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Reasons to be hopeful
Washington Jewish Week

Sep 25, 1997 / No Comments

Seeds of Peace grads carry on

BY BRUCE KATZ | On Friday night, the people who gathered for Shabbat services at Kensington’s Temple Emanuel, a Reform Congregation, heard something they hadn’t heard in a very long time: reasons to be hopeful about the future of the Middle East.

In a voice filled with passion and conviction, guest speaker Bobbie Gottschalk, executive vice-president of Seeds of Peace, told them about Israeli and Arab teenagers getting to know and understand each other as people instead of as “the enemy.”

This is no mean feat, Gottschalk reminded her audience. “More people in the Middle East—on all sides—are being trained for war than for peace. Generations of Arabs and Israelis have grown up knowing nothing but fear, mistrust, and hatred of each other.”

How does one begin to break this cycle? First, she said, you try to influence the shape of the future by talking to those who will inhabit it—the children. Second, you limit your objectives to what is possible: “our goal is not to make peace, but to get the teens to really listen to each other.”

This summer, the fifth since Seeds of Peace was formed, provided powerful evidence of how challenging these goals are, given the current situation in the Middle East. It also showed that the effort is worth every second of doubt, anxiety and tears.

Seeds of Peace brings teens from the Middle East to rural Maine where they spend several weeks living together, engaging in sports, theatre and Internet instruction, and learning “co-existence” skills. The boys and girls come from diverse backgrounds: Israel, Palestinian controlled territories, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar; they are Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze; Russian immigrants; they are religious and secular, their homes rich and powerful, settlements and refugee camps.

For most of the kids, Gottschalk said, the experience of being face to face with “the enemy” is like being on an emotional roller coaster. There is a day or so of normal wariness at the beginning, after which everything feels very easy. The teens have fun together, become teammates, sing, dance—in short, they do what teenagers everywhere do, and they find themselves wondering why peace seems to be so difficult for their parents to achieve.

At this point, when the kids start to become comfortable with each other, life at camp suddenly gets very hard, Gottschalk said. “This is when the kids begin to really open up to one another, and what they have to say is not always very pleasant. They talk about family members and friends who have been maimed or killed. They talk about the lessons they’ve been learning all their lives about how terrible the other side is and how none of them can be trusted. It is at this stage that the stereotypes and preconceptions begin to crack and real communication begins.”

The breakthroughs made in Maine seem to survive the trip back home. Most of the teens who have attended the Seeds of Peace camp (they call themselves “graduates”) continue to stay in touch with each other via e-mail, regular mail, phone calls and even visits.

This past summer, however, tested the program in an entirely new way. Ten days into the session, a bomb went off in an open market in Jerusalem. Never before had there been a terrorist incident while the camp was in session. The counselors had to let the campers know what had happened, of course, but how would the kids respond? Would everything fall apart?

News of the bombing brought shock and tears from the Israeli children who feared family members or friends might have been casualties. The Palestinian teens, for their part, were stunned, knowing that Hamas had claimed responsibility for the blast. The counselors feared the worst. But then the Palestinians made the first move. Spontaneously, they crossed the room to hug the Israelis and express their feelings of sorrow and guilt. The Israelis in turn accepted their friends’ sympathy, reassuring them that it was not their friends’ fault. The rest of the day, Gottschalk said, was spent with the kids supporting each other.

The summer session ended well, Gottschalk told the people at Temple Emanuel, with the kids expressing their feelings through music, poetry, art, and sculpture. But her story didn’t end there, for within a few weeks of the children’s return to the Middle East, another bomb went off in Jerusalem, this time in a place well-known as a hangout for Israeli teenagers. Immediately, Gottschalk said, e-mail went flying back and forth among the camp graduates and Arab campers wrote to see if their Jewish friends were hurt and to condemn the outrage. She read excerpts from the letters to the congregants.

In language that made many in the audience grow teary-eyed, Israeli and Arab children talked about how hard it was to be back home, how frustrated and confused they felt at the continued violence and the friends who refused to listen to their stories about their experiences in Maine. But they also talked about the successes they’ve had in opening up other people’s minds and the hope they still feel.

“I’m optimistic about these kids,” Gottschalk said. “No one will ever again be able to tell them that all Israelis hate us and that all Palestinians are bad. But most kids there have never known peace …”

She paused. “My hope is that one day some of the kids who have been through Seeds of Peace will be the leaders of their countries, and they won’t hesitate when the time comes to shake someone’s hand in peace.”

One year later, Middle East teens still cling to ideals
The Christian Science Monitor

Aug 14, 2003 / No Comments

OTISFIELD, MAINE | When Saja Abuhigleh returned home to the Palestinian town of Ramallah last year, her friend Donia stopped speaking to her.

The problem: Saja was bursting with enthusiasm for Maine’s Seeds of Peace camp, where she had just spent three weeks, and for her friends there—including Israelis.

“She told me, ‘I can’t believe after everything that happened to your family, you can make friends with them,’ ” Saja recounts sadly.

Adar Ziegel, one of Saja’s Israeli bunkmates last summer, also had her ideals from camp tested. Her friend Tom was riding the No. 37 bus in Haifa in March when a suicide bomber blew it up. Tom and his father were killed, along with 13 others. It was the first time that the violence of her homeland had touched Adar so personally.

Seeds of Peace, a lakeside enclave northwest of Portland, is dedicated to helping teenagers from the Middle East begin to overcome their differences—or at least put a human face on the “enemy.” But it’s one thing to express optimism in the Maine woods; it’s another to test that optimism against the violence and hatred back home.

Last summer, the Monitor followed both Adar and Saja—along with Ariel Tal, an Israeli at camp for his third year, and Sami Habash, a blond, intense Palestinian—through the challenges and triumphs of learning to live with those from the other side. After three weeks of bonding in a safe setting, all four teenagers had felt hopeful, and were determined to keep working for peace at home. They were worried, too, about what would happen once the “bubble” of camp gave way to the harsh realities of checkpoints, tanks, and suicide attacks.

