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Seeds of Peace plan brings Israeli, Arab children together
Associated Press

Aug 20, 1994 / No Comments

Students getting acquainted while in U.S.

CAMBRIDGE, MASS | They see themselves as fledgling ambassadors who can help solidify the shaky beginnings of peace in the Middle East.

About 200 Israeli, Egyptians, Moroccan, Palestinian and Jordanian youths ages 12 to 18 arrived in Boston late Wednesday to begin a four-week adventure of getting to know each other through the Seeds of Peace program.

The program includes a two-week stay at a camp in Oxford, Maine.

Shadi, an 18-year-old from Jordan, which decided only Saturday to send a delegation, sees himself as a token of the new peace between his country and Israel.

“When we are together 
 talking together, playing together, eating together, that will improve the peace,” Shadi said Thursday while attending a meeting at Harvard University. “We can make a small peace which grows into a big peace with our two governments.”

Tal, a 14-year-old Israeli girl from Jerusalem, thinks the program is a modest beginning.

“I don’t think it will have a big effect overall, but for us we’ll feel different having met Moroccan children,” she said.

Seeds of Peace was founded by John Wallach, foreign editor for Hearst Newspapers and author of three books on the Middle East, after the Feb. 26, 1993, bombing of the World Trade Center in New York by Muslim extremists. It is funded by private contributors and corporations. For security reasons, officials refused to allow the students’ last names to be used.

Participants are selected by their governments for their leadership qualities and their ability to speak English, program officials said. Next year, Seeds of Peace organizers hope to include children from Syria and Lebanon as well.

In Boston, the young people will attend a Patriots game, visit the New England Aquarium and the Museum of Science, and go to barbecues and other social events. They are staying at a Tufts University dormitory.

But the real work begins Monday when they go to Camp Powhatan, where they will play sports, do art projects and sit down for a daily rap session to talk about their fears and hopes, their differences and similarities. The camp, which lasts two weeks, is the heart of the program, organizers said.

Then they will go to Washington for a week for more sightseeing and meetings with elected officials.

“In the process of becoming friends with the other people, they meet prejudices head on,” said Bobbie Gottschalk, executive director of Seeds of Peace.

Barak, a 15-year-old Israeli boy from Jerusalem who came last summer also, said he is still in touch with many of the other teen-agers he met last year,

“I don’t care if they’re Palestinian or from the Gaza Strip. This is like turning a whole new page,” he said. “It may not make a difference to the whole world, but it will to my friends and their friends and their friends. I know I’ve changed a couple of people to think straight instead of crooked.”

Indo-Pak project grapples with versions of history
The Times of India

May 1, 2013 / 1 Comment

MUMBAI | Most schoolchildren in India associate the 1905 partition of Bengal with Hindus and Muslims uniting to oppose the division of the state along religious lines. They learn that Bengalis from both religions composed songs, marched barefoot to the Ganga and tied rakhis on each other in protest. In Pakistan, however, the partition of Bengal sparks off a different set of associations—those of furious Hindus agitating only because they couldn’t bear to see Muslims become a majority in East Bengal.

These divergent accounts of history have been put together in a book, ‘The History Project’, conceived in 2005 and compiled by youths aged 16 to 27 from both India and Pakistan. A core team of three Pakistanis, who were instrumental in creating the book, launched it last week at four Mumbai schools, two of them being J BPetit High School, Fort, and Gokuldham High School, Goregaon.

A note at the beginning explains that most of the book’s 30-odd contributors are graduates of Seeds of Peace, an international organization that brings together teenagers from conflict zones to a campsite in Maine, USA, for a few weeks every year. It was while debating history at this summer camp that most of the youngsters discovered the differences in their school textbooks. “We decided to make ‘The History Project’ … so that the reality that there are differences becomes literally inescapable,” said Qasim Aslam (27), a Pakistani entrepreneur and part of the book’s core team.

The project deals with the years from 1857 to 1947 and includes 16 historical events—such as the formation of the Indian National Congress and the All India Muslim League, the Khilafat Movement, Direct Action Day and the Mountbatten Plan.

