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What We’re Reading: Opening minds on mental health

May 24, 2019 / No Comments

Odds are that each of us knows someone living with a mental illness, or live with one ourselves. But unfortunately, because of stigma, lack of resources, or awareness, we often go through these struggles alone, sometimes never receiving critical support, or even knowing that what we are experiencing can be helped.

While the severity varies greatly from person to person, mental illness affects one in five people, including the teenagers that come to Camp each summer. Researchers estimate that as many as 50 percent of youth ages 13-18 will deal with some sort of mental health issue, and half of all serious mental illnesses set in by age 14.

This May marks the 70th anniversary of Mental Health Month, an initiative started to reduce stigma and raise awareness of mental health issues. So we’re focusing on books and articles that include courageous personal stories that put us in the shoes of people dealing with mental illness and trauma, as well as decades of research to help us better understand the pathways to healing. The more we know about mental health and what it feels like to be depressed or anxious, to carry trauma, or have a chemical makeup that prohibits you from thriving, the more empathetic, supportive, and successful we’ll be when it comes to helping others, and ourselves.

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma, Bessel van der Kolk
What does trauma do to our mind? What does trauma do to our brain (i.e. the physical organ that contains the mind)? What does trauma do to our bodies, and how do we heal? Based on work experience, lived experiences, and decades of studies, Dr. van der Kolk, a leading expert of trauma who has worked with clients ranging from veterans to sexual assault victims, explores how trauma imprints on our bodies, and how we can better understand and treat its detrimental effects. This book will be immediately useful and interesting to anyone who has experienced trauma, knows people who have experienced trauma, or works with people who have experienced trauma (hint: that means all of us). — Greg Barker, Manager of Facilitation Programs

Educated, by Tara Westover
This harrowing memoir gives readers a strikingly intimate and firsthand look into the toll that mental illness can take on individuals and families. Raised in rural Idaho by an ultra-religious, survivalist family, Westover describes in detail years of neglect and abuse at the hands of a mentally ill father and sibling. Despite having never stepped in a classroom until she was 17, she eventually finds freedom through education. From Brigham Young University—where she hears about the Holocaust for the first time—to the elite halls of Harvard and Cambridge, she struggles to reckon with the world she was told about, and the one she’s discovering for herself. Westover’s story is a uniquely moving, complicated, and eye-opening that is at times uncomfortable to read, but utterly impossible to forget. — Dindy Weinstein, Director of Individual Philanthropy

Bee Season, by Myla Goldberg
Myla Goldberg tells the story of a family of four growing distant from one another as they fight to find themselves and find connection with each other. The 9-year-old daughter, Eliza, strives to be seen as intelligent and accomplished as the rest of her family. Her brother Aaron rejects the family’s traditions in search of a higher spiritual understanding and sense of belonging. And while their father pressures them to fulfill his own dreams, their mother is struggling with a hidden life unknown to the family. Goldberg lyrically depicts the pain and pressure felt by each family member, exploring their deep inner selves and taking the reader along through layers of mental states and identity. Heart wrenching and beautifully written, Bee Season reveals how disparate our inner lives can be from our outward appearance, and the importance of human connection to care for and support each other. —Emily Umansky, Development Association

We’ve Got Issues, by Judith Warner
Journalist Judith Warner set out to write a book exploring the overmedication of American children. What she discovered in the course of her research, by spending time with families whose kids are dealing with a variety of mental and behavioral health issues and hearing their stories, is that, in fact, far too many children were not receiving the treatment they and their families so desperately needed. What they received instead was stigmatization and recrimination. Through listening to others’ stories and experiences, the author’s preconceived narrative was challenged, which fits very much in line with the work of Seeds of Peace! This book supported me at a time in my parenting journey when I needed empathy and understanding, not judgment. — Deb Levy, Director of Communications

Also don’t miss

The Anxiety Chronicles, The Lily (The Washington Post)
Women are nearly twice as likely as men to develop an anxiety disorder, a serious medical condition that, as 15-year-old Ella Gross wrote recently, “is so much more than just being scared of public speaking.” For nearly a year this series has put a spotlight each week on a different woman’s journey with anxiety. They vary from teenagers to grandmothers and experience a wide range of symptoms and effects, though a common thread is that many began experiencing symptoms years—sometimes decades—before receiving help. By sharing their stories, these women are helping shine a light on one of the most commonly ignored, and commonly experienced, forms of mental health disorders in the United States.

Primal Fear: Can Monkeys Help Unlock the Secrets of Trauma? Luke Dittrich, New York Times Magazine
In the weeks after Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico in 2017, a researcher began noticing unexpected patterns among one of its island’s monkeys: One, the monkeys seemed to be expanding their social networks, increasing the number of individuals that they had meaningful relationships with. Two, the monkeys appeared to become more tolerant of one another, despite living with radically diminished resources. “It was as if the hurricane had bonded even former foes against a common enemy and made the monkeys much more tolerant of life’s everyday frustrations, at least in the early days,” Dittrich wrote. Sound familiar? This fascinating article explores how researchers are seeing a rare opportunity in our genetic cousins to gain answers to long unanswered questions about the psychological effects that a disaster like Hurricane Maria has on humans.

