Hello, welcome to this podcast called Finding Inspiration. It's a 20 or so minute weekly podcast where we interview someone with an amazing story. After the show, I know you're gonna feel energized, invigorated, and inspired. I'm Jennifer Weisman. Welcome to Finding Inspiration. Today's episode is about surfing. Yes, surfing can be inspirational. That is exactly where my next guest comes into this conversation. Arthur Rush goin. He's the co-founder of Surfing for Peace. Their mission is to build bonds and friendship between Arab and Jew through the mutual love and sport of surfing. In 20 0 5, Israel left Gaza and in 20 0 7, Surfing for Peace made its first delivery of surfboards into Gaza. Take a listen.
The dream is just to connect a group of surfers that are considered to be enemies and go surf together. Of course, I'm not gonna bring peace, but I did bring peace to our little micro world for one second. We've done so many amazing projects like surf trips in with mixed populations from Gaza, from from Lebanon, Tunisia from Algeria, Moroccans, and Israeli surfers altogether.
Arthur, gimme a little headline on your co-founder for Surfing for Peace Doc Pa
Whiz, Doc. He's from the old times, he's one of those special people. He had a vision and when he gave the first board to Abdalla, he said in 1956, I gave the first board to the Jews, and now I'm giving him to the Arabs. You're gonna be the father of Arab surfing. He was a true visionary, but he, his idea was just to create a stronger bond,
I think, of surfing. I immediately think of Hawaii. How did Tel Aviv become the epicenter in the Middle East,
Mid eighties, let's say mid late eighties in Tel Aviv were, I would say the opening of, uh, influences from uh, America. You know, the video came in color tv, more than two channels. The first videos, magazines to American Influence. It's right in the same time in, in California. I think the surf ad and and trend kind of blew up. First time Southern California surf and skate lifestyle with the music and the clothing and that whole special language that goes with that. We had that same kind of lifestyle exactly where we live in Hilton Beach, Surfing, skateboarding, fashion. It all went together, deriving a lot of influences from California. But the lifestyle was the same. World Championship surf contest in 1984, right here in Hilton Beach, Jennifer. We had a lot of very interesting influences, very early age of the Israeli surf scene. The seas were plant in a very early stage in Tel Aviv, which is a very interesting place back then. It was, I would say, very primitive comparing to what we have today.
Arthur, before we get into Surfing for Peace, let's just talk for a minute about your co-founder, Dorian Doc Kasowitz, American surfer and a physician who gave up practicing medicine to become a professional surfer, and he had he bond with Israel. How did that all come to be?
Dorian Pasch came to Israel in, uh, 1956 from, uh, California, and he brought the first surfboards with him. Doc actually came to join the army, but he ended up just surfing freshman beach and becoming Israel's first surfer. He left his first boards there to the local lifeguards, and since then, he really fell in love with the city and the lifestyle, and he kept sending boards to the local surfers, pretty much nurtured the scene throughout his life till his last day, the epicenter of surfing in Israel till today. Everything started, you know, pro surfing, skateboarding, contests, you know, fashion. Everything started the whole, this whole lifestyle in Israel. And I'm very fortunate to grow up in this area and experience this as a childhood. My neighbors were surfers. My brother was, was a surfer. It all came very natural to me, like a kid in California.
Early two thousands when I was the Israeli Surfing Association manager, Doc kept coming back to Israel and before I went to my army service, I went on a big trip to California. It was my dream to go and check out all the spas, you know, everything I read about in the magazines and the video and all that. And I was also working at Doc's, uh, Surf camp in, it's in San Nore, California, July and August, 1997. So this is the first time I, uh, actually met Doc in person to be a kid and grow up with a Pasch what's name in Israel? It's in, in Tel Aviva, I mean, and Hilton Beach Squiz is a part of the legacy of Surf. So I grew up with the name Paquis and luckily then I had sponsors that were connected to his son Jonathan, and they helped me fly to his surf camp and worked there for a while and I met Dock in person finally.