“The War of Independence (in 1857) seemed like a good starting point because that is where the first divide happens,” said Pakistani Ayyaz Ahmad, another core team member who is also a consultant with the World Bank in Pakistan. Since the Civil Disobedience Movement is omitted from Pakistani textbooks, that page in the Pakistani section of the book is left blank. The editors have also focused on questions that recur in Std X and XII exams, because “if you trace a line across those events all of a sudden you can identify a narrative”, said Aslam.

To steer clear of controversy, the book’s editors chose to reproduce information from textbooks but not introduce an alternative narrative. “We stayed well away from coming up with anything that says we are experts and know what history is,” said Aslam.

This non-committal approach extends to the artwork, which uses a faceless character to avoid clichĂ©d depictions of Indians and Pakistanis. “I wanted to illustrate the illustration of history (on both sides) without imposing my view on it,” said artist Zoya Siddiqui.

‘The History Project’ has only seven Indians among the 30-odd contributors. All five editors are Pakistani and more Pakistani than Indian texts were used. When asked about this, a core-team member said there was a shortage of volunteers from India and those who visited Pakistan took only three books. Besides Seeds of Peace, the book has also been funded by the British Council and Global Changemakers, an international youth network.

Read Nergish Sunavala’s article at the Times of India â€șâ€ș

International camp sowing seeds of peace
Associated Press

Jul 16, 2001 / No Comments

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

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)

Changing the Histories of India and Pakistan
The Wall Street Journal

May 2, 2013 / No Comments

“What’s the first thing you think of when I say ‘Jinnah’?” Ayyaz Ahmad asks a Grade 10 history class in Mumbai.

“He looks like Voldemort,” one girl says, prompting everyone to erupt in laughter. “Traitor,” said another, “Evil, responsible for partition [of India].”

Many Pakistanis would be offended to hear children talk about the founding father of their country in such a way. But Mr. Ahmad isn’t surprised his question elicits this response. Indian history tends to portray Mr. Jinnah in a negative light.

Mr. Ahmad is a co-founder of The History Project, a Lahore-based group that has compiled a book to draw attention to the differences in India and Pakistan’s portrayals of history. The book contrasts the Indian and Pakistani narratives of historical events in high school textbooks.

“Our Indian textbooks place the responsibility for partition on Jinnah, while the Pakistani ones say that Gandhi was instrumental in partition
 and neither side talks in detail about the tragedy and violence during partition,” said Navaz Batlivala, a history teacher in Mumbai.

Mr. Ahmed and the two other co-founders of The History Project presented their work at four schools in Mumbai last month. They will visit 10 schools in Lahore when they return home in May.

“We are trying to give youth from India and Pakistan access to the other side of the story. Most of the time, they only hear one side,” said another co-founder of the project, Qasim Aslam.

The book includes excerpts from three Indian and nine Pakistani textbooks about 16 historical events, from the first war of independence in 1857 to the partition of the Subcontinent in 1947.

Stark contrasts emerge in the portrayal of political leaders, as well as the causes, consequences and even dates of events.

In 1905, Bengal was divided into two: West Bengal—with a Hindu majority—and East Bengal—with a Muslim Majority. The History Project refers to Indian textbooks that say the British claimed the partition was for administrative reasons, but a “hidden reason” was to divide Hindus and Muslims and curb a “rising tide of Indian nationalism.” Congress and other nationalists launched an anti-partition movement, in which both Hindus and Muslims marched, chanted slogans and composed songs to show their unity.

The Pakistani textbooks they refer to accept the British justification for the partition, saying there were “obvious administrative problems in trying to control such a large province.” But they say only Hindus launched a “violent agitation” against the partition, while Muslims were happy because they became a majority in East Bengal.

By June, The History Project team hopes to launch a Twitter feed that imagines political figures tweeting about historical events. “For example, after thousands of people showed up for the Lahore Resolution, Jinnah would tweet, ‘nailed it’ and Gandhi would comment, ‘show off’,” said Mr. Aslam.

Another event the two countries disagree on is the “Civil Disobedience Movement.” In Indian textbooks, it is celebrated as the coming together of disparate social groups to boycott British goods and join Mahatma Gandhi on the Salt March in April 1930. A blank page in The History Project suggests that Pakistani textbooks have omitted this movement from history.