Returning after a year of change

In the end, Saja, Sami, and Adar all returned for a second summer—something only about 10 percent of campers do. (Ariel, after three years at Seeds of Peace, was too old.)

Their reasons varied, from wanting to learn more patience to simply missing friends and the fun of camp. They have no illusions about how much change a few teenagers can effect. But their commitment to peace is a year stronger, and their decision to return, ultimately, an act of hope.

It was a year of changes for all four. Saja put on the hijab, against her family’s wishes. Sami was offered a full scholarship to Brandeis University in Massachusetts, but will follow his mother’s desire that he attend Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Ariel finished high school and will be drafted into the Israeli army this fall.

And, for the first time, the violence was made truly personal for Adar. She still remembers every detail of March 5—her birthday. She was at the beach celebrating when a friend called: A bus had exploded right next to the bakery where she and her friends hang out. A flurry of phone calls revealed that most of her friends were fine. Only Tom was missing. It wasn’t until the next morning, as she was putting on her shoes, that Adar heard Tom’s name read over the radio. She fell to the floor crying.

Rather than destroy Adar’s belief in peace, however, Tom’s death strengthened it. One of the first things she did was write a letter to the network of Seeds of Peace alumni, pouring her heart out to people she thought might understand. She was amazed at the responses she got—from good friends and people she’d never met; from Israelis and Palestinians.

“They wrote and called me and supported me in ways I couldn’t have asked for,” Adar remembers.

Three days after the bombing, against the protests of some of her friends in Haifa, Adar went to the Seeds of Peace center in Jerusalem, seeking support but also feeling a renewed sense of purpose.

“Before, it was talking to them, and listening, and understanding … But now I felt that I owe it to someone to actually do it.”

Saja’s year has been calmer. She has emerged as a leader, helping the new campers with their English, and displaying authority as she teaches a group of Palestinians to perform the dabke, a traditional dance, for the talent show. And she wears the hijab—one of the few campers to do so—with a quiet grace. When she returned home to Ramallah last summer, Saja says, her mother hardly recognized her as the same shy girl who had never wanted to leave home alone.

“Last year, I was afraid to pass the checkpoints,” she says, smiling. “But when I came back from camp, I just told my mother, I will go alone through the checkpoints. If you want something from Jerusalem, I will go bring it.”

Her mother wasn’t always thrilled with Saja’s desire to spend time at the Seeds center in Jerusalem, though, and several times asked her to stop going. And neither parent was happy when she had a dream “about God” two months ago and decided to put on the hijab and study the Koran in earnest. Her mother, she says, has been pleading with her to take it off, at least in Maine, but Saja is resolute.

“When a girl puts on the hijab, something changes inside of her,” she explains.

Reconciling peace with military service

While Saja and Adar tried to reconcile life back home with the ideals of camp, Ariel was facing life after Seeds. His commitment to peace had already been tested once, when a friend was killed in a suicide bombing, and Ariel is confident it’s a commitment that will survive the army. That’s not to say the decision was easy.

“On the one hand, I have a great desire to serve my country and do it in the best possible way,” he writes in an e-mail. “On the other hand, after listening to my Arab friends and after being at Seeds I know the suffering of the other side.”

His Arab friends know he’s joining the army, and Ariel says they’re supportive. In the meantime, he has stayed closely connected with the Seeds center in Jerusalem, where he has been learning to facilitate the sensitive coexistence, or “coex,” sessions between Israelis and Palestinians. The work, he says, reinforced for him what he considers the ultimate lesson of Seeds of Peace: listening.

That’s a lesson Sami has taken to heart this summer. Last year, he often engaged in heated debates, and became easily frustrated when, say, an Israeli settler in his coex session relied on “different facts” from his. This year’s “coex” sessions for returning campers are less about politics, though, and more about trust and communication. Surprisingly, Sami likes the change.

“You get to know the personality of someone truthfully,” he says. “This year, I’m trying to listen more than to talk.”

Read Amanda Paulson’s first 2002 Christian Science Monitor story »

Seed Stories: Finding a home in the field

Jun 3, 2019 / 1 Comment

Twenty-five years ago, I was born in a refugee camp in Kenya after my parents fled the civil war in Somalia. My parents struggled to keep my brothers and I secure, fed, and sheltered.

Our struggle became even worse when my parents decided to divorce, divide the children they had together, and go their separate ways. I went with my father.

By the age of 6, I already had the responsibilities of an adult. I had to cook, clean, and look after my little brother while my father left to search for food. The shelter we lived in was slowly tearing apart. Every day, wild animals like hyenas and lions would dig, rip, and damage it, exposing us to the elements. Hope was slowly leaving our hearts.

But then, a miracle happened. After years of feeling hopeless, we learned that the United Nations had selected our family for resettlement to the United States. Friends and neighbors spoke highly of America and told us we were going to a place that was heaven on earth. We were extremely excited for the opportunities our new life was going to offer us. We had been given a second chance.

In September 2005, we were resettled to Syracuse, New York, one of the poorest cities in the nation, especially for black folks. We were nervous and unsure how to make use of the resources that were available. Paying monthly bills was a new idea to us. We did not know where to look for food and when we found it, our bodies rejected much of it. The only thing that tasted familiar was candy. It was a completely new world.

We were given a home in an area Syracuse people know as the Bricks. It was also known as the hood or the projects. We didn’t know what the “hood” was or what it meant to live in one, but we were confident that it was going to be better than the refugee camp we came from.

I was excited to go to school. Unable to speak the English language, I used basic senses to understand and communicate with my peers. After my first week of school, I was bullied by a classmate. At the time, I was naive and did not realize I was being bullied. I comprehended the situation as a way Americans communicate and thought that it was a weird way to make a new friend.

From the time I began school, to the time I went to college, I lost count of the number of times I was attacked. I soon learned that the people attacking me were affiliated with gangs. They had guns and were not afraid to use them. At night, I would hear gunshots near my house. In the morning, as I walked to the area where the bus picked me up for school, I would see a trail of blood on the pavement from someone who had been wounded.

