BY REBECCA MAHONEY | OTISFIELD MAINE As the Israeli teen-ager angrily described the terror that drove his father to become a refugee, Chadia El-Mansouri bristles.
“You always want people to put themselves in Israeli shoes, but you never think of the Palestinian side,” the 13-year-old Moroccan girl snaps. “Think of the Palestinians for two seconds, of the homes destroyed. Every day kids die, but you never put yourself in their shoes.”
Chadia is shouting, but no one seated in the circle of 15 teen-agers asks her to be quiet, not even Nash Yuval, whose story elicited the outburst. The teen-agers in his room are too often silenced at home.
At Seeds of Peace, a non-profit international camp that brings together youngsters from countries in conflict, shouting is not only allowed, it is encouraged.
For nine summers, this camp, founded by author John Wallach and supported by donations, has worked toward the goal of getting teens raised as enemies to talk and better understand each other.
And they do—even as conflict escalates in the Middle East, as India and Pakistan continue their bloody border battle over control of Kashmir, even as Yugoslavia and Bosnia struggle to maintain diplomatic ties after a deadly war.
With no end to the hostilities in sight, the staff at Seeds of Peace feel a sense of urgency: Any hope for lasting peace lies with these youngsters, the leaders of the next generation, who have learned too soon the meaning of hate.
For the 23 days they spend in rural Maine, the Indian and Pakistani teen-agers will eat together, bunk together and play on the same teams. They will participate in what’s known here as coexistence sessions, the heart and soul of the camp, where they get a chance to air their feelings about conflicts by debating border issues and reversing each other’s roles.
Palestinian officials, citing violence in their region, chose not to send a delegation to the first of two summer sessions being held this year. And it is too soon to tell whether the Palestinians will attend the next session beginning July 23.
Participants in the camps are selected by their respective governments.
This is the first summer session since 17-year-old Asel Asleh, an Israeli Arab, was shot to death by Israeli police during stone-throwing clashes last October in his village of Arabeh. Asleh had spent three summers at Seeds of Peace and made visits to Israeli schools to plead for peace.
Palestinian-born Jawad Issa, dressed in black pants and a navy blue Seeds of Peace sweatshirt, is barefoot as he kneels in the grass, one of a dozen Muslim boys assembled for prayer on a Friday afternoon that marks the Muslim holy day. Behind them, a line of Muslim girls, their heads covered in scarves, blue and gold, touch their foreheads to the ground in prayer.
Only about a third of the camp is attending this religious service, but no doors slam in the green and white cabins, and no swimmers are splashing in Pleasant Pond.
Respect is an honored tradition here.
Your Views
Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace
I applaud the July 16th front page feature about Seeds of Peace in Otisfield. John Wallach’s innovative youth training is part of a little noticed motion of society toward awakening the world’s need for a smarter peace process. Threats, wars and terrorism, notwithstanding, people are realizing the senselessness of war as a way of conflict solving. Research has proven there has always been a peace process, an ongoing striving to establish a nonviolent society, according to a prominent sociologist, Dr. Elise Boulding, author of “Cultures of Peace, The Hidden Side of History.”
Today, we are in year one of the United Nation’s promotion of a Decade of Peace Culture (2001-2011). Thousands of non-governmental organizations are striving toward universal peaceableness.
War has become far too expensive as a way to settle international differences. Violence is not necessary. With environmental crises in the offing, with burgeoning population, with awful and dire diseases appearing, all the world’s resources must be channeled into a nurturing peace process. Seeds of Peace is a model to watch with world peace in mind.
Walter F. Sargent, Auburn
Lewiston Sun Journal (July 30, 2001)