“Princely States,” the final chapter of The History Project, raises the curtain on the ensuing conflict over the northern state of Kashmir, which was not delineated as part of either country when the British withdrew in 1947.

The Indian textbooks say armed intruders from Pakistan attacked Kashmir in 1947. Hari Singh, then ruler of the state, signed an agreement to join India, after which the Indian army went to defend Kashmir. But the Pakistani textbooks say Mr. Singh started a violent campaign against Kashmiri Muslims. When they revolted, with Pakistan’s support, he was forced to ask for India’s help. The Indian government agreed on the condition that Kashmir would sign an agreement to join India, the textbooks say.

The high school history curriculum in both countries doesn’t cover events after 1947. The History Project book also concludes here.

“We don’t want to raise emotions. We want children to question what they believe is the truth, and it’s easier to do that with history,” said Mr. Aslam.

The History Project juxtaposes narratives directly from textbooks, without including analysis or opinion. The illustrations use a “faceless man” to avoid stereotypes that are attached to well-known political personalities, said Zoya Siddiqui, the book’s illustrator.

The idea behind the project came from Feruzan Mehta when she was director of programs in India for Seeds of Peace, an international camp for teenagers from countries in conflict held annually in Maine.

“Historical events are politicized to substantiate present events
 and textbooks become a tool to bolster a political agenda,” said Ms. Mehta, adding that she hopes teachers in both countries use The History Project as a reference tool, going beyond the prescribed curriculum.

“Textbooks all over the world are one-sided
 each country tends to praise its own good deeds,” said Ms. Batlivala, the history teacher in Mumbai. It’s important to teach children to have an open mind, she added.

Read Shanoor Seervai’s article at The Wall Street Journal â€șâ€ș

Alumni Profile: Pooja
Humanizing and supporting refugees

Aug 6, 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.

In 2015, the Syrian War and ensuing refugee crisis were making headlines. Social media allowed people around the world to follow this conflict in real time like never before. It was this phenomenon that inspired Pooja, a 2018 GATHER Fellow and Seeds of Peace Camp counselor from India, to do whatever she could with whatever she had to humanize refugee communities.

“It was the first war in our time that was livestreamed through social media and it really bothered me how we could just watch it happening and not do anything about it,” she says.

“Also, the fact that more than 50 percent of the victims were kids—it just hurt me. The very fact that we are so used to treating these large-scale humanitarian crises with frivolity—I just wanted to do something about it.”

She founded the Letters of Love initiative with the goal to connect communities, give people a global perspective, and humanize the “other.”

Letters of Love began as just a “Facebook page with a bunch of friends around the world,” who were united around the idea that something as small as a handwritten letter could connect communities, build empathy, and make a real difference.

It has since grown into a youth-led non-profit that connects children around the world to peers in refugee communities through writing and delivering letters. It is also an official member of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees #WithRefugees Coalition, the United Network of Young Peacebuilders in the Hague, and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Youth Network.

In just three years, Letters of Love has delivered handwritten postcards to more than 30,000 Syrian, Iraqi, Yazidi, Palestinian, Afghan, Kurdish, and Rohingya refugee children, and has effectively engaged more than 20,000 youth.

“We empower refugee children with joy, laughter, and psycho-social support, and we use empathy-centric education as a tool to sensitize school and university students about the ongoing refugee crises,” says Pooja.

Even before becoming a GATHER Fellow or a Camp counselor, Pooja’s connection to Seeds of Peace was essential to making Letters of Love a reality. When her husband, himself a Seed, mentioned the initiative at Camp, a counselor took note. That counselor reached out to Pooja and became her mentor as she began to develop Letters of Love.

Pooja says that her involvement with Seeds of Peace over all these years has been a transformative experience, one that has shaped her personally as much as it has her professional mission.

“I’ve witnessed the value in connecting communities that are indoctrinated to hate each other, and I’ve seen the value of communication and dialogue.”

Pooja says that the GATHER Fellowship has connected her to a diverse community at the crossroads of social innovation and conflict transformation. This has given her access to potential partnerships, some of which she has already pursued, which she says has helped increase her impact both qualitatively and quantitatively.