Have any suggestions we should check out? Add them in the comments! And if you or someone you know needs information about mental health services, visit mentalhealth.gov or the World Health Organization.

Banner photo credit: Ella Gross/Lily/Washington Post

#DialogueIRL: Two reformed extremists find their “why”

Apr 19, 2019 / No Comments

One was once a white supremacist. The other, a former Taliban recruiter. On Wednesday, they joined Seeds of Peace Director of Global Programs Kiran Thadhani at Brooklyn Law School for the Tanenbaum Center’s Courageous Conversations series.

The duo discussed their journeys to radicalization, their paths out, and how we can use dialogue to confront extremism in a divided society.

“A huge pull for white supremacy,” Arno Michaelis explained to the crowd, “is that it’s forbidden. That it’s frowned on by civil society. If things aren’t going well in your life, if you’re not comfortable with who you are and you have a poor self-image, one real easy way to bolster it 
 is to think you know things that everyone else doesn’t know and to feel like you’re pissing off the status quo.”

Arno became an active member of the white power movement starting at age 16, and eventually co-founded what became the largest racist skinhead organization in the world. But over time, the cognitive dissonance of his worldview became too great to ignore.

“I was telling this story that the world was supposed to revolve around, when real life was contradicting everything I was saying on a regular basis. And that hypocrisy was driven home by the kindness of others.”

Arno recalled a moment where that came to a head. “I remember going to McDonald’s on my first payday, and behind the counter was this elderly black woman who has a smile on her face that is so authentic. Like everything that is good about being a human being was embodied in this woman’s smile 
 And it made me so uncomfortable, because I was trying so hard to hate her.”

When she saw the swastika tattoo on his finger, Arno said, it was the beginning of the end. “I’m 6’3”, but in that moment I felt six inches high. And when I finally looked back up at her, she just calmly told me, ‘I know that’s not who you really are. You’re better than that.’ I felt destroyed.”

While teenage Arno thought himself an outcast, Mubin Shaikh was popular at his high school. But after his uncle caught him hosting a raucous house party with his classmates, Mubin developed an identity crisis over his relationship to his religion that drove him to extremism.

“[The uncle] was like, ‘Oh my God, what have you done, you’ve defiled the home, people pray here,’” Mubin told the audience. “And immediately this shame and guilt took over me. I decided that in order to fix myself and salvage my reputation, I had to get really religious.”

He travelled to India and Pakistan, where a chance encounter with the Taliban led to him spending years as a recruiter for the organization. But after the September 11th attacks, he began to reconsider his views. In 2002, he sold his possessions and moved to Syria to study Islam.

“I met with a Sufi priest twice a week,” Mubin told the audience. “He reminded us that when we read the Quran, we always say, ‘In the name of God, who is full of grace and full of mercy.’ And he asked us, ‘Before you do anything, do you do it with grace and mercy? If not, you’re not following the religion.’ He systematically debunked every idea I had. By the end, I became an adversary of my old self.”

After hearing their stories, Kiran remarked, “In both of your experiences there was this question that everyone, and especially teenagers, have. And that is, ‘Who am I? Who am I as I exist in my community, in this body, in this larger system and structure that I’m a part of?’ And that is where dialogue enters.”

After the panelists spoke, audience members broke into pairs to discuss subjects they have difficulty talking about with others, followed by a Q&A with the panelists. One person who identified as liberal and who has a gay child asked for advice on how to talk to her parents about their support of Trump.

“Something that has been very helpful to me personally,” Kiran responded, “is rather than framing the conversation around, ‘How could you be a Trump supporter, knowing what you know about me and about your grandchild?’ is instead taking a couple steps back and taking time to understand the why.”

“Maybe they’ll say, ‘I’m a Trump supporter because he’s a businessman, and I’m concerned about the economy.’ And so you can ask, ‘So why is that? Why do you care so deeply about the economy?’ and really try to peel back the onion, if you will. Because what makes dialogue so different from debate or a discussion is that you start to understand there are values, there are narratives, there are stories behind why people are making the decisions that they’re making.”

“Entering a conversation with that framing of stepping back,” she continued, “also causes them to step back. And then what they’re doing is having to ask themselves, ‘Why is that something I value? Is that something I’ve just been told to value? Is there a story that informs that?’”

Another useful tip Kiran told her was to name the discomfort in the room when having difficult conversations. “Pointing out that it feels weird, that it’s uncomfortable for you to tell your parents these things, and hearing that discomfort from your parents, is important. Because it’s about building trust, and it takes a lot of trust to do this work.”

“This may sound silly, but being true will find what’s true. If you’re being honest and uncomfortable, you’ll find that there will probably be that on the other side. There’s discomfort in conflict, so it’s okay if there’s discomfort in dialogue.”

Greg Barker, Seeds of Peace Manager of Facilitation Programs who attended the event, shared how talking with a stranger can make it easier to practice just that.

“There is this safety in anonymity with a stranger,” he said. “I can be vulnerable about what scares me so much because I don’t know you, and if you don’t like it, I can walk away. As I’m doing this, I’m building up my own resilience and my own courage so when I have a difficult conversation with, say, my family or friends, I’m more prepared and more able to deal with the things they say that hurt me.”

