Israeli, Arab youths mingle
BY MARIA KOKLANARIS | John Wallach planted Seeds of Peace four months ago, and now his garden is suddenly in full bloom.
Mr. Wallach, an editor from the District, is the founder of a new camp for boys from Israel and Arab nations. He said the creation of the camp, called Seeds of Peace, has been more than a dream come true.
But what happened when he brought his 46 boys to the District this week was beyond his wildest fantasies.
“We’re thrilled,” said Mr. Wallach, foreign editor for Hearst Newspapers.
A day after the boys arrived from three weeks of swimming, hiking and tennis in Otisfield, Maine, President Clinton announced Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization, had forged a ground-breaking agreement for peace.
“I was very surprised,” said Fadi, a 14-year-old Palestinian, who, like the other boys, would not give his last name. “In the time Seeds of Peace has begun, the roots [of peace] came. I hope this agreement will be the beginning of a real peace all over the world.”
“At first, I thought I had a part in this agreement,” said Omer, a 13-year-old from Israel. “I know that is not really true, but I am very happy.”
Under the agreement announced Thursday, the Palestinians would recognize the right of Israel to exist. In turn, Israel will open the way to Palestinian self-rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank town of Jericho.
A signing ceremony is set for Monday at the White House.
And the boys of Seeds of Peace will be front and center. Yesterday, they met Hillary Rodham Clinton, who invited them to the ceremony.
Besides a visit from the first lady, the boys have had lunch with six senators and shaken hands with the Israeli ambassador, the Egyptian ambassador and members of the Palestinian negotiating team.
David Wallach, Mr. Wallach’s son, said a cameraman panned the boys at an Orioles game this week. Children around them were “going crazy for the camera,” Mr. Wallach said, but the Seeds of Peace crowd was “so blasé. It’s getting old already.”
Still, the boys say they can’t wait for the flashbulbs and excitement of Monday’s signing. They can’t believe they’re going to meet President Clinton and maybe even catch a glimpse of Mr. Rabin and Mr. Arafat.
“They’re in the first flowers of peace,” John Wallach said of the boys, as his group toured the Washington National Cathedral yesterday after the visit with Mrs. Clinton.
At the cathedral, the boys received a lesson in Christianity. From there they were off to the Islamic Center and the Washington Hebrew Congregation for lessons in the Muslim and Jewish faiths, respectively.
Mr. Wallach began Seeds of Peace in response to the April 19 bombing of the World Trade Center. He said he decided “the only way of dealing with fanaticism and terrorism is to get young people together.
“They have to be young enough that they haven’t started to hate each other,” he said. “That’s when you really make a difference.”
The Rev. Solomon Jacobs, a clergyman at the cathedral, told the boys he hoped “you will take back with you the kind of excitement we are feeling. Those of us who are getting older and older will be looking to you to carry on.”
The boys said yesterday they believe they can. They have all changed a lot in the last month, and many have replaced fear with friendship, they said.
Aboud, a 13-year-old Israeli, said his parents were initially apprehensive about his spending so much time with Arabs. He admitted he felt the same way.
“Now I have changed my mind,” Aboud said. “Because these guys, they are great friends.”
“Of course there were many fears,” said Fadi. “The Israelis, I thought, they will be very bad. But when I came to camp, I found out they are nice boys.”