“Being part of the Fellowship enables me to become a part of this ebullient community, share best practices, learn various aspects of setting up an organization, and also derive a multicultural and international perspective on various social issues.”

An experience Pooja had as a counselor at Camp also inspired the Pen Pal Project, an offshoot of Letters of Love that uses strategic mapping dependent on age, interests, and other factors to connect high school students to peers in refugee camps in a more deliberate way, and on a more long-term basis.

“In my bunk, a Palestinian camper was freezing at night, and this Israeli camper put a blanket over her. The next day the Palestinian camper didn’t know how to thank her, so she wrote a letter in Hebrew with the help of a few other Israeli campers and handed it to her first Israeli friend. It was such a powerful moment.”

The campers told Pooja that they wanted their friends back at home to be able to connect with “the other” in the way that they were able to at Camp. Although Pooja, through Letters of Love, could not address the Palestinian and Israeli communities directly because of political barriers, she found another way to create an exchange of perspective and foster what she calls “unimaginable friendships.”

Through the Pen Pal Project, 350 students in India were connected to 350 children who were Syrian refugees in Turkey, internally displaced children in Syria, and Palestinian children in a community center in Gaza.

More than anything, Pooja hopes that participating in the Letters of Love initiative inspires young people to have more of an impact in their own communities.

“It’s about highlighting the potential of each young person as a change agent in society.”

Seed Stories: Living outside the box

Apr 5, 2019 / No Comments

For the first 15 years of my life, I lived in a box where where my aspirations were restricted by the people around me. I never knew there was a world beyond that box—until I learned about Seeds of Peace.

Camp gave me the courage to step out of that box and experience a completely different, inspiring, satisfying, inclusive, and better world. I started living and dreaming in that world.

At Camp, I met so many people who influenced the direction my life has taken, like my dialogue facilitator, Lulu. From spending time with me when I wasn’t feeling well, to teaching me pickleball, to helping guide me on my work to this day, she gave me confidence and support I had never had before.

Krisha, an Indian PS whom I met on the bus back to the airport on the last day of Camp, is now one of my lifelong friends and has encouraged me throughout my journey. If Camp is all about meeting the “other side,” I couldn’t think of a better way of doing so.

Not long after arriving at Camp, an American Seed named Caitlin told me about an amazing project she was running to bring people from different countries together. I was in awe that she was already developing her own project at such an early age.

I remember telling one of my counselors how inspiring the idea was, and how courageous Caitlin is to run the project. But I told him that if I had tried to do something like this back home, I would have been discouraged by the people around me. They would tell me that I needed to study first and be somebody before starting a project like that.

Then my counselor gave me two of the most important pieces of advice I’ve ever heard. First, that I’m already somebody: I’m me. Second, that age is just a number, and if you have the passion and will, all you need is the courage to believe in yourself to start something.

It was experiences like these that helped me discover my true passion: to serve my community by helping other young people follow their passion and live a meaningful life. After coming back from Camp, I started True Education, a social media campaign to help youth understand how curiosity and learning can help them find their calling.

During this journey, Lulu and Seeds from across the globe helped me develop ideas that made my campaign go from a Facebook page with no following, to reaching over three thousand people through videos, to connecting to—and advising—schools and educational organizations, to teaching in underprivileged communities.

When I aspired to make my ideas grow bigger, Seeds of Peace was a huge support. I was invited to attend the 2016 Paradigm Shifting and Leadership Program in Cyprus, which made me think about the practicality of my ideas with guidance and questions from my peers and staff members. In February 2017, I launched ACT Youth Force, a youth organization for empathetic and compassionate youngsters who want to bring change in their communities.

In two years, Act Youth Force has impacted over 4,000 people and conducted sessions with over 1,200 students in fifteen different schools across Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad. In 2017, my journey was featured in 50 Social Geniuses of Pakistan.

Seeds of Peace will always be the reason for where I am today. It was the push that gave me the courage and vision to start my journey. It blessed me with an amazing community that continues to support and guide me.