An “inspowered” kick-off to the 2019 GATHER Fellowship

Apr 16, 2019 / 1 Comment

What happens when Egyptians, Israelis, Pakistanis, Palestinians, Americans (two by way of Romania and Rwanda), a Turk, a Tunisian, a Jordanian, and a Canadian (now living in Mexico) meet up in Sweden?

They coin a new phrase.

The term “inspowered” may have arisen by accident through the kind of exhaustion that comes after a week of intense project and community building, but the Fellows immediately adopted it as their own. Because inspowered (a combination of inspired and empowered) is exactly what they were feeling by the end of their time together.

The 2019 GATHER Fellowship incubator began in Sigtuna, a small, lakeside village an hour’s drive from Stockholm. It was there that the Fellows met and began to learn about each other’s lives and life’s work. Through a needs mapping exercise and a candlelit personal storytelling session, the 16 social innovators began to realize that while leading change can be lonely work, they are not in it alone.

They participated in a storytelling and marketing workshop that prepared them for a speed-dating style pitch session with graduate students from Uppsala University, the Nordic region’s oldest university and one of the finest in the world. The students, who are studying conflict transformation, posed many questions to the Fellows, and were grateful to see real-world manifestations of their studies.

After two days, the Fellows departed Sigtuna for Stockholm, and spent the next morning at Parliament, learning the nuances of Swedish government and meeting with four members of Parliament who graciously answered questions for an hour and a half.

After lunch, they spent time in a co-working space called Norrsken House and discovered that social entrepreneurs are treated like rock-stars in Sweden. At Norssken, the Fellows explored new frameworks for utilizing the engine of business to power social change.

Fellows met in small groups to workshop their projects and support each other, and they also met one-on-one with Seeds of Peace and SE Forum staff who could advise them on specific issues. On the final night, they demonstrated both thoughtfulness and thought leadership as participants in a series of panels: changing societies through storytelling and the arts, creating platforms for systemic change, bridging differences through education and dialogue, and empowering marginalized communities through enterprise.

Saying goodbye was not easy. But the Fellows will meet again—every week in fact—on video check in calls. They will continue to “inspower” each other, and over the course of the fellowship, we will shine a spotlight on each of them and their projects. So stay tuned … you just might become inspowered yourself!

Seed Stories: A matter of perspective

Nov 6, 2018 / No Comments

One day, after a soccer game, my best friend Tareq and I plopped ourselves down in the field’s overgrown grass.

In any other situation, he and I would be an unlikely duo. At Seeds of Peace, however, the sight of a Muslim Palestinian boy and a Jewish American girl together is nothing unusual.

Once seated, I immediately noticed a sour, putrid smell in the air. Searching for the culprit, I realized that Tareq had removed his sneakers. I winced and yelled, “Tareq! Your feet smell like ass!” Without missing a beat, he smirked and responded, “Nah, Lex, it’s the inside of your nose that smells like ass.”

What an absurd answer, I thought. As I instinctively began to formulate a zinger to fire back at him, I paused for a moment to consider the logic of his response. Never would I have considered that the source of the bad smell could be the inside of my nose.

Tareq and I simultaneously burst into laughter. We had spent the summer connecting over shared experiences as intensely personal as coping with the death of a best friend and as seemingly insignificant as a mutual love of pickles on our turkey sandwiches.

Through Tareq’s stinky feet, I began to understand the power of perspective. It was not always easy to see the world and its conflicts through a new pair of eyes. With time, though, I recognized that Tareq and I could have passionate debates without having to prove the other’s core belief wrong. I had simply learned to take his view, lay it next to mine, and see that his belief was as valuable to him as mine was to me. Ultimately, I realized that I could remain deeply tied to my Jewish faith and still find meaning and truth in the way Tareq looks at the world.

When I think of Tareq, I think of the words Seeds of Peace was founded upon. Thirteenth century poet, Rumi, wrote, “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” I reached that field with Tareq.

Our friendship, and my Seeds experience more generally, has inspired me to surround myself with people who will challenge and broaden my worldview, shown me the importance of listening with an open mind, and led me to believe governments do not make peace. People do.

Post Camp, my greatest identity is that I am Seed. As an American Seed, I seek opportunities that push me to think a little differently. When debates regarding the conflict—or any conflict—arise, I challenge myself to stand up for the Palestinians—or the “other” side.

I studied Arabic—not Hebrew—at Washington University, and in high school decided to take classes about Jewish History and Ethics offered by my synagogue, Washington Hebrew Congregation. I was selected as one of three Americans to return to Seeds of Peace after my first summer at Camp, and subsequently spent two summers working there.

Yes, that makes four years in a row—I can’t get enough. I hope you are beginning to understand why.

Afghan Seed named debate’s top speaker

Jun 13, 2015 / No Comments

KABUL | Eleven Junior Seeds competed alongside 30 other students from nine schools in the 2015 High School Debate Tournament on June 12th at the Jahan e Noor Institute of Higher Education in Kabul. The team from Ghulam Haidar Khan High School emerged as the 2015 tournament champions and Afghan Seed Faisal was named the debate’s best speaker.

“Seeds of Peace provided me a valuable opportunity, giving me the chance to compete in the debate championship against very intelligent competitors,” said Faisal.