As I began to understand English, I realized I was not safe from verbal attacks either. I was treated like a criminal based on my skin color. People called the cops on my friends and I, when we hadn’t done anything wrong. I learned to avoid looking like a Muslim whenever there was an attack on American soil. l was made to feel that coming to America as a refugee who seeks asylum is the worst thing you can be. People automatically concluded that you had come to take away their American Dream. All of the ignorant, negative stereotypes that were associated with coming from a refugee camp in Kenya were hurled in my direction. Once, a fellow classmate scraped cookie crumbs off of her desk and into her palm after eating a cookie and tried to hand me the crumbs, suggesting I should eat them. It was the most dehumanizing incident I’ve ever experienced in my short life, one I still struggle to forget.

This was not the America I was told about back in the refugee camp. I began to hate who I was and where I came from because of the way people treated me. As a result of these experiences, a small, negative voice developed in my mind, which gradually got louder. It was saying things such as ‘You are nothing. You deserve nothing. You are a burden to people; you are worthless.’ I could not turn it off. I was feeling mental pain that hurt more than physical pain. I didn’t know what it was but I wanted it to stop.

But then another miracle happened. I learned about Seeds of Peace. I didn’t know what it was, but I liked the word ‘peace’ in the organization’s name. My brothers told me it was a place where we could water-ski and play soccer every day. I went to the introductory meetings held after school. It sounded amazing and just what I had been yearning for and from the moment I set foot on the Camp’s grounds, I knew a journey of self-discovery and transformation had begun.

In the dialogue hut, I was given the space to unbottle all of the things I had bottled up over the years. I allowed myself to venture out of my comfort zone, to try new activities and to learn more about myself and others. Although I am normally a reserved and shy person, I found myself singing and dancing in front of people in an uninhibited way. I bonded with people from different socio-economic, racial, and religious backgrounds over bonfires and s’mores. I was made to feel that I was enough, and that my difference was beautiful. It was the happiest three weeks of my life.

There’s a saying at Seeds of Peace: out beyond ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. I learned that people in this field look beyond labels of society. They use the “I” statement when they speak and not “they” or “them.” They delve into the most challenging topics fearlessly in the hope of growing past their comfort zone. They listen with their whole bodies even when they disagree with what is being said. They love with their whole hearts and help each other dismantle and heal from past experiences. This was an unreal experience. Unknowingly, it was what I had been searching for my whole life. It refurbished the hope that had been damaged by the outside world. Seeds of Peace became the place I call home.

Today, I work as a substitute teacher in the public schools of Syracuse and use every opportunity to mentor, educate, and empower students to become more than what the hood offers. I am on the board of directors for a non-profit that connects new Americans to the resources that help them transition into their new life. I am also on the board of a local non-profit credit union that helps fight off big banks that make poor communities poorer and works to keep the community’s money within the community. And I am working on a documentary that helps people understand what it means to be a refugee in America.

For as long as I walk this earth, I plan to keep what Seeds of Peace made me feel in my heart and use it as a hope for what this world can one day become. No matter where life takes me, I plan to live by the late Camp Director Wil Smith’s words and do “whatever I can, with whatever I have, wherever I am.”

Excerpt from remarks delivered at the 2019 Spring Benefit Dinner on April 30 in New York.

‘Who’s gonna bring the change?’ Pakistani Seed hosts dialogue for changemakers

Oct 30, 2021 / No Comments

What’s better than youth taking part in Seeds of Peace dialogue? When Seeds use their facilitation skills to create opportunities for more youth in their communities to do the same.

Not long after attending Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine, Samir, a 2019 Pakistan Seed, conceived the idea of a program that would allow opportunities for more youth to get a taste of the transformative power of dialogue that he had experienced.

“I honestly felt enlightened after my dialogue and felt that I had the power to change the world,” Samir said. “I still carry that power, and I am not ready to let go of it. I will pick myself up if I fall down, because if not me, then who’s gonna bring the change?”

Earlier this summer, with the support of 2018 Seed Ali Haris and the Wonder Y Academy (which Ali founded), Samir organized and hosted “Dialogue for Changemakers,” a six-day dialogue program for teenagers.

The in-person program took place at Titan College in Karachi and was completely student-run, including with several volunteers who participated in the Seeds of Peace 2021 Pakistani Youth Leadership and Dialogue Camp. Thirteen students (selected from a pool of 50 applicants) explored complex topics like religion, culture, nationality, and gender within Pakistani society while learning the fundamentals of dialogue in a supportive environment.

“You bond in a different way with your dialogue group because you speak your heart out without the fear of being judged,” Samir said. “That kind of comfort is not available for people

out there. So, I wanted this space to be a safe space for them and the people to be there for each other as support systems so they can hold each other in the tough times we find ourselves shackled in.”

It is especially during these challenging times, Samir said, that it is most important for youth to hear opposing viewpoints and learn from one another.

“Dialogue is an alien term to many Pakistanis,” said Hana Tariq, head of curriculum for Beyond the Classroom, which partners with Seeds of Peace to run local programs in Pakistan. “Seeing Seeds like Samir creating safe spaces for dialogue in the most meaningful way possible, is the change we wish and hope to see.”

Learn more about our South Asia Programs ››

Sowing seeds of peace in nice kids
The Day (Connecticut)

Aug 25, 2002 / No Comments

We on the shores have torn down walls;
We stand hand in hand as we watch the bricks fall.
We’ve learned from the past and fear not what’s ahead;
I now I’ll not walk alone, but with a friend instead.
– from “I am a Seed of Peace”

I first learned about Seeds of Peace in articles in The New York Times and the Wall Street Journal and on the television show “60 Minutes.” The more I heard about this world-wide organization, the more curious I became. I was fascinated with the idea of bringing children together from warring cultures and then “replanting” them in their societies to try to grow peace. I had to see for myself, so in July my husband and I visited the camp.