With the mark Seeds of Peace left on me, I am making a mark on the people around me. I now live outside the box that others had built for me. My team and I are helping students learn how to do the same; to be who they are, not what society wants them to be.

Seed Stories: Searching for humanity and dignity

Jan 22, 2019 / No Comments

Monday night flight from Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, to London where I now live.

I reach the top floor of Terminal 1. The first security officer looks at my passport and asks me to follow him and head to the line on the far right. We’ve been through this before, I know the way.

When we get there, the second security officer tries to guess what’s in my bag. Dates? Ma’amoul? I smile and say baklawa. She tells her colleagues I have baklawa. “Did you guess?” someone asks. “No, I talked to her,” she admits. From their chuckles I think this is a game they play to pass the time.

Second security officer says into her radio, “I have a ‘Mikey.’” I’m the Mikey. She asks me to put all my belongings into baskets and follow her. She needs to search my body.

Why? She doesn’t bother answering. She just says to sit down and take off my shoes. I ask if she needs me to take off my socks, too. No. Then she directs me to a small curtained space where she plans to search my body.

Me: “What about the big x-ray machine with all the radiation?” I prefer that to being felt up by a stranger.

Her: “It’s not possible at this time. You keep asking ‘Why?’ There’s no point, I just do what I’m told.”

Me: “Why was I moved to a different line?” As if I don’t already know.

Her: “I don’t know.”

When she asks me to unbutton my jeans, I unzip them and pull them down.

Me: “Is this good enough?” This doesn’t go over well.

Her: “Just the button.”

Me: “Why?”

Her: “Take off your shirt.”

I do and tell her I’m wearing another shirt underneath. “Want me take that off, too?”

Her: *hesitating* “Yes.”

She informs me she’s going to touch me with a metal detector and gestures at her breasts.

Me: “You mean you’re going to touch my breasts?”

Her: “Not with my hands.”

She runs the metal detector over my chest and says, “Good, no wires.” She’s referring to my bra.

Me: “Yes, aren’t wireless bras more comfortable?”

Her: “That’s right, me too,” and runs the metal detector over her own chest. “Turn around so I can check your hair.”

As she runs her gloved fingers through my hair and over my scalp I make a joke about not having worn enough deodorant today.

Her: “Don’t worry, you smell nice.”

She calls in her walkie-talkie for a ‘mefasek’ because she needs ‘havshala’. Mefasek means circuit-breaker; havshala means ripening.

Me: “What’s a mefasek?”

Her: “It’s a person’s job. Don’t worry, while we’re in here they’ll finish searching your belongings.” As if this is meant to reassure me.

Me: “Can you make sure they don’t eat my baklawa?”

Her: *laughs* “Has ve halila, I’m watching them.”

Me: “Do you like your job?”

Her: “Sure.”

She asks where I bought my baklawa. I answer, even though the line between small talk and interrogation is unclear. She asks where I’m from. I answer. She says her parents live nearby. I ask where. She answers. I say that’s very close to where I bought the baklawa. I ask if she lives with her parents. She says she doesn’t. I ask where she is from. She answers and tells me she recently moved house. She asks if London is fun.

Even though she won’t allow me to button up my jeans, she has allowed me to put on one of my shirts. We’re practically best friends.

Finally, her colleague, the Mefasek presumably, arrives. She introduces herself as Marva, Head of Security. She wants me to unzip my jeans and pull them down to my knees. Why? Because the metal detector was activated—probably by the metal button on my jeans. And even though her colleague has already seen my underwear and thighs, she needs to have a look for herself. I pull down my jeans as far as they’ll go.

Me: “Good enough? Need me to turn around?” I start to turn around.

“No!” they both protest. Because clearly asking me to turn around would be too much.

Me: “Are you sure?”

Marva the Mefasek: “Yes.”

Me: “Do you like your job Marva?”

Marva the Mefasek: “Yes, I believe in it,” she says with conviction.

I smile. Not sure what it is she believes in so strongly, my crotch posing a threat to passenger security or my baklawa and belongings needing to be searched in my absence. But I keep quiet. I’ve run out of things to say and I have a flight to catch. Marva the Mefasek apologises for any discomfort. I say “I’m comfortable if you are.” My new best friend offers to help me pack my stuff and wishes me a good flight. I say goodbye without making eye contact and head to the gate.