“The celebration and people coming up to me and congratulating me was very exciting. The offers of future opportunities are equally thrilling. I know the debate championship has given my life a fresh transformation (and) it has taken me a step closer to my ambitions. Thank you, Seeds of Peace.”

The one-day debate tournament was sponsored by Seeds of Peace, the Jahan e Noor Institute, New Generation Organization and the Afghanistan Youth Education and Social Organization.

The debaters were assessed on their ability to communicate their ideas in a structured and organized manner, as well as thinking about a topic from a different perspective or angle. Secondly, the debaters had to demonstrate critical reasoning skills and respectful listening skills, rather than immediately respond via a counterpoint. At the end of the tournament, Afghan Seed Faisal was named the debate’s best speaker.

As the championship trophy was awarded, representatives of the Jahan e Noor Institute announced that they would provide scholarships to the winning team–an announcement that left the students excited and encouraged.

Israeli and Palestinian kids plant the Seeds of Peace
Kids Copy

Nov 30, 1993 / No Comments

BY ANDREA FINE | Israelis and Palestinians are still uncertain whether the new peace agreement between them will really work. Although the majority of people seem hopeful, it’s hard for enemies to trust each other after years of bitter fighting.

Building trust isn’t impossible, though—especially if it is taken one step at a time. Coming together is the first and, in many ways, the hardest step.

That’s what 46 boys from rival groups in the troubled Mideast region learned for themselves last summer when they came together in a camp program in the United States called Seeds of Peace.

Now back in their own countries, they’re telling their friends and neighbors about their experience and asking everyone to give peace a chance.

Fadi, a Palestinian boy from East Jerusalem, told a reporter, “I hope from my heart that peace will take place in all of the world. And I think that justice and the stopping of killing between the two sides is the only road to peace.”

Discouraged by fighting

The boys were among thousands of people who gathered in Washington, D.C. on September 13 to witness a ceremony during which the leaders of Israel and the Palestine Liberation Organization signed a peace agreement and shook hands.

For two weeks before the ceremony, the 46 boys had been living together in the woods of Maine at a Seeds of Peace summer camp.

John Wallach, a newspaper reporter and the author of three books about the Mideast, came up with the idea for a peace camp after the World Trade Center in New York was bombed last February.

Wallach was discouraged by all the fighting in the world. He decided that if he could get young “enemies” to become friends, they might choose to live in peace when they got older. A camp, he thought, would be the perfect place to bring kids together.

The boys were chosen because of their leadership qualities and their ability to speak English. Fifteen were Egyptian, 20 were Israeli and 11 were from the Palestinian West Bank. They ranged in age from 11 to 13.

Kids can get along

Camp Director Joel Bloom said the boys were immediately suspicious of each other.

“One boy said he had been brought up to believe all Israelis are assassins and killers,” Bloom told Kids Copy.
They were encouraged to talk to each other about their suspicions, which helped, Bloom said. More importantly, they shared cabins and were teammates in games of baseball, soccer and basketball.

Uri, a 14-year-old Israeli, said in a television interview that while he was at camp, he learned that friendship is more important than politics.

“You can have an argument, but then you can go back to being friends and playing baseball or softball or something,” Uri said.

Camp Director Bloom believes the camp proved “that children who are given the opportunity can get along without conflict.”

Seeds of Peace has plans for another camp next summer and hopes to start a similar program for girls.

Think about it

Is there a group of people you consider an enemy—people who live in a certain country, practice a certain religion, or belong to a certain political party? Have you ever approached a member of that group as a potential friend and gotten to know him or her as an individual person? Do you think your feelings about the “enemy” group would change if you did that?

Seeds of Peace to host Action Summit

Sep 14, 2006 / No Comments

Seeds of Peace empowers leaders of the next generation: 30 of them to meet this week

NEW YORK | From September 16-20, 2006, Seeds of Peace program graduates will convene to develop concrete strategies to strengthen channels of communication and cooperation between Arabs and Israelis and to increase the impact of these initiatives in their communities.

The Seeds of Peace Action Summit will bring together thirty Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, and Jordanian Seeds graduates whose involvement with Seeds of Peace stretches over a decade. The Seeds of Peace graduates now hold positions such as foreign policy adviser to President Abbas, senior advisor to Kofi Annan, assistant to a member of the Knesset, as well as senior posts at the World Bank, at the United Nations and in TV and radio broadcasting. The Action Summit participants will gather in New York to work towards a different future for themselves, their countries, and the Middle East at large.

The Action Summit, occurring immediately prior to the gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly and at the Clinton Global Initiative, will focus on being more effective advocates for peace, developing technology to facilitate cross-border cooperation, and interacting with key figures who can help them implement their initiatives.

“These oldest Seeds’ graduates are coming together with renewed urgency to ensure that the lessons they have learned through Seeds of Peace take root in their communities and lead ultimately to better understanding,” said Janet Wallach, president of Seeds of Peace. “Their efforts following the summit will provide an essential foundation for their continued development as the region’s future leaders.”

