John Wallach, the founder of Seeds of Peace, Netta Corren, an Israeli teen and Fadi Elsalameen, a Palestinian teen, accepted the prize.
BY JIM SMEDLEY | OTISFIELD Seeds of Peace has been awarded a $40,000 prize from the United Nations for promoting tolerance and nonviolence at its Otisfield summer camp for teens from war-torn countries.
The presentation of the Madanjeet Singh Prize, named for an Indian diplomat, was held Nov. 17 at U.N. headquarters in New York City.
“There can be no more important initiative than bringing together young people who have seen the ravages of war to learn the art of peace,” U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said. “Seeds of Peace is certainly an example of the world the United Nations is actively working for.”
Since 1993, the Seeds of Peace organization has brought more than 1,500 Arab and Israeli teen-agers to its camp on Pleasant Lake to live together and learn techniques of making peace.
John Wallach, the founder of Seeds of Peace, Netta Corren, an Israeli teen, and Fadi Elsalameen, a Palestinian teen, accepted the prize. Corren and Elsalameen, graduates of the Seeds of Peace program, wrote and presented acceptance speeches, along with Wallach.
“This is meaningful recognition for us because it comes from the world’s most important international body and because it underscores that without human understanding there can be no lasting peace,” Wallach said in accepting the prize. “It is particularly significant that this comes at a time when violence and hatred are destroying the few remaining Arab-Israeli bridges of understanding.”
President Clinton wrote in a letter for the occasion, “I think one of the best things I’ve seen in the whole region over the last eight years is this Seeds of Peace program and what these young people have done together. That kind of dialogue is what has to replace the bullets and rocks.”
In 1993 Wallach started the Seeds of Peace conflict-resolution program for teen-agers from the Middle East, the Balkans, Cyprus and other war-torn regions. In 1999 Seeds of Peace expanded to become a year-round program by establishing a 5,000-square-foot Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem. Before the latest round of violence, more than 200 Israeli and Palestinian teen-agers were enrolled in weekly peace education classes there.
Seeds of Peace is funded almost entirely by private donors, receiving support from more than 10,000 individuals, corporations and foundations in the United States and abroad.
The other two prize recipients this year are Salaam, a pro-reform Iranian daily newspaper banned in 1999, and Mir, a Russian radio and television station that teaches its listeners principles of tolerance and understanding.
The Madanjeet Singh Prize is awarded once every two years for exceptional contributions and leadership in promoting tolerance. The winners are individuals or institutions.
The prize was made possible by the donation of the Indian artist, writer and diplomat. Singh was a follower of Mahatma Gandhi and served nine months in Mirzapur jail during the “Quiet India” movement against British colonial rule. He received the Indian government Freedom Fighter award in 1972.