BY AMY SACKS | They grew up only miles apart, but Koby Sadan and Fadi Elsalameen never dreamed they could ever be friends.
Yesterday, Elsalameen, who is Palestinian, and Sadan, an Israeli, stood side by side at a Palm Sunday service at Manhattan’s Marble Collegiate Church. There, they shared their childhood experiences of mutual hatred for each other’s nationalities and expressed their dreams for peace in the Middle East.
“I grew up to believe the Israelis hated us, [and that] the only reason they came to Palestine was to kick us out,” said Elsalameen, 18, who is studying political science at Earlham College in Indiana.
Sadan, 21, had similar sentiments. “From the age of zero, I learned there are Arabs in the world who hate us, and it is their life mission to take us away from our life and from our country,” he said. Sadan, who lives in Tel Aviv, recently finished serving in the Israeli Army and is applying to U.S. colleges.
After completing their education, both men hope to return home and become leaders. As the current leaders of their respective homelands continue to search for a lasting peace, the two friends strive to be role models and stress dialogue as the only way for Palestinians and Israelis to understand each other.
“The way to fight the animosity present in the Middle East is to wage a war on animosity,” Sadan said. “In a war you need soldiers—we are the soldiers. The more soldiers you have, the more chance you have to win the war.”
Elsalameen and Sadan visited the church through the nonprofit Seeds of Peace, which helps teenagers from regions of conflict throughout the world to learn the skills to live in peace. Each attended the one-month summer camp program in Maine, where they learned—through sports, dialogue and conflict resolution—to coexist.
“By being with friends like Fadi who are also Arabs, I learned to see the beauty of the Arab people,” Sadan said.
Sadan and Elsalameen also agree that these days it is difficult for Jews and Arabs to sit at the same table without a mediator.”Seeds of Peace is the only place where Palestinians and Israelis are treating each other like people,” Elsalameen said. “At the end of camp, you learn to see it from the other side—it helped us become friends.”