Recent violence may affect the Otisfield camp bringing together Israeli and Palestinian teen-agers.
BY JERRY HARKAVY | As the Seeds of Peace camp in Maine remains blanketed by deep winter snow, its founder is keeping close watch on Yasser Arafat’s lapel. The signs thus far appear promising.
John Wallach says the Palestinian leader continues to wear the small bronze pin bearing the Seeds of Peace logo showing three children and an olive branch. It’s a small but important sign that Arafat’s support for the program is still alive.
“He took it off during the first few weeks of the fighting, but he put it back on about two months ago and he’s worn it every day since,” Wallach said.
Such support will be essential as Seeds of Peace prepares for its ninth summer season. In light of continuing violence between Israelis and Palestinians, it will undoubtedly be the most challenging season yet.
Seeds of Peace has won widespread acclaim for bringing Arab and Israeli youngsters to a lakefront camp in Otisfield, where they live together, play sports and get to know each other as human beings.
Wallach calls it “the last, best hope” for a troubled region in which each side has dehumanized the other.
“It’s the only bridge that remains,” he said. “There’s no other bridge. And if you can’t get the next generation, the 13-, 14- and 15-year olds, to communicate with each other and become friends, what hope is left?”
About 1,500 youngsters have been through the program since Wallach started Seeds of Peace in 1993. Many of the Arab-Israeli friendships that took root in Maine have endured, even amid the violence.
At this point, signs are hopeful that the program will continue this summer. If violence persists, however, the Palestinians in particular may decide not to participate, Wallach says.
“We can’t say with 100 percent assurance that we will have a program next summer,” said Wallach, who is based in New York. “Nobody knows the answer. It depends on the situation on the ground.”
Selection of youngsters to attend the camp begins in March, and Wallach acknowledges that the hatreds and bitterness they carry with them to Maine will probably be greater than in the past.
Nonetheless, he believes the teen-agers can overcome those feelings and connect on a one-to-one basis. “These are extraordinary kids,” he said.
More than 360 people, most of them Palestinians, have died since violence erupted following a Sept. 28 visit by hard-line Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to a Jerusalem site that is holy to Muslim and Jews alike.
The violence struck close to home for the program when an Israeli Arab who graduated from Seeds of Peace was shot to death by Israeli forces last October during a rock throwing incident.
Supporters of the program were shocked and saddened by the death of 17-year-old Asel Asleh, who was described by Wallach as a teen-ager who “epitomized all the qualities of a Seed.”
Against that backdrop, Wallach wants this summer’s program, if it takes place at all, to go beyond those of the past by challenging youngsters to wrestle with the toughest issues.
He is considering the idea of a “comeback camp” to reunite some of the Arab and Israeli youngsters who have been through the program. Participants would try to draft a peace treaty by breaking up into committees that tackle the major issues: Jerusalem, Israeli settlements, refugees, security and borders.
“It’s a chance to show their own leaders and the world how they can solve a problem that their own leaders have not,” said Wallach, a former foreign correspondent for the Hearst newspapers and the son of Holocaust survivors.
Wallach says he was pleased that Asleh’s family didn’t turn away from Seeds of Peace after his death. Instead, the family committed itself to the program and expressed its hope that it will continue.
“When you lose of on your own, you can have two reactions – you can give up or you can recommit yourself to the cause. And I think most of the kids have recommitted themselves,” he said.
In most cases, the bloody confrontations of the past few months have failed to sever the bonds between Palestinian and Israeli Seeds that date to their shared summer in Maine.
Despite travel restrictions, most of the kids remain in contact with each other and communicate regularly via e-mail messages that are often heated and seething with emotion.
In poignant exchanges with two Palestinian friends, Israeli teen-ager Yoav Shaham, of Jerusalem, reached out to express sorrow at the bloodshed that claimed the life of their Seeds of Peace friend.
One Palestinian responded by saying: “I’m not in a mental status that allows me to speak to any Israeli.” But another provided hope, saying, “I think if every Israeli is like you we will have peace.”
E-mail messages have become even more essential now that the fighting has kept Seeds of Peace from bringing Israelis and Palestinians together at its center in Jerusalem. Starting next month, the center plans to offer “advanced co-existence workshops” that would focus on issues separating Jewish and Arab youngsters who live in Israel.
Plenty of other projects are in the works.
The Olive Branch, the Seeds of Peace monthly newspaper that stopped publishing after the fighting began last October, is about to come out with a 32-page edition next month with 100 articles by Palestinian and Israeli youngsters.
Also planned is “Seeds of Hope,” a collection of e-mail messages between Seeds of Peace participants on both sides.