Each summer, hundreds of teenagers spend a month at a summer camp in Maine, living side-by-side with people they have been led to by their upbringing to hate. Founded in 1993 by the late author and journalist John Wallach, Seeds of Peace now is recognized as the leading international conflict resolution program for youth. From 46 Israeli, Palestinian, and Egyptian teenagers in 1993, the organization now conducts extensive year-round coexistence programs and has more than 2,000 graduates representing 22 nations.

Growing up, I always had been drawn to people of different ethnic backgrounds. I loved learning about world affairs, social problems and civic virtue. In the 1960s I was caught up in the struggle of civil rights. I remember my husband and I going to Boston to hear Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. speak. The world was changing, and I believed becoming a better place. Seeds of Peace appealed to my sense of optimism. Being a Jew, I was also attracted by the hope it raised for the possibility of peace in the Middle East.

The very site evokes the sentiment of peace. It is situated in a pine forest on beautiful Pleasant Lake in Otisfield, Me. The wind whistles through the trees. The air is filled with the aroma of pine needles. There, these children of distant wars engage in soccer, canoeing, swimming, sailing, cricket, basketball, tennis and arts. This year, the campers created a float for the local July 4 parade.

Yaakov Sadan, 17, is an Israeli Jew. Dark-haired and handsome, he was spending his third year at the camp and this year returned as a counselor.

Yassin Fayed Ghoz, 15, from Cairo, Egypt told me his dad runs a business back home. He is fascinated by computer science. He said the camp has opened his eyes. He has learned that each camper is a human being and has similar feelings. He said, “Sometimes people see peace with their own eyes, but do not admit it.” In speaking of the Mideast war he said he supports “the truth.” He was hesitant to speak further.

Sara Abuhijleh is a 16-year old Palestinian from Jerusalem. She told me her favorite subject is history and she is in the 11th grade. She has four sisters and her father is a professor in Birzeit. She emphasized, “My family wants peace. It is the governments who want war, not the people.” She was delightful to talk with, and at the end of the day hugged me and said, “You remind me of my grandmother.” I was touched.

For two hours I sat in on a session on coexistence. Emotions were so strong the room was electrified when they talked about conflicts and politics in their own countries. One Palestinian stated it was not right that they do no have a state of their own. He was angry. His eyes blazed and he confronted his Jewish friend who sat next to him. His Jewish friend stood up and shouted, “Your country has to learn to be responsible and have a credible leader. Arafat is not trustworthy.”

Another said, “You and I are human beings. We and our families have to learn to live side by side.”

Yet another said, “Israeli troops are everywhere. I don’t want to feel safe by having 20 Israeli soldiers around me. I want to feel safe in a free atmosphere.”

An Egyptian boy stated, “Intifada happens in many countries when that country has been oppressed—even in the U.S.” He was referring to civil rights.

At the conclusion of the session, one Palestinian girl said, “I learned new things. I had a chance to listen to the other side.”

From a Jewish boy from Tel Aviv: “We understand each other better. Arguments came up, but we still respected each other.” The two counselors who led this session felt many good things had come about from all the emotion and opinions expressed. At the end of the session individuals teamed up into couples, each couple deciding to swim together or take part in another activity.

One of the most vivid memories of my visit is when the entire group of campers sat in a huge circle, arms around each other, all wearing green Seeds of Peace T-shirts, and sang the signature song of the camp. Its refrain was:

I am a Seed of Peace, a Seed of Peace, a Seed of Peace
I am a Seed, a Seed of Peace,
I am a Seed, I am a Seed of Peace.
Peace, peace, peace, peace

The question arises: Once these “Seeds” return to their own countries and eventually are called to serve in the Army, will they be the same? Will they be the same Edi or Tzachi that all the campers knew at summer camp? That is an answer that only time can provide. But until then, I have the deepest faith in these kids. Asel Asleh was a strong Palestinian and a friend to dozens of Israelis. He was a proud Muslim who learned at Christian schools and visited Jewish friends on their holidays. He worked for peace, and stood for his rights without hurting anyone. He was a Seed who was so loved at camp.

Sadly, he returned to Israel in 2000 and was one of those killed. He wrote while at camp, “Out beyond ideas of right-doing and wrong-doing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. Until we meet in the field, my friend, take care.”

At the end of the day I felt wonderful. I had grown and learned so much. I continue to believe in Israel and all it stands for. I also believe the Palestinians should have a homeland they can call their own. I urge anyone who has the chance to visit Seeds of Peace. As United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said, “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. Seeds of Peace certainly is an example of the world the United Nations is actively working for.”

Claudia Shapiro lives in Waterford.

Seeds of Peace alumni concerned about campers coming this summer
Lewiston Sun Journal

Feb 11, 2017 / 1 Comment

OTISFIELD | The gates of the international Seeds of Peace camp on the shores of Pleasant Lake must remain open this summer to ensure the continuation of its mission to bring unity to the world, members of the organization said.

“The (Trump) administration is saying we’ll be safer by building walls,” said Salim Salim, a Bowdoin College freshman and Seeds of Peace camper. “The more you close your doors to people, the more hate there will be.”

For the past 25 summers, about 200 young people from some of the most troubled areas of the world have come to Otisfield to raise their nation’s flags, join hands and voices, and begin a process of unity that is unknown in some of their homelands.

But this year, many in the organization are worried that President Donald Trump may undo their efforts.

Decisions by Trump to build a wall along the border with Mexico, to indefinitely suspended Syrian refugees, and to bar nearly all travelers from seven Muslim-majority countries — Iran, Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Somalia, Libya and Sudan — has many in the Seeds of Peace organization concerned.

“At Seeds of Peace, we create rare spaces — spaces filled with people who wouldn’t otherwise find themselves in the same room together, let alone in the same room working together, learning together and leading change together,” Executive Director Leslie Lewin said in a statement issued following the travel ban.