I wrote the above in anger to post on my Facebook page. It is not something I particularly enjoy sharing on social media—it is a private moment made public by an oppressive political reality and I tend to be cautious about what I share these days. It is also not an uncommon occurrence. Almost every Arab or Palestinian passing through Ben Gurion Airport is aware of the term “Mikey.” Every time I walk into Ben Gurion I feel anxious and prepare myself for what I know is coming. I also know there is far worse injustice in the world today. Ultimately, I consider myself lucky because I have always been allowed to board the plane. Not everyone is so lucky.

My way of coping is by appealing to the security officers’ humanity. The lesson I learned through Seeds of Peace is that we are all human. Finding common ground— lack of wire under our breasts and our parents being neighbours—made the experience more bearable for me, and hopefully reminded her that I am a person who deserves to be treated with dignity.

While this story is not unique, sharing it with my friends and receiving messages of support—many from Seeds—is unique and powerful.

I’ll leave you with one from my close friend Karen Golub: “I’m sorry that you’re not treated with the same dignity I am when we go through the same airport. I’m sorry we are not equal under our government. To me, home is not home without you.”

Seeds explore tensions in Israeli
society around language, Mizrahi Jews

Jul 4, 2015 / No Comments

JERUSALEM | Israeli Seeds examined tensions and challenges associated with their country’s ethnic groups during two summer seminars.

On July 28, Israeli Seeds held a community dialogue with Mizrahi Jews, whose ancestry traces back to Muslim-majority nations, to learn about discrimination the Mizrahi have faced and continue to face in Israeli society.

The ten Seeds heard about the personal experiences of poet Shlomi Hatuka and author Ron Kakhlili, and the discrimination Mizrahi Jews encounter in Israeli media, pop culture, and politics. Participants held an hour-long discussion with the speakers and later held a dialogue session to reflect what they had heard.

“I had no idea that the discrimination was so existent these days,” said Hila, an Israeli participant. “I am so happy that my Seed friends shared their personal stories of pain, that I had never noticed, with me.”

On July 3, Israeli Seeds, including Palestinian citizens of Israel, explored the streets of Tel Aviv and Jaffa, where they discussed what language means to them, how they feel about the other side’s language, and how language has the potential to cause fear.

The ten participants in the Language Day seminar met with Facebook icon Hanin Majadle, who runs a page for Hebrew speaker to learn Arabic.

“The two Arab Seeds shared their fears of speaking Arabic in some places,” said Seeds of Peace Program Coordinator Hagai Efrat.

“The others seemed surprised to hear that they are intimidated about speaking Arabic in some scenarios. Everyone later laughed when Hanin mentioned how ridiculous it is that people are afraid simply by hearing a man calling his wife saying that he got milk from the store.”

The day concluded at the Bikurei Ha’Itam Center in Tel Aviv with a reflective discussion on the language used in Seeds of Peace activities and how the choice of language affects these activities.

Israeli, Palestinian Seeds volunteer weekly with child heart patients

Sep 4, 2011 / No Comments

JERUSALEM | Pairs of Palestinian and Israeli Seeds are making weekly visits to a Tel Aviv hospital where young patients from the Middle East and Africa receive emergency heart surgery. The visits, which will take place throughout 2011 and 2012, are coordinated with the Save A Child’s Heart non-profit. During their day-long visits, the Seeds work with the patients, their families, and hospital staff to provide translation work and fun activities.

