Remaking the World Order, argue that in the war of ideas and ideologies not all the ideas and ideologies that are different than ours are bad ideas. He explains the myriad and unique ways our ‘values’ were shaped in Western civilization that helped to produce these commonly held values. He cautions us that our blind or unexamined belief in our ‘manifest destiny’ to bless the world with democracy may be naive. In the end he states that we should humbly seek to establish some common ground based on a deeper understanding of the different cultures so that we could do ‘less harm’ as we engage, militarily, governmentally (nation-building) , and relationally - person to person, family to family, community to community, culture to culture. So, what is the hill and how do we take it in order to seize the moral high ground for the common good? Again, the Commission’s circumspect wisdom recorded on pages 376 to 379 guides us toward the ‘hill’ and sends out the clarion call for some courageous leaders in the government, in business and in the community at large to rise up with a brave heart and take this hill or these strategic hills in order to establish the moral high ground that seeks justice and fairness for both sides in the Middle East conflict, NOW! The writers of the Commission Report say that we must ‘aggressively seek to define (ourselves) in the Islamic world, (or) the extremists will gladly the job for us’. They recommend the following approaches focused on addressing the youth population explosion in the Middle East from Morrocco to Iran on the following strategic ‘hills’:
Planet Ventures’ proposed ‘tip of the spear’ ventures are a direct and wise response to these challenges offering the following offerings: 1 Bridges TV. A cleaned-up hybrid MTV style-Reality TV approach that involves a collaboration of business, government and community leaders, especially celebrities and other influential Americans in various industries (sports, TV, movies, etc.), in order to create an educational and inspirational dialogue between the youth of America and the youth of the Middle East and other hot spots on planet earth. The program will involve a forum of young people in the ‘West’ forming a cosmospolitan audience with a representative portion of Arabs and Jews as we begin the dialogue facing ‘sticking points’ in world’s most difficult problem, the conflict in the Middle East. Some strategic elements involve two things in style and substance: 1/ Creative communication strategies and styles:
2/ Dialogue v. Diatribe
> $280,000 for 4 pilots in Chicago in January of 2005 to be aired with marketing campaign to 73 million homes and public places in the Middle East broadcasting to a potential one half billion audience. Key to marketing is cameo presentations from Mel Gibson, George Foreman and Muhammed Ali, etc. Project that after the 4 pilots , several major global companies will donate or invest in advertising spots for this entertaining , yet educational breakthrough program that seizes the globalization opportunity for the common good. Through a dialogical approach with a reality TV style the creative communication will capture the attention of troubled youth in the Middle East who are desperate for empowerment to escape the hopeless despair that leads to suicidal terrorism. If funded, will expand the ‘pilot specials’ to a weekly program, initially with monthly sessions in Chicago doing 4 shows at one time per month. 2 Jerusalem Project @ Chicago Collaborating with the Musalaha organization of Palestine which has been working with Israeli and Arab youth to build bridges of reconciliation for more than a decade - along with other empathetic Jewish, Christian and Muslim organizations- we will bring 50 teenagers to Chicago and then other cities as opportunity permits. Community leaders in Chicago will collaborate to follow the model of the Ulster Project (Protestant and Catholic teenagers from Northern Ireland visiting the US) Students will come for 30 days and live in the homes of ‘sponsors’ who host them during their stay in the US. A creative curriculum developed in collaboration with Musalaha and others will be the basis for the student interactions with each other and with other American youth. This could create a national movement that leads to 500 Israeli/Palestinian kids coming over the US every year to provide a soul transfusion that could have tremendous benefit when synergized with ‘Bridges TV’ program above. > $220,000 for 50 kids at $4400 each will be supplemented by a process of attracting government grants from the Palestinian Authority, Israel, and US as well as PAC groups from Arab and Israeli groups including room and board from local hosts and donations from local business leaders in the US and Middle East. 3 Bridges to the Future / Champions OmniPleX (CPX) in Ramallah, West Bank of Palestine in which sports, recreation and culture arts programs build caring/mentoring relationships with Arab youth in order to build a bridge to the future by eventually creating clinics and then ‘charter schools’ that educate for life, not death; and help to create businesses (cottage industry to mid size) leading to more jobs for more people to have hope. Collaborations with