Seeds of Peace empowers leaders of the next generation. Since 1993, Seeds of Peace has graduated over 3,000 teenagers and young adults from several regions of conflict and has reached several thousand more in their communities through initiatives such as the Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine, numerous regional workshops, educational and professional courses, and adult educator programs, as well as the extensive Seeds network. Participants develop empathy, respect, and confidence, and gain critical leadership, negotiation and conflict resolution skills. Many are now in positions of influence such as foreign advisor to President Abbas, or assistant to a member of the Knesset, as well as senior posts at the World Bank, the United Nations and TV and radio broadcasting.

Founded by the late John Wallach, former Hearst correspondent and author, Seeds of Peace is internationally recognized for its unique model of long-term engagement with its participants, its official support by the government leadership of its participating delegations, and its ability to operate continuously to bring youth from regions of conflict together to empower them to become the next generation of leaders.

Seeds of Peace responds to flawed, inaccurate Ha’aretz column

Sep 17, 2014 / No Comments

The Ha’aretz newspaper published a column by Matthew Kalman on September 15 titled “Will seeds of peace ever bloom.” The piece is very similar to a 2008 San Francisco Chronicle article by Kalman that also juxtaposes statistics from an unpublished 2008 study on various Israeli-Palestinian peacebuilding programs with an interview with a Seed.

This is Seeds of Peace’s response to the article. There has been no response from Ha’aretz or Kalman.

Dear Matthew,
I very much appreciate that, like your similar 2008 Chronicle article, you interviewed a Seed. The arguments against the effectiveness of Seeds of Peace’s work, statistical or otherwise, stands out in contrast to the experiences Nitsan and Hiba [the Seeds] relate.

So why the disconnect?

The 2008 Pal Vision survey results, referenced in the 2008 Palestine-Israel Journal and your 2008 article, do not track with any independent studies of Seeds of Peace participants. For example, independent surveys of Seeds indicate that over 70 percent stay in touch through their high school years; Pal Vision reported a drastically lower 9 percent (not that staying in touch is necessarily an indicator of a program’s success).

Because the Pal Vision study was never published, and because we as an organization were not involved with it in any capacity, we have no way of knowing if Seeds were included in the survey. Nor do we have a way of directly addressing the disparities between our figures and Pal Vision’s.

What is clear from the Pal Vision survey is that the vast majority of those surveyed were not Seeds of Peace participants. (In fact, it’s not clear if any Seeds were surveyed.) Pal Vision reported that only 7 percent of those surveyed reported any follow-up to the initial experience.

If Seeds were included in the survey, they would likely make up the entirety of that 7 percent, since nearly all (if not all) Seeds would have reported follow-up activities. That is because we realized very early on in our existence that an initial encounter is not enough, and adapted our model accordingly. Since the mid-1990s, our approach has been to run programs year-round in participants’ home countries, with extremely high participation rates.

I am therefore disappointed to see us grouped with programs whose failed models only provide an initial encounter experience. This ignores the very hard work of our staff who run offices and programs year round in Gaza, Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Tel Aviv, and the validation of their work by University of Chicago researchers. How can anyone compare the effectiveness of a program that brings together Israeli and Palestinian youth for a brief sports match with a program like ours that brings them together for weeks of intense dialogue, and then runs continuous programs for them when they return home?

Speaking of our offices, we closed the Seeds of Peace Center in Jerusalem in late 2006, after the Second Intifada. But we immediately opened offices in Ramallah and Tel Aviv. The reason for the move was entirely due to an interruption in Seeds of Peace’s ability to secure permits for Palestinian Seeds to enter Jerusalem or Israel to meet with their peers for post-Camp programs. (We ran separate programs for Seeds during that time.)

The permit interruption was temporary, and by early 2007 we were again running joint programs, and have been since. At no point was Seeds of Peace’s camper selection process impacted, and we have for the last 22 years hosted a full Palestinian Delegation in Maine.

Finally, the notion that Seeds of Peace Camp staff refuse political expression or activism on the part of participants is unfounded. We go out of our way to select politically-active and aware campers, and encourage them to take action, to become activists. We are exceedingly proud of those many who do become activists; I’d be happy to introduce you to them. And as you reference in the piece, we also provide each camper with daily 110-minute dialogue sessions which are full of political engagement.

Should you in the future wish to write about Seeds of Peace, I’d love to have a chance to point out what we perceive to be inaccuracies for you to consider investigating and correcting. And again, I’d be happy to put you in touch with our staff in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Ramallah, as well any number of Israeli and Palestinian Seeds who are leaders in their communities, for a fuller picture of our program’s impact.

Best,
Eric Kapenga
Communications Director | Seeds of Peace

Our voices: Members of the Seeds of Peace family speak out about US immigration ban

Feb 1, 2017 / 4 Comments
Leslie
Mohamed N.
Shamma		 Pious
Amr
Mina
Mohamed O.		 Anam
Bobbie
Alexa
Janet		 Lauren
Muna
Share your voice

 

Leslie Lewin (Executive Director, Seeds of Peace)

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.

We know that our work is not always easy and not always popular either. 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 the past few weeks 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.

We stand for bringing people together—even when hard—and will continue to fight to create these opportunities. Our community of 6,500+ changemakers from communities around the world has ample experience in tackling challenges, standing up for their values, and leading change.

I hope that their stories of activism and leadership over these past few days, weeks, and months inspire you and motivate you, and am grateful to know that their voices and actions are playing key roles in bridging divides in this moment.