In the spring, adult leaders of Seeds of Peace delegations from eight Middle East countries that participated in last year’s camp will meet in Prague to consider ways to heal the wounds and prepare for this summer’s program.
Also, there will be a pilot program for youngsters from India and Pakistan, which have been at odds for decades over the border issues. Additional sessions will bring together Greek and Turkish kids from Cyprus and youngsters from the Balkans.
The aim is the same: to get born enemies to talk to one another.
Tamer Nagy Mahmoud, an Egyptian who had been through the first Seeds of Peace session, became angry when the latest fighting broke out but decided to call a longtime Israeli friend who also had been in the program.
They did not reach total agreement, but it helped to try to find common ground.
“Although I was still angry and upset, I became more optimistic,” Mahmoud said. “If my Israeli friend and I could still talk our problems through, then there is still hope.”
Candid e-mails reveal campers’ mix of emotions
Here are edited excerpts from e-mails between Israeli Yoav Shaham and two Palestinians who became his friends during last year’s Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield.
Shaham lives in Jerusalem and his friends live in Gaza and at a refugee camp in Jordan. Shaham was to have participated in an Israeli-Palestinian trip to Jordan sponsored by the Seeds of Peace Center in Jerusalem, but it was canceled because of recent violence that included the death of Asel Asleh, an Israeli Arab who attended the Seeds of Peace camp.
Oct. 1 –
Dear (Friend 1)
I’ve heard about the violent demonstrations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. I am really very sorry for the Palestinian people who were killed on the last days. I hope you are all safe and that none of your relatives were hurt. I’m terribly sorry for the innocent Palestinian child who was shot by a soldier for no reason. This soldier is a murderer and he should be sent to jail for the rest of his life. (Friend 1), the Israeli TV news says that your president, Mr. Arafat, encourages the Palestinian violence. I think that if that’s true, this is awful and the Palestinian leaders should call to stop the violence now.
Let’s hope this war will end soon and in a few months the Palestinian nation will FINALLY have its own state.
Truly yours,
Yoav Shaham
Oct. 3 –
Dear Yoav,
Thanks for writing…I think if ever Israeli is like you we will have peace… but not all of them are like you… I’m safe until this moment… I’m very sad about the Palestinians who are getting killed… I don’t know if some of my friends are killed or injured… Because there’s no school to see them… School has been stopped from Saturday to next Saturday and maybe more and no one of my relatives has been killed. Mr. Arafat didn’t encourage anybody to start a war. The terrorist Sharon and the Israeli soldiers started it… The Palestinian police are trying to stop Palestinians throwing stones but they can’t… Some of the Palestinian police can’t control themselves when they see their people dying… so they shoot towards the Israelis… That was very few of them… I think that this massacre is the Israelis’ fault and Sharon has to pay for it… We are not toys that Sharon and his soldiers can do whatever he wants with us… We are human beings… We are peacemakers… but if Israel wants war… we will never give up… never… I’m not sure if I can say the word “peace” between Palestinians this moment…40 Palestinians are killed until this moment and more than 1,500 are injured… Where is peace… where is peace? I’m so sorry if I was so hard but it’s my feelings now… Write back soon…
Love and miss, (Friend 1)
Oct. 4 –
(Friend 2), I guess you have heard about the violence in Israel and the West Bank and Gaza. The Palestinians say we attacked them; we say they attacked us. I’ve heard about some violent demonstrations in refugee camps in Jordan… I hope you did not participate in these demonstrations, and if you did I hope you weren’t hurt. All this means the trip is canceled. I was really sad to hear that. If the current situation continues, we might be going to a total war with the Palestinians. We should all pray everything will calm down. I don’t wish harm to any Palestinian. (Friend 2), … I still wish to see you. I will, sometime. It might take years, but I’ve got patience… I MISS YOU!!!
Love,
Yoav
Oct. 5 –
Friend 2’s response:
Dear Yoav: Right now I’m not in my full mental power. I’m not in mental status that allows me to speak to any Israeli. I’m angry at Israel and all the Israelis: I’m angry at the whole world. Asel was a close friend of mine. I will never forget or forgive what’s happened to him. Yoav, don’t take it personally, don’t reply, and try to understand. I know the Yoav I know will.
(Friend 2)
Jan. 6 –
(Friend 2), please try to put all the arguments out of our minds for a sec (even though it’s more difficult to you than to me, I know), and just remember this one thing: I really do care about you and want to stay your friend, no matter what happens to me. Stay strong.
Love, Yoav Shaham
Jan. 7 –
Friend 2’s response:
Dear Yoav – Screw arguments. Screw governments. You’re my friend and I’m yours!