Each summer, Lewin leads the campers in an emotional opening ceremony at the gates to the camp on Powhatan Road and then works throughout the year with leaders and others around the world to promote the organization’s work.

“We know that our work is not always easy and not always popular, either,” she said. “It takes enormous courage to engage and speak up when pulling back feels so much safer. Our work rests on a set of core values: courage, respect, critical thinking and impactful engagement.”

The actions and orders of President Trump “stand in stark contrast to these values. In fact, the very notion of shutting people out and choosing to disengage undermines the very reason why Seeds of Peace was founded nearly 25 years ago,” she said in her statement.

Campers come to Otisfield from Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Palestine, Pakistan, Afghanistan and the United States.

At the opening ceremony, second-year campers serve as leaders. Each delegation sings their national anthem as their flag is raised and then together all campers sing the Seeds of Peace song as that flag is raised.

It is the only flag allowed on the campgrounds for the next three weeks.

The program is aimed at shifting attitudes and perceptions, building respect and empathy. From there, camp alumni, now 6,500-plus strong, lead change throughout some 27 countries in the Middle East, South Asia, the United States and Europe.

Camper Abdul Mohamed, a junior at Lewiston High School, said there is a lot of pain now and a lot of uncertainty.

“No one really knows what to do,” he said. “If we have unity, it’s the height we have to reach right now.
“My mom and dad came to this country to seek a better life for me and my family,” he said.

After Trump’s election, Mohamed said he suddenly felt excluded from classmates, particularly those who supported Trump.

Although he initially felt that he should not try to hang out with them, he soon realized that his mindset was “not going to get me anywhere.”

“It’s OK to (peacefully) protest, but having a conversation there also has to be listening,” he said. “You have to be respectful and let people talk.”

In Lewiston, he said, dialog began among the students and unity returned.

Open dialog is at the heart of the Seeds of Peace process.

Two years ago, Mohamed said he and other Maine campers who were visiting the international camp for a day encountered Palestinian and Israeli campers who could not come together and talk. They convinced them that they needed to talk to each other, to “be open-minded,” and soon they were engaged in conversation and understanding.

Salim Salim, who moved from Iraq to Maine in 2010 and is vice president of his freshman class, said he worries about the Seeds of Peace campers coming to Maine this summer.

“Our mission is to put a face on the so-called enemy,” he said. “To have Israelis and Palestinians end up friends in just three weeks is an amazing, amazing result. It says so much about the things we’re told and the lies we’re told.”

Salim said students at Bowdoin have been upset with the current state of affairs.

“We’re trying to have discussions,” he said. “As class vice president, I tell them I’m here for them. I’m a resource if they want to talk. The challenge is to connect with people when there’s so much hate.”

Salim’s parents live in Portland and he said the fear and anger around them is evident.

“My parents get dirty looks when they’re in the supermarket,” Salim said. “The identity of a person has no connection with who that person is.”

Salim said other members of his family are in Turkey and hope to come to the United States on their Iraqi passports but fear they may not get in.

“The longer they stay in Iraq the more dangerous it becomes,” he said. “Once ISIS finds out, it only gets worse. There’s a high chance they might get killed.”

“I think my biggest concern right now is they will not feel welcome in this country,” Salim said of those coming into the U.S.

“They were brought here to be provided with a safe place,” Salim said. “They can’t do that at home. They’re realizing they have First Amendment rights, they have the freedom to say whatever they want to, but to have Trump strip away that right from them is not much different than what’s happening in their homes.”

“Making America more ignorant is what’s going on,” he said.

Read Leslie Dixon’s article at the Lewiston Sun Journal ››

Gottschalk to receive Lehrman-Pikser Award for outstanding service

Oct 10, 1997 / No Comments

WASHINGTON | Two deserving members of the Washington Jewish community—Seeds of Peace Executive Director Barbara (Bobbie) Gottschalk, LCSW-C, ACSW, and Ben Williamowsky, DDS—will receive the Jac J. Lehrman-George M. Pikser Award for outstanding professional or volunteer social service.

The awards will be presented Thursday, November 20, at the 1997 Jewish Social Service Agency (JSSA) Annual Meeting at Washington Hebrew Congregation.

In her 13 years on the JSSA staff, Bobbie Gottschalk was instrumental in developing a wide range of programs for individuals with disabilities. She considers that accomplishment as “doing the impossible” in an era when such programs were just beginning to emerge.

Now she’s again doing the impossible at Seeds of Peace—bringing together Arab and Israeli teenagers together at a Maine camp where they share their lives for four summer weeks. As JSSA’s Special Services director, Gottschalk created, developed and managed counseling, case management, and advocacy programs for individuals with disabilities and their families.

“When I first started at JSSA there was nowhere for families to turn,” she said. “Society didn’t expect people with disabilities to lead normal lives. When we first started offering services, people came pouring out of the woodwork. We had opened a Pandora’s box that needed to be opened.”

Gottschalk also helped establish JSSA’s innovative and widely acclaimed counseling program for deaf and hard of hearing individuals, and was instrumental in the successful effort to make JSSA offices barrier-free. During her tenure, a JSSA Special Service Subcommittee investigated the need for group homes for adults with disabilities, eventually developing the now-independent Jewish Foundation for Group Homes. She also helped develop a dance troupe that includes deaf and hard of hearing members under the auspices of the Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts.

Gottschalk was invited by journalist John Wallach, founder of Seeds of Peace, to become the organization’s first executive director. Dedicated to teaching Arab and Israeli teenagers to forge the personal friendships that are the building blocks for peace, Seeds of Peace achieves its goal by bringing Arab and Israeli 14-year-olds—175 of them this past summer—to camp, where they share every aspect of life, from sleeping and eating together to playing sports to learning conflict resolution.

The five-year-old organization has graduated more than 600 teens from Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Palestine, Qatar, Tunisia, and the United States—as well as Bosnia and Serbia. “When they come to us, the kids believe their enemies are not to be trusted, that they’re dirty cheaters out to get them,” Gottschalk said. “Then they come to camp and experience the opposite. They sleep in a cabin together, eat together, play together, brush their teeth together—and nothing bad happens. So then they have to adjust their thinking, because what they believed just doesn’t fit anymore.”