That's 1997. I met him. I spent a a lot of time with them, many mornings. Um, going fast forward, six years after when I was already, after my Army service and I was working at the Israeli Surfing Association, Doc came to visit, then he wanted me ntroduce him to an Arab surfer. So I told him, okay, it's pretty easy. I I know if you guys are surfing, uh, in Java and I'll go and introduce you to them. Naturally what docs love and uh, kind of nurturing support to is Israeli surfing scene. My job was the Israeli Surfing Association manager. We found ourselves hanging together 24 hours a day and just working on just promoting the scene in the sport and just creating things that are all surfing. The idea of, uh, Surfing for Peace was conceived when I introduced him to, uh, a friend of mine named AB Dallas City Doc. He's from the old times, he's one of those special people. He had a vision and when he gave the first board to Abdalla, he said in 1956, I gave the first board to the Jews, and now I'm giving him to the Arabs. You're gonna be the father of Arab surfing. He was a true visionary, but he, his idea was just to create a stronger bond based on the mutual passion for surfing. And he had this sentence saying, uh, God will surf with a devil. The waves are good. <laugh> <laugh>.
So the idea of Surfing for Peace was born. How'd you roll it
Out? The first move we did delivered 14 boards at S Crossing in Gaza in 2007. That's where we, it took on like a faster kind of pace. That little action that we did was spread worldwide about Israeli surface passing boards through the crossing in to Gaza. And later on in October, 2007, Doc, uh, has invited Kelly Slater, and you of course know the name to do a big musical benefit for Surfing for Peace. It was Kelly Slater and a Jewish, uh, big wave, world surf champion called Ma Rothman from Hawaii. We did a big musical benefit in 2007, and since then we just, I remember Doc, you know, we had big dreams back then. Not big, I, I don't wanna say big dreams, but we already start doing plans like, Are we gonna found this organization? We're gonna be members, we need funding. And we started thinking seriously how to move this forward.
But I have to say that all these actions that we did really gave birth to such great interest in what we do here in Israel and had so many people interested in sending ideas and support. And then we've done so many amazing projects like surf trips and with mixed populations from Gaza, from from Lebanon, Tunisia from Algeria, Moroccans and Israeli surfers altogether in France, in Brazil, in Morocco. Paris is kind of a way to give back, first of all, the surfing for just for the basic reason for what it gave me. Just giving back kind of thing. Growing up in this such a troubled area, this kind of way of, of of showing people that are considered to be my enemies, sending them surfboards. You know, I remember that day when I got back from, uh, from the eras crossing in Gaza. I got back and I truly felt victorious.
I can't find another word. This is also another kind of interesting example of how complicated this, uh, reality is. When I got back, people were like, So what do you think? You're gonna change the world now? You're gonna bring peace out. Of course, I'm not gonna bring peace, but I did bring peace to our little micro world for one second. To me, it felt immense. So many different populations of Arabs and Muslims and Christians living within Israel, there's one very special surf spot called G. It's a very poor fishing village. I've been surfing there for many years, and there was always a little crew of local surfers there. And there was an idea that came about with the lo local NGO that wanted to promote surfing in gce. So I, they came to me and I suggested, why not first of all give them a little crash course on how to teach surfing to their kids, Connected them with the top C surf school in Tel Aviv.
They gave them like a full day course on how to teach the kids. We donated them a few soft boards and, and equipment. And since then is just a very strong friendship with Mohammad, with supporting him with, with everything he needs. Anytime he needs anything, you know, I get it for him for this specific area. I don't think they're interested in being a part of any other government rather than Israel because they understand the difference. They understand what it is to live under Israeli regime. They see how people live in Gaza or in other places. He lives a democratic country. My dream is to go on another surf trip with a mixed population of surfers and keep flowing with this kind of message just going surfing together. The dream is just to connect a group of surfers that are considered to be enemies and go surf together. Very simple. It's not, I, I don't think there's much more than that, but there's so much more than that, You know what I mean? I will never have believed that you would tell me today that I'm gonna know surfers from Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Gaza. I have a lot of friends in Lebanon. It's hard to be in touch with them. I had friends in Egypt that fled to Canada after the mess they had there, you know, with the Arab Spring and everything. So
Arthur, your story is incredible. Surfing for peace proves through the love of something as simple as surfing can create bonds between human beings and maybe even for a moment, as you say, transcend the longstanding conflict between Arab and Jew. Thank you so much. Arthur.
Pleasure, Jennifer. Thank you.
You for joining us this week on Finding Inspiration. Hey, I would appreciate it if you would click on that subscribe button and share this podcast with a friend. See you next week. I'm Jennifer Weissman.