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Seeds of Peace Planted at Summer Camp

Seeds of Peace postcard by Amgad. Photo Courtesy of www.seedsofpeace.org

Teens from countries in conflict sound off, build friendships in rural Maine

By Rebecca Mahoney/AP

As the Israeli teen-ager angrily describes the terror that drove his father to become a refugee, Chadia El-Mansouri bristles. “You always want people to put themselves in Israeli shoes, but you never think of the Palestinian side,” the 13-year-old Moroccan girl snaps. “Think of the Palestinians for two seconds, of the homes destroyed. Every day kids die, but you never put yourself in their shoes.”

Chadia is shouting, but no one seated in the circle of 15 teen-agers asks her to be quiet, not even Nash Yuval whose story elicited the outburst. The teens in this room are too often silenced at home.

At Seeds of Peace, an international camp that brings together youngsters from countries in conflict, shouting is not only allowed, it is encouraged. For nine summers, this camp has served as a place where teens raised as enemies can talk and better understand each other.

And they do — even as conflict escalates in the Middle East, as India and Pakistan continue their bloody border battle over control of Kasmir, even as Yugoslavia and Bosnia struggle to maintain diplomatic ties after a deadly war.

With no end to the hostilities in sight, there is a sense of urgency to the Seeds of Peace mission: any hope for lasting peace lies with these youngsters, the leaders of the next generation, who have learned too soon the meaning of hate.

MUTUAL RESPECT

It takes a moment for 14-year-old Sarah Sham of Bombay, India, to realize she has been sleeping in the same cabin as people she has been taught to hate.

Sarah rubs the sleep out of her eyes and peers anxiously at the next bed, where a girl from Pakistan is still asleep. The Pakistani delegation was among the last to arrive at camp the night before, long after the youngsters from India had turned in. Sarah is getting her first closeup at a girl who, back home, is thought of as “the enemy.”

“My first thought was, ‘They are pretty,”’ Sarah says. “They are nice Pakistani girls.”

For the 23 days they spend in rural Maine, the Indian and Pakistani teenagers will eat together, sleep together, and play on the same teams. They will participate in what’s known here as coexistence sessions, the heart and soul of the camp, where they get a chance to air their feelings about conflicts by debating border issues and reversing each other’s roles.

Coexistence sessions are heated and emotional, often ending in tears or shouting. And the campers are forced to do something they loathe: show weakness in front of the enemy.

During the 90-minute session for teens from Middle Eastern countries, Nash is seated four chairs away from Chadia, his arms folded, a frown sweeping his face. He wants to respond to her, but others are weighing in and tensions are reaching a crescendo.

One boy becomes so frustrated he clamps his hands over his ears and screams, and the rage of a 14-year-old Jordanian girl comes gushing out.

“I am not a refugee! I am not a Palestinian! I am never going to live in Israel! I don’t care!” Farah Al Muhtasib shouts.

äoments later, when a bell rings to announce the end of the session, the tension is broken, and in a complete turnaround, the teenagers begin chatting noisily about an upcoming talent show. Gone are any visible signs of rancor.

“Coexistence is very intense emotionally, but they have to realize they are not the only victims,” camp founder John Wallach says. “Making peace is much harder than making war.”

Campers had only one coexistence session per day in years past, but this year two sessions are held each day.

Palestinian officials, citing violence in the region, chose not to send a delegation to the first of two summer sessions being held this year. And it is too soon to tell whether the Palestinians will attend the next session beginning July 23.

This is also the first summer session since 17-year-old Asel Asleh, an Israeli Arab, was shot to death by Israeli police during stone-throwing clashes last October in his village of Arabeh. Asleh had spent three summers at Seeds of Peace and made several visits to Israeli schools to plea for peace.

He was buried in a forest green T-shirt printed with the Seeds of Peace logo — three children and an olive branch.

Palestinian-born Jawad Issa, dressed in black pants and a navy blue Seeds of Peace sweatshirt, is barefooted as he kneels on the grass. He is one of a dozen Muslim boys assembled for prayer on a Friday afternoon that marks the Muslim holy day. Behind them, a line of Muslim girls, their heads covered in scarves of scarlet, blue and gold, touch their foreheads to the ground in prayer.

Only about a third of the camp is attending this religious service, but no doors slam in the green and white cabins and no swimmers are splashing in Pleasant Pond.

Respect is an honored tradition here.

At 18, Issa is a three-year camp veteran. He returned this summer as a staff member, and is painfully aware of the violence that surrounds his family in Gaza. He also fears the violence in Israel, home of one of his best friends, Gil Messing. The pair met at Seeds of Peace and keep in touch primarily through e-mail.

Issa thinks about his friend often, particularly because Messing will join the Israeli army this fall.

“I’m just afraid that one day I’ll go to cross the border and he’ll be the one to stop me,” Issa says. “I am sick of living through war.”

But Issa also has faith that his friend will not forget his experience in this camp.

“He wants to become the prime minister of his country, and I want to become the head of my country,” Issa says, his voice strong and determined. “Imagine what that will be like — because we knew each other at Seeds of Peace, we’d be able to bring peace to our countries.”

Visit the Seeds of Peace website at: http://www.seedsofpeace.org