‱ “I thought Save a Child’s Heart would just be fun and games with kids, but when we got there, I realized they were coming from conditions far worse than I imagined, not only from Gaza, but also Iraq, Zambia and Ghana. Once the families and their children opened up to us, they turned out to be really nice people.” —Taiysser

‱ “I realized going through such an extraordinary experience how helpful it is to be beside the children and their worried parents. When they gave us a ‘we need a translation’ look, or a ‘what is going on?’ look, we were there to help.” —Rana

‱ “I have been a member of Seeds of Peace since 1999, but because I am from Gaza, I have not been able to participate in activities since 2006. Until today—one of the most beautiful days ever. At the hospital, we saw the real hidden suffering of children with heart problems. Having the chance to stop the tears of these children is such a noble aim.” —Hani

‱ “The doctor who was showing us around lifted a sheet and under it was a little girl about 8 months old from Jenin. She looked like a newborn—she was so thin and I could literally see her skull and spine. She had something wrong with her heart. Her mother told us about how they had been waiting for weeks to get a room in the hospital, and how she couldn’t eat hospital food, and the fact that she doesn’t have any spare clothes. Most of all she told us of the pain she feels when she holds her child knowing that her little girl weighs less than her own arm. The girl broke our hearts. But what put a smile on my face was seeing hundreds of people, different in religion, tongue, nationality and culture functioning in harmony to help these children.” —Yuad

‱ “To witness people from different backgrounds and different edges of life uniting in the face of a dark situation all testifies to the humanity in all cultures and nations. All share the values of life and love.” —Ophir

‱ “For me, it was a very eye-opening and emotional experience. It was my first time to work with ill kids in a hospital. It was really hard seeing all those aching little bodies around me. In the beginning, I had a very complicated feeling and didn’t know how to deal with them. But this disappeared after holding the hand of a 2-year from Gaza. Mohammed was smiling and looking into my eyes.

“When I went with another girl and her mother to her room, I was surrounded by sick children. For a second, I felt so guilty for not knowing about them. I wanted to talk to each one, but I first went with this girl and translated for her and her mother and a nurse.

“I then met with two little kids from Jenin. Farah wasn’t talking; she was angry and she wanted to go home. Her mother told me that they have been here for more than two months. Abdallah laughed a lot. I held his little hand and started playing with him. I tried to take my hand back, but Abdallah wouldn’t give it to me! He held it strongly looking at me and smiling. At that moment, I wanted to hold him and cry.

“Eventually, I moved on to meet with Amer, Erena, and their mothers. They were from Iraq. Amer spent more than four months in the hospital and looked very weak and tired. Erena was moving around and talking a language that I couldn’t understand; her mother explained that she doesn’t speak Arabic as she is Kurdish. I also met with a little girl called Princess from Ghana. We couldn’t communicate, but she took my mobile and played with it.” —Rama

‱ “The families we met were mostly from Iraq, Gaza Strip and West Bank. It was kind of weird to see the Iraqi and Palestinian families alongside Israeli ones. But it seems that inside the hospital, politics and conflicts between nations and religions are forgotten. You don’t look at a child as a Palestinian or as an Iraqi. You look at him as a child who suffers from a heart disease and you need to do whatever you can to help him and his family.

“Many of the families didn’t speak Hebrew or English, so we helped the hospital staff with translation of orders, procedures and questions the doctors had for the families. I suddenly found myself translating from the doctor (Hebrew) to my partner Bissan (English) who then translated into Arabic for someone to share with the mother in Kurdish.

“We got to know a three-year-old Palestinian boy named Mahdi. He really touched our hearts. We played ball with him, drew with him, and talked to his parents to help them understand some technical details and forms they received.” —Gil

‱ “The importance of what Seeds of Peace does here is enormous! I don’t mean to sound corny, but seeing those kids, who are in a lot of pain, smiling and laughing is absolutely priceless. I can’t describe in words how happy I am to have the chance to help them feel better, and give their families a few minutes to themselves, a few minutes of relaxation and relief. I think this program is very special and meaningful, and I strongly recommend Seeds be a part of this opportunity to give back.” —Ya’ara

‱ “I was afraid that they might not speak English and therefore I wouldn’t be of much help, but when I arrived to the hospital and met the families, I understood that my fears were unfounded.

“The first girl I met was Yasmeen from Jordan. She was 11 years old and I liked her and her mother immediately. We talked about her life in Jordan and about fairy tales we both knew. We also listened to music and played card games. The second family I met was a mother and her 5-year-old son from Liberia. I helped her to communicate with the nurses and answered a few questions she had about Israeli culture and Judaism.