other faith based organizations will be secured to provide the personnel to design and lead sports, recreational and cultural arts programs that could offer an alternative to the one-sided and virulent views of most Saudi funded ‘madrassas’ led by radical clerics. A team of educational, sports and cultural arts leaders will form the core of a new cultural ‘special forces’ group for the summer and for 1 year stints. Eventually a $5 million Champions Omniplex will be built in Ramallah with Israeli/Jew, Arab/Muslim, West /Christian funding as limited partners with the general partners giving guidance to the mission being formed by the Planet Ventures/ Champions Omniplexes’ indigenous leaders. > $300,000 for Land donation/purchase for outdoor soccer, lacrosse, volleyball, baseball, and basketball courts and the establishment of a matching gift program for CPX staff who will raise a portion of their funds for their summer or 1 year commitment to touch the lives of Arab kids in the headquarters of Arafat and the Palestinian Authority. 4 Jerusalem World Peace Festival 2007/ A collaboration of the Head, Heart and Hands to build a better world starting at Ground Zero, Jerusalem, the city of Peace. This event will be a synergy of Head (academic and theological dialogues concerning peace), Heart ( a musical and theatrical arts extravaganza ) and Hands ( a convening of the various groups that are doing innovative work in community building and nation building ). >$254,000 a year for 3 years for Development costs, Marketing and Promotion for the World Festival every year for the next 3 years culminating in 2007. 5 Abrahamic Peace Initiatives 2005 / A dynamic panel of grass roots community leaders who stir the pot of monthly dialogue at strategic academic institutions in order to stir up a movement nationwide attempt to heal the heart of the conflicts that are emerging within and between countries worldwide. A strategic leadership approach to train people in the art of spiritual diplomacy that is based on wisened approaches to peacemaking encoded in the hearts of man and the best parts of their holy writ and other wisdom literature. Experts in time management encourage the habit of making a list of things to do , prioritizing them and then sorting out the most urgent, important , strategic. The focus should be on the things that combine urgency, importance and strategic effectiveness. Next , they encourage a wise person to single out the most difficult problem and attack it first, then the others on the list will seem easy in comparison. Finally , there is an acknowledgement in the social science research that some knotty problems of personal or cultural behavior require a synergy of effort in order to break the habit and make a breakthrough to the freedom of a new way of living and perceiving. Although the incremental ‘peacemaking’ steps that are being taken all over the Middle East and in the US are helpful, it will require iconoclastic breakthroughs of courageous leaders from all factions to create a moral high ground position on common ground to pursue the best for all sides of the conflict. Planet Ventures’ is attempting to form a series of innovative collaborations shaped by effective business, government and community leaders locally and globally who are willing to address the greatest problem on the planet with the following enterprises proposed as the ‘tip of the spear’ strategic ventures to make a breakthrough in the Middle East.
The connections God has given founding leaders of strategic enterprises can help to create collaborations that can be formed into alliances that can have tremendous strategic impact to change the planet for good, and put many of us in position to ‘give an account of the hope that lies within us’. As Planet Ventures secures its foundational $250,000 a year commitment from key donors for the next 3 years, we hope to pursue leaders from the business world and seek out private and public foundation funding to provide seed money to launch these projects in the year 2005. The total budget being requested is as follows for 2004-2006:
1. Bridges TV $280,000 4 pilots and ‘specials’ and subsequent programs leading to corporate sponsors for weekly series. 2. Jerusalem Project $176,000 20 kids for 30 days including 10 day camp, transportation, room and board hosts in City, educational / leadership development expenses. 3. Champions OmniPleX @ Ramallah $300,000 Educational and Inspirational human development for orphans to all youth For 3 months and year round with male and female staff through sports, Creative arts and recreational activities with educational and leadership development for all. 4. Jerusalem Peace Festival (2007 proposed) $254,000 A world wide attended Peace festival using the Head, Heart and Hands to Create a world where people walk humbly, love mercy and do justice.
Monthly strategic dialogues by charismatic community leaders who present at key academic institutions to stir up a movement of invigorate students and other emerging leaders to create an invigorated group of citizens committed to an effective foreign policy that starts at home. TOTAL (Each year 2004,2005,2006) $1,450,000 |
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