Former hostage Terry Anderson told a group of Jewish, Muslim and Christian boys from the Middle East vacationing together that now, their enemies “will have a face.”
“It’s difficult to hate somebody you know,” said Anderson, who was held captive in Beirut for seven years when he was chief Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press.
The 46 boys, ages 11 to 14, were in New York for the Seeds of Peace program that will take them to Maine for a two-week summer camp hosted by American boys.
“It’s going to be very hard for you,” Anderson told them. “There will be a lot of people pushing at you to continue the road of violence, bitterness, talking about revenge, talking about the wrongs your people have suffered.” He urged them to “resist that pressure.”