By Jodi Hope Turk; From Lifestyles Magazine

January 1999

Take an altruistic idea. Mix it with tremendous passion and a dash of determination. Blend two totally opposing cultures, add the heart and soul of a Generation X entrepreneur, and you have PeaceWorks, brainchild of 29-year-old Daniel Lubetzky. He believes food provides a recipe for peace in the Middle East: Bring Arabs and Jews together by having them work toward a common goal—economic independence.

"If Arabs and Jews were equally part of a profitable business, their relationship would help them overlook culture clashes, " Lubetzky says in his Spanish accent.

This is the basic premise of PeaceWorks Holdings, LLC, which was established to act as a catalyst for peace by supporting commercial co-existence initiatives in volatile regions worldwide. PeaceWorks promotes joint ventures between peoples of difference backgrounds, hoping that as neighbors learn to work together, cultural stereotypes will be shattered and both nations and individuals will become economically interdependent. The company’s goals are to maximize economic returns while promoting cooperation in the regions where it operates.

If you happened to see a jar of PeaceWorks Sprate (pronounced sprah-tay—the Lubetzky invented word for his multipurpose tomato product, which can be used as a sauce, spread, dip or dressing) while strolling though your local supermarket, stop and take a closer look. The first thing you’ll notice is the drawing of two smiling, Disney-like cartoon characters on the label—Moshe and Ali, a Jew and an Arab—hugging each other.

Says Lubetzky, "the agricultural sector in Israel is one of the few sectors where Arabs and Israelis cooperate. They need to be equal partners. That is why we started with the food line."

The partnership extends beyond cute packaging: Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Turks and Jordanians purchase the ingredients from each other. Before you know if, Lubetzky says, they’re having friendly conversations.

Although the concept seems simple, the result was reached only after a slow ands\ sometimes painful journey.

Daniel Lubetzky was born in 1968 in Mexico City, in a tightly knit Jewish community of 60,000. His father, Roman Lubetzky, was a Holocaust survivor. Raised in Lithuania, Roman was only 9 years old at the start of World Wart II, and spent the last two years of the war in Dachau. After his liberation, he made his way to Mexcio, where his uncles had immigrated before the war.

Although he arrived in Mexico with no education, no money and no knowledge of Spanish, Lubetzky says, "My dad educated himself by buying inexpensive books and encyclopedia sets. He started working in a factory, then began selling watches. He eventually built himself a business and become a well-regard leader of the community."

Daniel’s mother, Sonia, is a Mexican-born Jew. Daniel is the second of four children. Over the years, the family frequently traveled to Israel. "My father’s love for Israel was an influence on my life," Lubetzky says. "[He] is a strong believer in the Jewish state as a safe haven for Jews.

"On one trip my dad was carrying cash gifts to help our family in Israel. He handed me the bag with the cash to teach me a sense of responsibility. Sure enough, I lost it at a construction site in Jerusalem—a couple of thousand dollars.

"Later it was returned to us with not a penny taken! This said to me, as a child, how special this country was and is. Israel is just a big family."