“The third family I met was a mother and her 5-year-old daughter from Angola. The mother could not speak any language besides Portuguese and she could therefore barley communicate with the people in the hospital. Since I understand Portuguese I could speak with her and I could see that she was very relieved to finally talk to someone about what she and her daughter were going through.

“The last family was a grandmother and her grandchild from Gaza. I was afraid that she and her friends, who also came from Gaza with their grandchildren for an operation, might not react well to me.

“I was very happy to see that they welcomed me so nicely and liked my company. They kept repeating how they want peace, which made me even happier. Even though we spoke Arabic most of the time and I understood only a part of they were saying, I felt welcomed.” —Yarden

Dialogue Academy launches online, with potential to reach the masses

Oct 20, 2022 / No Comments

Prior to this summer, the word “dialogue” meant quotes and movie scripts to Ibrahim and Soha. Seeds of Peace’s new virtual program, Dialogue Academy, changed that.

“Every time my mind was blown,” laughed Ibrahim, a 14-year-old student from India who participated in the program’s pilot phase this summer. Soha, a 16-year-old student from Pakistan, nodded along with him: “It didn’t actually feel like we were taking a class.”

Dialogue Academy is one of Seeds of Peace’s newest initiatives to foster compassionate and critical conversations across divides. Inspired by the separation caused by COVID-19, Qasim Aslam, a 2001 Pakistani Seed and Director of Pakistani Programs, said the online program was designed to further expand the impact of Seeds of Peace in a time of isolation: no need to obtain visas, no worrying about contracting or spreading COVID, no travel fees.

With Dialogue Academy, all that is required is a laptop and an internet connection.

“The program has the potential to ramp up our outreach to 100,000 students a year in about five years, if we have the right resources,” Qasim said.

With the support of a U.S. State Department grant, the Academy offered its first course, Essentials of Dialogue, on Zoom to approximately 70 Indian and Pakistani students over the summer.

The daily lessons varied, from learning about the power of groups of people through a video on mobs, to students taking an organizing role establishing school dress-code policy. Each activity worked to explore different perspectives, understand the importance of listening and dialogue, and learn their different types and applications.

“The most important thing is that everything starts with you,” Shweta Patole, the project’s director, said describing the program’s first steps. “The deeper you understand yourself, the better you’ll be able to understand everybody else.”

While the course gave students skills to begin immediately navigating conflict within their homes, schools, and communities, for many, it also provided their first opportunity to meet someone from the “other side.” Ibrahim was one of many Indian participants who had never met someone from Pakistan.

“But here diversity was a positive thing because we came to know about each other, they were informative, and we really connected to each other,” he said.

In a short amount of time, Shweta said that the course transformed from a class where students were shy to turn on their cameras, to a space where they could be vulnerable, listen with respect to the stories of their peers from across the border, and share their own as well.

“I learnt how important it is to respect others’ cultural beliefs and religion,” said Haleema Sadia, one of the participants. “They also taught me how to create safe spaces in the environment for other people to be comfortable around me.”

Future plans for Dialogue Academy include offering both live and self-paced options, as well as courses on mediation and facilitation. Focusing for now in India and Pakistan, the hope is to expand Dialogue Academy both within the two countries, and then, internationally.

“Imagine if this program is available to every school, to every student, regardless of whether Seeds of Peace is already on the ground in their community,” said Seeds of Peace Associate Director Renee Atkinson. “For some students, it will really spark something, and they’ll apply for more in-depth programs with a foundation for deeper and more meaningful conversations and action. And for others, at least they will have the tools to apply within their homes, schools, and communities. It’s a powerful thing to imagine.”

To be clear: The program is not designed to take the place of, or to be compared to, an in-depth dialogue experience like the Seeds of Peace Camp. But by eliminating physical and financial barriers to basics of the tried-and-true Seeds of Peace curriculum, it could drastically increase the number of young people equipped to navigate conflict—and to change its course across societies.

“What I realized is that, through dialogue, you can actually figure out and break down misunderstandings and conflicts instead of just acting upon your first thought,” Soha said. “I feel that if people were to learn to communicate through dialogue, we may have less violence in the world.”

Learn more about Dialogue Academy at thedialogue.academy.