Central to the success of the four-week program is its neutral, supportive environment, and coexistence workshops, in which professional American, Arab and Israeli facilitators teach listening and negotiation skills, leading to empathy, respect, confidence and hope.

Back in the Middle East, the camp graduates participate in art weekends in neutral communities, creating “Building Blocks for Peace” sculptures out of building materials; participate in coexistence workshops, reunions and conferences; make presentations and initiate projects at their schools to help dispel the misconceptions of their peers; and, in Arab-Israeli pairs, write articles for their eight-page newsletter, “The Olive Branch,” published four times a year.

In March, Gottschalk received the Medal of Honor from Jordan’s King Hussein. Gottschalk describes herself as an “expert audience, because I love watching people make progress, and I’ll do anything to foster it. At JSSA, we helped people achieve as close to a normal life as possible, and that is an extremely satisfying experience.”

At Seeds of Peace, Gottschalk is reprising her role, “but on a larger scope. I’ve moved from my neighborhood to another part of the world to be an expert audience—to laugh and cry and respond—and to watch the important progress taking place. What is more important than bringing Egyptians, Palestinians and Israelis together 24 hours a day?”

Gottschalk has fostered progress in her local community as well. She served on the Montgomery County Commission on People with Disabilities, and on the boards of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington and UJA Federation, chairing UJAF’s 1993 Super Sunday fundraising effort. She is a board member and past president of the Bethesda Academy of Performing Arts and is a founding board member, past secretary, and current advisory board member of the Jewish Foundation for Group Homes.

According to Gottschalk, the Seeds of Peace participants best describe its benefits. “An Egyptian boy said that Seeds of Peace is the place where you find out what kind of character you really have,” she said. “And a Jordanian girl said that to make peace, you first have to go to war with yourself, and this the place you can do that safely.”

Alumni Profile: Ahmed
Educating a new generation of leaders in Pakistan

May 10, 2018 / No Comments

Our alumni are working in ways small and large to make an impact in their communities. This “Alumni Profiles” blog series will feature some of our over 7,000 changemakers in 27 countries around the world who are working to transform conflict.

Ahmed has been on our radar for a long time: three years after attending Camp as part of 2004’s Pakistani Delegation, he was elected the youngest-ever leader of the Youth Parliament of Pakistan.

Now, as one of our Seeds of Peace GATHER Fellows, Ahmed is using his visionary educational model—the Lincoln School System—to bring equality to women’s education in Pakistan.

Seeds of Peace: Tell us a little about your journey starting the Lincoln School System.

Ahmed: It was a difficult decision to start this academic institution, as I did it without funding from any donors. All I had was the will to transform the lives of poor children of Pakistan. The day I opened the school, we had 15 students; now we have 175. We have grown from a staff of two teachers to 11 teachers and six support staff. It’s been such a fulfilling journey, but it’s also just the beginning.

Seeds of Peace: Can you talk a little bit more about the program?

Ahmed: Lincoln School System is an organization that provides high-quality, affordable English-medium education [Ed: a system that uses English as the primary language of instruction] to children living in areas with low literacy rates. It works on a unique model that charges a full tuition fee for boys and uses that money to heavily subsidize the education of girls. We had to adopt this model as many people in Pakistan spend money on the education of boys while sending girls to extremely low-quality government schools or free Islamic seminaries.

Seeds of Peace: What do you aim to accomplish as a GATHER Fellow?

Ahmed: My vision is to reach out to millions of uneducated children in Pakistan and change their lives for the better. I know I cannot do it alone and I need to learn from some of the best minds working around the world. As I learn from people doing amazing things in their respective fields, I will be able to expand the network of schools and reach out to those children whose families have been living in poverty for generations.

Seeds of Peace: What is your superpower?

Ahmed: Wolverine’s super healing! No, seriously—it’s the ability to recover from any setback. There have been many times when I faced extreme difficulties and it seemed that I would have to curtail the scope of the organization. However, my team and I never gave up and always bounced back to transform the lives of children. I am very proud of it.

Seeds of Peace: What about the incubator in Stockholm got you most excited? Was there anything you were nervous about?

Ahmed: I was excited to meet amazing social leaders from around the world. I learned from the best of the best, but now I also feel like I have a lot of weight on my shoulders. I sincerely hope that I’m able to implement the ideals I learned in Stockholm and transform the lives of millions of children in Pakistan!

We wish Ahmed and Lincoln School System the best of luck! Of course, with the tools and support system the GATHER Fellowship, luck is the last thing he’ll need. For more information on the Lincoln School System, visit their Facebook page.

Photos by Stina Svanberg.

In Laden’s Shadow
Mid Day (Mumbai)

May 3, 2011 / No Comments

Even as the world is abuzz about Osama Bin Laden’s death, students from India, Pakistan and Afghanistan get together at a tri-nation conference to promote understanding and debate on various issues

MUMBAI | A bunch of Pakistani students got together with their Indian counterparts as well as with a group of school children from Afghanistan for five days in Mumbai under the ‘Voices of The People’ project organised by Seeds of Peace (SOP), an international Non Governmental Organisation (NGO). The teenagers debated some contentious issues like terrorism and religion. Photography, videography and print media were used by the students to present their ‘research topics’. After working hard for five days in Mumbai, an exhibition was held at Sophia College, Bhulabhai Desai Road, where the students displayed their work.