If you are linked to Seeds of Peace in any way, it’s because you see the value in bringing people together across lines of difference. And because you know that change doesn’t happen all by itself. We have to commit to learning the necessary skills to effect social change. You have come to us because you believe in the power of human interaction, conversation, and learning. You know how hard it is to have conversations that challenge assumptions and make you feel uncomfortable.

Too many of our Seeds live in regions where walls of bias and discrimination are daily realities. We know that peace, security, freedom, and justice will not come without knowledge and courage. Change will come from patience, resilience, respect, compassion—and brave leadership. In recognizing the humanity of others despite political difference.

Our Seeds remind us that there are not easy answers to complex problems, but they are willing to stand up for these values when it counts the most. They inspire us every day and we hope they will inspire you too.

Mohamed N. (2013 Maine Seed)

I am the proud son of Somali immigrants who traversed oceans and continents to escape a brutal civil war and to seek the American dream for themselves and their children.

My family has endured hardships, ranging from discrimination and poverty to violence. I have always struggled to understand who I am, and where I belong. I didn’t believe that my family was welcomed in this country, that we were too Somali, Muslim, Black, and Foreign. I felt that the American Dream that my family has fought so hard to obtain was out of reach. I didn’t believe I belonged.

But then I met incredible friends and mentors who have pushed me to think otherwise.

They made my family and I feel welcomed, valued, loved. There is no way I can ever repay them for their kindness. I’ve learned that I have a place in this country, and no one can tell me otherwise.

This Muslim ban is not only unconstitutional and un-American, it is an affront to our values and to basic human decency. This is not the America my family and so many other families have struggled so long to call home.

Despite some of the hatred our country continues to grapple with, I still believe that there are good people willing to fight. The protests across the nation have been inspiring to witness, and I hope that this energy can persist. We cannot stop, we have to resist. We cannot allow this administration to distort and dismantle the core values of our country, including diversity and the freedom to be who you are.

I vow to continue to fight for what I believe in and do what I can to make my community, city, state, and country a better place.

I love this country, and will continue to love it despite it never reciprocating the feeling. But I hope one day that it can. I vow to fight for the schoolgirl from Syria, for the young entrepreneur from Iraq, for the old poet from Somalia. I vow to fight for them, and for all of us because anything less would be to spit in the face to all the people have struggled and endured before me.

There’s a Somali proverb people say when they see injustice: “Dhiiga kuma dhaqaaqo?” which means “Does your blood not move?”

My blood is boiling and I refuse to do nothing.

Shamma (2016 American Seed)

President Trump has actualized his calls for institutional racism and discrimination.

As a Jewish American, the “Muslim Ban” does not yet impact me. I can travel as I please. My religion is not a blemish on my citizenship, as Trump suggests of Muslims.

Nevertheless, it hurts me as a human. Turning away families fleeing from death and destruction and relegating an entire religion to a criminal regard is barbaric and ignorant. It is less than human.

Upon hearing of Trump’s executive order, I assumed that all my friends were in a similar state of mourning and shock. I was wrong. Some of my peers praised Trump for exacting vengeance and protecting our red, white, and blue soil.

I wanted to scream at those of my friends who channeled Trump’s racism and Islamophobia. I wanted to leave class and confide in my liberal friends. I did not want to face opposition.

However, I cannot let Trump shut down dialogue. Instead of retreating in antipathy from my friends who support the ban, I must engage and understand them, however inhumane the policies they promote may be.

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Pious (2008 Educator, 2017 Fellow)

The executive order is in direct opposition to what most Americans value.

This is a country that values welcoming the stranger, and it will do everything to save and protect its citizens from danger both abroad and here at home.

As a Muslim immigrant and an elected city councilor, it is highly disturbing to see the President issue an Executive Order denying the same opportunity I have been given from others.

Amr (2002 Yemeni Seed)

Over the past year we saw a presidential campaign that was run on a platform that encouraged divisiveness.

It rode a wave of rising racism, xenophobia, Islamophobia. It used people’s frustrations and fears to demonize the ‘other’ for political gains. In doing so, it normalized hateful sentiments and emboldened some to partake in hateful speech and acts.

The administration’s executive orders helped institutionalize this hatred, giving way for the government to discriminate against people based on religion and national origin. I felt it personally because I hail from a country affected by the executive order. I felt I was a target.

Over the past weeks, however, I also had cause for hope. I took part in the Women’s March in New York and in the rallies against the executive order at JFK International Airport and at Columbia University. I saw people of different backgrounds who had left the comfort of their homes and daily routines to rally together against hatred and divisiveness.

I also received many messages of concern and support from friends all over the US and abroad. The sense of solidarity was immense. I once again felt I was a target, a target of love and support and appreciation. And in a way, I felt I was back at Seeds of Peace.

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Mina (2017 Fellow)

The Nile Project is currently touring the United States with artists from 11 African nations, many of whom are Muslim and Middle Eastern.

None would be here had they arrived a few days after the travel ban.

As we perform, we are reminded about what made America great: diversity, openness, and a sense of hope and possibility.

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Mohamed O. (2016 Maine Seed)

When my mother immigrated to this country, she left Somalia for three reasons: safety, a better education for her children, and peace.

