BY CHARLES E. HOWELL | OTISFIELD Governor Angus King faced an audience last Thursday during his visit to the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Otisfield that was powerful and unique in Maine, if not the world.
King stepped before the 175 teenage Arabs and Israelis on their fifth day of a three week stay at the camp, during which they will try to find common ground for peace with the hope that they can have influence when they are adults. It was an audience skeptical and hardened after lifetimes of strife against the words of a politician, although they were polite, attentive and self-controlled.
After introductions, the audience, ages ranging from 13 to 17, sang their song, “I am a Seed of Peace,” which was delivered with a stirring power that can only be understood by the circumstance of their lives and their present mission.
The subtitle under a camp banner says, “Preparing Tomorrow’s Leaders/A Training Ground for Peace.” John Wallach, the founder of the camp, said that mission is carried out at the camp in two legs: regular daily camp activities like any other camp for teenagers and twice-daily “coexistence sessions,” one in the morning, one in the evening.
The camp director is Tim Wilson, the first chairman of the Maine Human Rights Commission, who served under Governors Curtis, Longley and Brennan. He views his job as having one more chance to reduce hatred and prejudice.
All the teens are thoroughly and continuously mixed in their cabins, their sports and other activities, said Bobbie Gottschalk, the Seeds of Peace executive vice-president. The teens come from Jordan, Egypt, Israel, Palestine, Morocco, Tunisia and Qatar.
In the coexistence sessions, while the group is mixed by country of origin, they continue meeting together for the entire three weeks. It is during these sessions that they talk about their issues, monitored by facilitators.
“We’re trying to give them the tools they’ll need to work for life for coexistence. We’re teaching them to respect each other,” said Gottschalk.
Graham Baxter, a counselor from Toronto, who is majoring in architecture at the University of Toronto, said that at the time of the governor’s visit, it may be the most difficult for the young people. They are just over jet lag and the excitement of travel, he said, and they want to express their feelings. They have not had time yet to work things out or even get a firm footing. Later, he said, they will have formed more bonds and found at least some common ground of agreement.
The need to be heard and the overwhelming influence of emotions and pain made interviewing a mixed group of teens a sometimes wild affair, in spite of their continual efforts of self-control.
After the talk by King, I spoke with Badawi Qawasmi, a Palestinian; Zeina Hassan, an Egyptian; Nadov Stark, an Israeli; and Inbal Shacked, also an Israeli. The group never failed in manners with the exception of frequent interruptions, which is remarkable considering the storms of emotions that each person felt. All had lost relatives, friends or homes in the conflicts of the Middle East. All had been in the middle of the conflict since birth and feel that the “other side” has put forward many lies. Each also hold separate reasons for anger.
During the interview, the talk constantly slipped back to the troubles in the past and present in the Middle East, even though all four tried to keep to the subject of the present at the Seeds of Peace Camp. Discussion was often heated, although calm would return after a minute or so. Their efforts at calm discussion and politeness were admirable, even though the efforts at calm discussion so frequently failed.
Shacked, an Israeli who lives on the Left Bank, gives her residence as one reason for her anger, but does see the possibility for progress.
Hassan, from Egypt, is no less angry than Qawasmi of Palestine, but she does see a window of opportunity. Yet, she said that her greatest feeling at the beginning of the camp was of Arab unity.
Speaking of her coexistence sessions, she said, “When I was arguing, it was very interesting, I wanted to really know who these Israelis are. I knew there was a stereotype about Israelis. [But] I believe some of them want peace.”
Qawasmi said that living in Jerusalem, he has “a lot of contacts with Israelis, some friendships, not only in business but soldiers and settlers.”
He said he is changing his opinions somewhat at the camp already.
Stark, an Israeli from Kibutz Yahel, agreed. He said he met a lot of friends, “yea, even Palestinians,” with a smile.
After one strong emotional but brief argument, I observed that they often had trouble hearing each other because of a wall, but was cut off by Qawasmi, who finished it with a hand gesture of a wall going us, “of emotion.”
It was remarkable that even in the short, often confused exchange, each learned a little about his or her historical adversary and their own side that they had not been aware of. Each side obviously had incomplete information about the small details of their own recent history. They surprised each other with small snippets of information that showed with comments like:
“The settlers, too? I didn’t know that.”
The mis-information also showed:
“The Arab people know about the Holocaust. Come on. Many just don’t believe the numbers, that’s all.”
At the end of the interview, despite their differences, they parted politely, shaking hands, having listened some, if not agreeing much. They were trying hard, so hard.
During the introduction of King, Wallach called the young people “unique in the world.”
Earlier he described the setting of the camp. His own children had attended the camp when it was just a regular kid’s camp, Camp Powhaten. Seeds of Peace started at the camp and had moved to Wayne for an interim before returning to the present site two years ago.
After six years total, the camp has a million dollar budget, all raised privately.
He said that the governments of each country choose the youths who attend. Each youth must be fluent in English, and they are all expected to speak English during the entire program.
The camp will soon start a very small radio station called “Peace Radio.” Wallach said that the camp will soon have had 1,000 young campers go through the program.
Does it work?
“We are successful,” said Wallach. “They’ve all been fantastic.”
In the Middle East, there is an eight page newspaper called “The Olive Branch,” with articles written by present or past Seeds of Peace campers, said Wallach. Former campers meet in their own countries.
In his speech, Governor King praised Maine’s neighborliness, citing the January ice storm and early Maine history.
“Hatred comes from differences,” he said. “Civilization is an unnatural act. It takes work, constant effort to succeed.”
King pointed to the German people’s mistake of being misled by “lousy politicians” before World War II.
“You,” he said pointing to the audience, “are in a unique situation. You can make a difference.”