Connection

Two-and-a-half years ago ten Pakistanis slipped into Mumbai in the dark of night and wrought mayhem, killing more than 170 people. The armed assailants were one face of Pakistan, which is so familiar to the Indians. Last week another face of Pakistan was on show in the city, the one which Indian youth could identify with easily –inquisitive, emancipated and liberal. The organisation, which strives to bring the children of conflict zones together, doesn’t seek mutual agreement on the issues but simply provides a platform to young people to express their points of view. For instance, the students from India and Pakistan may not have agreed on Kashmir, but at least they were able to appreciate each other’s point of view amicably and in the process became friends. Seeds of Peace, which started in 1993, believes the tripartite interaction will help overcome biases and misgivings about each other and promote better understanding. Agrees Noorzadeah Raja (17), a participant from Lahore in Pakistan, “Terrorism is a problem in our country but there is more to Pakistan. And that is the reason we are here. Such camps will help us develop a well rounded perspective concerning issues involving all the three countries.”

Afghanistan

It is Sahar Sekandri’s (from Kabul) first visit to India and she is overwhelmed by the, “warmth displayed by the people here. In Afghanistan, people don’t talk much. Most of them are reticent.”

Sekandri who speaks fluent English says she had taken courses at various language learning centres in Afghanistan. “The medium of instruction in our college is Dari and English is taught as a separate language,” says Sekandri whose family, had migrated to Pakistan after the Taliban regime came to power and had returned to Kabul in 2003. “My father thought that we should return to our own country as the Taliban was not there anymore,” answered Sekandri when asked which other countries she had visited. Talking about the situation in Kabul, she says, “My parents are really concerned when we go out of the house. You don’t know what will happen next . Every day you hear about bomb blasts.”

Unlike Sekandri who was wearing a hijab, Lalen Azadani (14) was in jeans and a t-shirt without a hijab or headscarf. “Even in Afghanistan, I wear t-shirts and jeans at home and my parents don’t mind at all, but outside I have to go fully covered,” says Azadani who studies in a girls school in Kabul. She and her family, originally from Herat, are currently based in Kabul as, “they find Kabul safer than Herat. There is war in our country and the situation is bad but we hope that peace will return soon to Afghanistan. It will not happen in five or six years, it will take time till peace is restored in war-torn Afghanistan. Sooner or later though there will be peace in the country.” On her first impressions about Mumbai, she promptly says, “I like it.” Both the Afghan girls, Azadani and Sekandari want to become lawyers and serve their country. While Sekandari wants to eventually become an ambassador, Azadani just wants to be a good citizen.

Pakistan

Pakistan’s Faraz Saleem Malik (16), who is on his first visit to India, is already a convert to the cause of fostering unity among the three nations. Fed on the 24×7 media rhetoric against India and an overdose of bias back home, Malik feared hostility but he says he was overwhelmed by Indian hospitality. He wonders why the media is disregarding it, “Why don’t we get to hear more about the hospitality that is extended when somebody from Pakistan visits India and vice versa?”

Experience

Organisers say the camp went off extremely well. “The children are so excited with their projects. It has been a wonderful experience to actually see them working together,” says Feruzan Mehta, Director of Programmes, Seeds of Peace, India. “All we gave them was a notepad, a pen and a camera,” says Awista Ayub, Director of South Asia Programme, SOP. A total of 30 participants (most of them in the age group of 14-19) were divided into groups of three, all of them comprising members from all three countries. The members of the team had been assigned to do videos on some of the issues common to all the three countries, such as corruption and cricket. The team led by Malik made a short film on, ‘Cricket’. The task given to the group was to find out if cricket could help bind the three nations together. Malik says the outcome of his project is not surprising, “The response was good. Most of them said yes and some of them said no. Many believed that cricket should be treated just like any other game and not as if two nations are at war over it.”

Religion

Sana Kardar (19), from Lahore in Pakistan, who along with her group members made a short film on religion called, ‘Flipside of religion’. “Intentionally or unintentionally, whenever we talk about religion, we tend to link some form of extremism with it. So, we wanted to portray that there is a lot more to religion,” says Kardar, who is currently pursuing an undergraduate programme at Queen Mary, University of London. Kardar had visited Delhi before but it is her first visit to Mumbai. When asked about her first impressions of the city, Kardar said, “I think Mumbai is similar to Karachi because people live in flats and there is a space crunch. Delhi and Lahore are quite similar. I don’t even have a feeling that I am actually in a different country.”

Love

While Kardar chose religion as her research topic, Sekandari from Kabul in Afghanistan and her group decided to work on something that has a universal appeal. ‘Love’ was what they wanted to research. Their movie shows Sekandari strolling at the Mumbai’s famous Marine Drive promenade. Sekandari carefully observes hordes of lovebirds, who gather there to spend time with each other. The movie explores the subject of arranged marriages versus love marriages in Mumbai. When asked, if love marriages are acceptable in Afghanistan, Sekandri explained, “Mostly it is arranged marriage in my country. Parents decide who you have to marry.”

Bollywood

If there is something that is exciting to all the participants from the three countries, it has to be Bollywood. Ask them about their favourite actors and they rattle off names effortlessly. For Sekandri, her favourite film is ‘Jab We Met’. “My favourite actor is Ranbir Kapoor and favourite actress is Katrina Kaif and I am a big time movie buff,” she admits. For Abdul Shapoor (16), from Afghanistan, it is Govinda’s dance moves that appeal to him. A self-proclaimed break-dancer, Shapoor claims to be a diehard Govinda fan. “I have watched all his movies including Raja Babu. I even try to emulate his moves,” he says. Apart from Bollywood it is cricket too, which brings the three nations together. Says one of the participants from Afghanistan, “Whenever there is a match between India and Pakistan, a few of us support India and some of us support Pakistan. But now, even we are trying to become part of the cricketing world and cricket is very popular in Afghanistan.”