I asked my Mom a couple of days ago if she’d received and or found peace here in America, the land of liberty, the land that screams “all men are created equal.”

Her response was, “You were born in this country; have you yourself found peace yet?”

And I sat there and thought and thought and realized that in this country, it is hard to find peace. It is hard to find peace in a place where you can’t be yourself. It is hard to find a place where you won’t be discriminated against because of your skin color, your religion, your culture, your sexual orientation.

Islam is a religion that promotes peace, not hatred. If you can differentiate between a white man and a KKK member, then I am 100 percent sure you can differentiate between a Muslim man and an ISIS member.

I stand in front of you today as a black Muslim man. Do I look like a threat to you or this country?

I am angry. This country has institutionalized racism with this ban, and now it is time for every single one of you white people to help change that.

Anam (2013 Pakistani Seed)

Yet. Yet is a powerful word that has been associated with not only comfort but also fear, relief, uncertainty and anger, all in one weekend. The unpredictability of our current affairs and inevitable future has reduced us all to a bundle of nerves. Amidst the seven banned countries, Pakistan was not one of them … yet.

I do not have enough information to know where I stand as a Muslim woman currently residing in America on a visa. Hence, I will not talk about my qualms regarding whether I can ever go back home in the next four years or not, and if I would have to give up the university I worked so hard to get into or not. What I am able to talk about, however, is how I and perhaps many others feel.

Reading The Diary of Anne Frank and imagining the horror of her time sends chills down our spines; it seems almost inconceivable that humanity could stoop so low and close its doors on those most in need. Let us not allow history to repeat itself.

I am enraged, but I am not losing hope. When you push people to their limits, you realize who they truly are and where their passions lie. You discover their strength and resilience as they turn their pain into their power.

For the first time in quite a while, the world is watching. As it unites in the name of humanity, I would like to remind us that nothing is ever a lost cause.

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Bobbie Gottschalk (Co-Founder, Seeds of Peace)

One of the by-products of Seeds of Peace participation is the expanded circle of concern each one gains.

We no longer only care about people who are just like us. We acknowledge our common humanity even among enemies. We have a worldview that is both joyful in good times and painful in uncertain times.

Knowing that bans on visas and permissions can ruin long-held dreams of safety, education, and opportunity, we ache for those who are denied.

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Alexa (2010 American Seed)

I think this is one of those crucial moments in history in which we must critically assess our ability to talk to each other.

I learned empathy and interpersonal skills at Seeds of Peace that now seem more important than ever. The country needs programs to equip people with the ability to have productive, open conversation.

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Janet Wallach (President Emerita, Seeds of Peace)

John Wallach created Seeds of Peace with the belief that people of all religions, races, and ethnicities deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. It is why we welcome boys named Ali and Ari and Arush and girls named Sarah and Sara and Sarayu. It is why we raise all our flags together, share our meals at the table together and talk openly together in our dialogue sessions. It is why we cheer every group that arrives on the first day and why we hug and cry together when we leave for home.

The ban against Muslims entering the U.S. is a grave affront to our values and to all people. It is an outrage to the citizens of the U.S., 98 percent of whom come from families that emigrated to this country. Today it bars Muslims; tomorrow it might be Jews, or Hindus. Today the new administration decided to exclude Muslims from seven countries. Many of them fled oppression at home and found safety in our country. They are our neighbors, not numbers. They have names, families, livelihoods, dreams. Tomorrow another group may be randomly discriminated against. Where will it go from here?

The executive order smacks the face of the Statue of Liberty and shakes the ground she stands on. As human beings and as Seeds we must stand together and work together to help those who are at risk, no matter what their race or religion or where they are from. There are no boundaries when it comes to human dignity and no borders when it comes to respect.

Lauren (2014 Syracuse Seed)

I can’t possibly imagine my high school experience thus far without playing soccer with refugees who were shocked that a white girl who had never lived more than an hour from where she was born could hold her own in a soccer game.

Or comparing holiday traditions with my Muslim, Jewish, and Christian friends in a Seeds of Peace-inspired interfaith dialogue right before December break.

My experience has been greatly enhanced these exchanges, ones that my friends in overwhelmingly white communities cannot begin to understand.

I woke up sick one a few days after President Trump announced his immigration ban targeting immigrants from seven predominantly Muslim countries as security threats.

The first thing my parents asked me when I finally went downstairs was if I was feeling well enough to protest the ban at the airport.

Although this ban doesn’t directly affect my family, it has a tremendous impact on people I care deeply about, and I knew I couldn’t miss the protest, so I spent the afternoon on the couch making signs.

Trump’s ban has an immediate and terrifying effect on so many people that I know, ranging from acquaintances at school to some of the people in the world that I am closest to, and I refuse to let them fight this battle on their own.

I arrived at the protest late and immediately found myself surrounded by a mixture of familiar faces and total strangers. What astounded me about the event in itself was all of the different kinds of people who were there.

A group of Somali girls, about my age, who I recognized as going to a different school in my district, took over the protest for 20 minutes, leading the crowd in a variety of different chants.

Later, I was asked to take a picture with a girl who went to a predominantly white suburban high school because she liked my sign. Even though she didn’t live in my community, or even in the city at all, she was still there.