Misconception

Sekandri jokingly says that a lot of people had asked her if she knew Osama? “I told them that he is not my uncle,” she says Strange as it may sound, one of them who had come to see the exhibition says, “All the kids from three different countries look so similar that it is difficult to identify their nationality.” Agrees Kardar who was wearing a black velvet mini skirt, “I was mistaken for a Mumbaikar.” On her country’s image of being very ‘conservative’ Kardar firmly replies, “If my parents don’t have a problem with my attire, why should I bother about somebody else?” Kardar strongly defends her country when questioned about the fact that many perceive Pakistan as a country, which exports terror. “It is not only Pakistan. There are a lot of forces, which are active there. Blaming Pakistan for every terrorist attack that happens anywhere is not fair at all.” While students answered questions on some global issues, they definitely made friends for a lifetime. “Shapoor is more like my brother now,” says Jehan Lalkaka (17) from Mumbai, who had met an Afghani for the first time. “We are all the same, I believe,” he adds.

Concern

More importantly the programme is aimed at making these ‘seeds’, messengers of peace in the future. The concern is palpable in Mumbaikar Teju Jhaveri’s (23) words. “Everytime there is a bomb blast in these regions, you know that somebody you are close to is there. Immediately you make a phone call to ensure that he /she is fine. That is what is important,” says Jhaveri, who has been associated with the programme for nine years now.

About the Programme

‘Seeds of Peace’ was founded by journalist, John Wallach, and is dedicated to “empowering young leaders from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence.”

In Mumbai

The participants tried to capture the ‘Mumbaikar spirit’ through the lens. They visited places like Haji Ali Dargah and were amazed to see, “how people from different religions visit the Durgah to seek blessings, something that we in Afghanistan and Pakistan cannot even imagine doing,” says one of the participants from Pakistan.

Many spoke to Mumbaikars and asked them, what they thought of religion. A lot of them spoke to youngsters in the city and asked them about corruption and what could be done to eradicate it. The participants also got a chance to visit a few schools meant for underprivileged children.

Many of them wanted to bring out similarities and differences between Indian, Pakistani and Afghani cuisine. A visit to various Peshawari and Mughlai restaurants in the city like-Cafe Noorani near Haji Ali and Delhi Durbar in Colaba helped them to understand more about the food in the city. While some pointed out that there were subtle differences in the way, say a naan was prepared but overall the food in all the three countries was, “pretty much the same”.

Movies made by the participants:

  • Cricket
  • Bonding over Biryani
  • Sujaya (a school for underprivileged children)
  • Corruption
  • Flipside of religion
  • Prince Wales Museum
  • Religious pluralism in Mumbai
  • Mind follower or rebel

Read Sudeshna Chowdhury article at MiD DAY »

Thanksgiving seminar focuses US Seeds on role of American leadership abroad

Nov 26, 2012 / 1 Comment

NEW YORK | After stuffing themselves with food and gratitude on Thanksgiving, 20 American Seeds traveled to New York City to stuff themselves with food for thought.

This year’s Thanksgiving Seminar brought timely and challenging issues to the table. Seeds in attendance heard from a diverse group of older graduate Seeds to get perspectives on the US elections and the current escalation of violence in Gaza and Israel.

American Seed Coordinator Sarah Brajtbord designed the event as a launching point for a new chapter in American Seeds programming.

“Historically, American Seeds programming has focused, rightly so, on what is happening ‘out there’ in regions of conflict,” said Brajtbord, herself an American Seed from 2006. “Now we are taking the next step by pushing Seeds to connect the US to the international and the international to the US, and examine the complexities of US-international relations.”

Brajtbord believes that the event set an exciting tone for the rest of the year in American programming. Topics in current events helped the Seeds discuss deeper, underlying questions about their roles as Americans.

“What do you think America’s role is in the Middle East?” asked one of the graduate Seeds who addressed the group. Bashar, a Palestinian Graduate Seed living in Israel, posed the question to get the Seeds to look inward. It was a question many of the American Seeds had thought about at Camp, without directly addressing as a group.

“The conversation following Bashar’s talk really inspired me to take my role as an American Seed seriously,” said Erica. “It pushed me to define who I want to be in the Seeds community and in my community as well.”

Brajtbord says that the American Seeds’ Camp experience is a dramatically eye-opening experience, and that it is important to help Seeds manifest that experience in their lives back home.

“These are future American leaders, no matter where they go in their lives. We have to localize and ground their experience in the American context while also doing justice to the world-opening experience of Camp.”

The event helped enrich Seeds’ understanding of nuanced issues.

“The seminar added a lot of complexity to my understanding of U.S. foreign policy and what I think we should and should not be doing in other countries,” said Sarah, an American Seed.

Mona, an Egyptian Graduate Seed who covered the Arab Spring for The New York Times, spoke to the Seeds in person about her experiences as a journalist and her views on the US role in the Middle East. She challenged the Seeds to understand that there are always more than two sides to a story—and to a conflict.

From Kabul, Afghan Graduate Seed and journalist Mujib addressed the US elections from an Afghan perspective and shared the local outlook on President Obama’s plans to withdraw from Afghanistan in 2014.

“When I’d talked to the Afghan girls in my bunk about American involvement, they had wanted the US out immediately,” said American Seed Kalyani. “But Mujib said that many citizens didn’t feel their government was stable enough for the U.S. to leave as planned.”

The timing of this year’s seminar meant that violence in Israel and Gaza, as well as its effects in the Seeds community, weighed heavily on Seeds’ hearts and minds. Two Seeds of Peace staff members who run Israeli and Palestinian programs—and who are Seeds themselves—explained how they are adapting their work in light of the violence and how American Seeds can help to support their peers.

“The whole discussion reinforced my image of Seeds as a place where they do not pretend to have all the answers to the issues but are really willing to help you work through the tough problems,” said American Seed Francesca after the event.

Brajtbord was impressed with the way American Seeds focused on current events from international as well as domestic perspectives.

“Rather than just talking about US elections as domestic issues, for example, the conversation focused on intersections between the domestic and the international. Even when the discussion shifted to current events in the Middle East, conversation kept coming back to what the US is and is not doing.”

While they may feel physically distanced from conflicts around the world, American Seeds have a unique opportunity for engagement.

“Even if we do not have the resources to go across the world to Palestine and Israel and help out there, simply being active members of our community in this issue and others will be beneficial to conflicts worldwide,” said American Seed Anour.