Everyone there stood in solidarity the refugees and immigrants that out community just wouldn’t be the same without. I couldn’t be prouder of my city. And I won’t stop standing together with my friends in opposition to this ban and any future actions that so negatively impact people I have grown to care tremendously about.

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Muna (2012 Maine Seed)

I am a Somali-American Muslim. My parents are immigrants.

I have family members who are Green Card and visa holders. And if I have learned anything through my experiences as a woman who falls under so many intersections of erasure and violence, I have learned that people don’t always see me as a human when they look at me.

It is a shame that we still have to resist systems of power which do not recognize the humanity of people fighting to be seen and heard.

It is a shame that I had to learn at a very young age that I need to equip myself with armor to protect myself against bigotry.

People come to the United States for safety and protection, but America can be just another battlefield painted in a facade we call the American Dream. I am not surprised, and none of this is new.

I might feel scared, or strong, or hopeless, or helpless. However, there is nothing more resilient than being Black and Muslim in America today—and you can’t ban that.

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Family Gathering
The Jerusalem Post

Sep 7, 2006 / No Comments

BY RYAN NADEL | JERUSALEM As the final rays of the summer sun drifted through the large windows, participants of the Seeds of Peace Cafe gathered in a luxuriously appointed room at the American Colony Hotel.

The Seeds of Peace Cafe, a program run by the organization Seeds of Peace, is a forum for individuals from Jewish, Arab and Christian communities to become acquainted with each other in an apolitical environment.

“The Cafe allows people to learn about each other’s customs,” explained Dorothy Gitter Harman, co-coordinator of the Seeds of Peace Cafe.

This event, the first since the closing of the Jerusalem center and the inaugural gathering after the summer break, featured descendants from two of the oldest and most prominent Jerusalem families—the Alamis and the Havilios.

The Seeds of Peace Cafe program was initiated last February, this being the sixth meeting. The title for the evening was “Tales of Prominent Jerusalem Families: Jewish, Christian and Muslim as told by Muhammad Alami and Abraham Havilio, Lovers of Jerusalem and Marvelous Story-Tellers.

As the participants found their seats, music floated above the conversations in the room, accenting the mixture of Arabic, Hebrew and English with a Mediterranean rhythm. Teenagers sporting the green Seeds of Peace T-shirts punctuated the mature, distinguished crowd with a sense of youth.

Harman called the program to order and reminisced about a time in Jerusalem when Arabs, Jews and Christians “lived, labored, laughed and experienced life together,” before introducing the men who lived during this period and remembered what that life was like.

“The idea is to have Jews, Muslims and Christians meet and talk about different things in which politics does not have a place, to get together and get to know each other,” said Dr. Muhammad Dajani, co-coordinator of the cafe with Harman. “We are here to talk about coexistence during a time in the past when conflict did not exist, when we lived as one.”

Avraham Havilio, 76, a man whose presence emits the type of wisdom gained through experience, then took the microphone. Speaking with sweeping hand gestures, he introduced his tales with the title, “Once Upon a Time.”

Havilio opened his presentation by expressing his belief that talking and understanding each other—even if in disagreement—is the beginning of ideological unity, “because understanding is the first step toward agreement.”

His voice filled the room as he recounted the history of his family in Jerusalem, beginning in 1265. He emphasized that his family was always involved in both the commercial and communal aspects of the city, and distributed pictures of family members and artifacts documenting his family’s illustrious Jerusalem heritage. Havilio Sweets, which was sold 10 years ago, has been a feature of the Jerusalem landscape for about 250 years. The company operated out of a small factory in Jerusalem and was sold by stores in the area.

Havilio called upon his friends in the audience to share memories of their father’s and grandfather’s era.

Dr. Ali Qleibo, himself an expert on the ancient families of Jerusalem and author of a book on the subject, told of a time when “Jerusalem was not segregated, it was one city and we coexisted as a matter of the course of life, it was a time when people interacted on a personal level.”

Another friend of Havilio’s, Albert Hazan, born in Jerusalem during the 1930s, recounted school boy adventures with Arab and Christian friends. “We would walk the streets of Jerusalem with joy, not fear,” he reminisced. “My stories of Jerusalem are the stories of the love of two boys from two different worlds.”

Hazan expressed wishful sentiment that the stories of past cross-cultural friendships “blossom into friendships of the future.”

Havilio concluded his stories and turned the microphone over to Dr. Muhammad Alami, who immediately commented that he is too much of an academic to tell stories, admitting he is “too young to know the stories firsthand, but not too young to know what society was like.”

Alami, in his early 60s, explained that historically, connection to society focused on associations with institutions, all of which were religious and created the great families of Jerusalem. However, he added, when the institutions collapsed in the 19th century, the dynamic of the families and society changed.

Alami remarked that “during the Ottoman Empire, the city was very calm” and society was unchanging and “stagnant.”

The floor was then opened to all for comments and stories. As Havilio had hoped, by the end of the evening it was clear that all in attendance had a better understanding of what Jerusalem life was once like.

As the evening concluded, attendees mingled and shared their own stories and memories of old Jerusalem. Their conversations of times past drifted into the evening sky.