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Secretary of State Albright’s remarks at Seeds of Peace 6th Anniversary Dinner

Apr 26, 1998 / No Comments

NEW YORK | As released by the Office of the Spokesman, U.S. Department of State (as delivered):

SECRETARY OF STATE MADELINE K. ALBRIGHT: John, thank you very much, and thank you very much Nancy, Passant, Noa, Sa’ad, Kheerallah and Shouq. I have been honored to receive a number of awards in recent years, but I never have received one from Seeds. I will put it right in my office so that every time I look at it, I will be encouraged in my diplomatic gardening.

(Applause.)

Excellencies, Congressman Wayne Owens, and Congressman John Dingle, John Wallach, my good friend Richard Dreyfuss—congratulations—distinguished guests and friends good evening and thank you all very, very much. I never met Ruth Ratner Miller. And I am very, very sorry that I didn’t. But as you know, I have had the pleasure of working closely with her extraordinary son. And I know she was a remarkable woman. And Aaron, thank you very much for sticking through all this. We will do it. Thank you, very much.

She cared passionately about the cause of Middle East peace because she cared passionately about people—all people—and because she would not accept the view of some that there are limits to what can be achieved by people of good faith and good will working together. So I will accept this award on behalf of all those who believe that we should never allow the old limits, the conventional wisdom about what people can accomplish to hold us back. Rather we should push through those limits like plants rising through the soil.

Certainly this is the spirit that has helped the Seeds of Peace Program take root and grow from 45 participants five years ago, to a total of what will be now 1,000 ambassadors of peace who will have graduated by this summer. And this program is growing not only in numbers but in depth and ambition. I would like to really pay great tribute to John Wallach, who has done all of this, and who is a remarkable leader.

(Applause.)

Now, I have to tell you that John used to be journalist. Just think.

(Laughter.)

John, really, this is your dream and you have done an amazing job. And I am so proud to have gotten to know about this program. And it’s thanks to you and Aaron that I now consider myself not a Seed—I’m a little too big for that—but part of this.

We look forward to the Seeds of Peace Summit in Geneva next month and to the unprecedented summer sessions planned in Israel, the West Bank, and Jordan this summer. And most of all—most of all, we look forward to the day not far off when graduates of this program will begin to take their place in governments, on university faculties, and in businesses, social and religious institutions. And we can hope that the currents of tolerance and understanding they unleash will gather first into a mighty stream and then an unstoppable tide.

Sadly, the year since we gathered last spring to honor His Majesty King Hussein has been disappointing for friends of peace in the Middle East. A crisis of confidence has eroded the spirit of partnership between Israelis and Palestinians. We’ve witnessed horrible incidents of terror, seen unhelpful unilateral actions and heard both sides employ harsh accusations that have undermined the spirit of partnership necessary to advance peace. Last September—and then again in February—during visits to the Middle East, I saw firsthand the divisions and the deep sense of disappointment and uncertainty that exists in Israel, on the West Bank, and to an extent throughout the region. Because of these divisions, we have entered a period of grave danger.

We face the possibility that the momentum that had been built in the direction of peace will snap back and begin to run in reverse. If that happens, we may see a future in the Middle East that mirrors the grim and conflict-ridden past. We cannot let that happen—I repeat—we cannot let that happen.

(Applause.)

The leaders on all sides in the region know the history. For better or worse, they will one day be chapters in it. They also know that their peoples have gained much from the progress already made. Because of past breakthroughs strongly supported by the United States, Israel is at peace with Egypt and Jordan when in past decades they engaged in bitter war. As the State of Israel approaches its 50th anniversary this week—an event that Vice President Gore will be helping Israelis celebrate—Israel has an opportunity to obtain the security is has for too long been denied.

The United States understands how important this objective and is unshakably committed to helping Israelis achieve it. The way is now open if the will to resume negotiations is there for a comprehensive peace that includes Syria and Lebanon. A road map has been set out for regional cooperation on everything from water to the environment to refugees. The international community—including the United States—is working with the Palestinian people to relieve poverty, build infrastructure and create jobs.

And as a consequence of Oslo, Israelis and Palestinians have reached a series of agreements that if properly implemented will leave Israel more secure, Palestinians with real self-government and real responsibility for their own affairs, and create for both a chance to negotiate the core elements of a permanent peace. These are historic achievements that should not dismissed, underestimated, or forgotten. They provide the foundation for a future in which every people in the region could realize its hopes, in which every people could live free from the threat of terror and war—in which every people could exist in dignity and in which each could have the skills and the opportunity to participate in the global economy.

Ecclesiastics tells us there is a time to every purpose under Heaven. Tonight, the children of the Middle East have told us that this is the time for peace.

When I leave here tonight, I will fly to the Pacific Rim. And after my business there is done, I will fly further west until—in a week—I arrive in London. I will meet there separately with Prime Minister Netanyahu and Chairman Arafat. We will see then whether the two leaders are prepared to make the tough choices required to move the peace process along.

My message will be straightforward. It is no longer enough just to talk, or to talk about having more talks. We have been going around in circles for far too long.

Under Oslo, an agreement on permanent status should be reached by May 4, 1999, exactly one year from our meeting in London. The United States takes that date very seriously. Every effort should be made to meet that target. It will be difficult. But, as Ruth Ratner Miller would have reminded us, anything is possible if the will is there to get the job done.

What is needed is a recommitment to the spirit of partnership; a determination to work not against, but with each other; a willingness to agree to concrete steps; and the vision and courage sufficient to seize the strategic opportunity for peace that past progress has created.

In a very real sense, what we are asking Israelis and Palestinians and other Arabs to do as societies is what the Seeds of Peace program asks our young people—and by implication, all of us—to do as individuals.

To learn enough about history to know that others, too, have suffered and been treated unjustly.

To learn enough about our neighbors to know them not as crude stereotypes but as individuals, with apprehensions, affections and aspirations comparable to our own.

To learn enough about ourselves to understand that our own happiness cannot rest for long on the misery or deprivation of others, but rather must be built on the solid ground of decency and fairness.

And to care enough about the future to reject the easy path of recrimination and blame, and to climb instead the uphill path out of the wilderness to the high ground, where one-time enemies may live in prosperity and peace.

These are not easy lessons to learn. Perhaps, like a new language, the young find them less difficult. But none of us are too old to think and act anew.

Despite all the setbacks of the recent past, I am convinced that we will be able to say, one day, that these lessons have been learned.

The desire for peace, like the Burning Bush, is never consumed. Together, we must act on that desire.

In the words of King Hussein, “Let us not keep silent. Let our voices rise high enough to speak of our commitment to peace for all times to come. And let us tell those who live in darkness, who are the enemies of life and true faith, this is where we stand. This is our camp.”

Excellencies, friends, Seeds of Peace, tonight let us echo King Hussein’s call. Let us dedicate ourselves to enlarging our camp, so that the circle of peace embraces every Israeli, Palestinian and Arab in every nation in every part of the Middle East.

Inspired by the memory of Ruth Ratner Miller and by the example of the Seeds of Peace, let us cast our lot with those who have chosen to climb the path of reconciliation; let us support them, help them, and see them safely through.

As John said, I decided that I needed to come here even though I’m supposed to be on my way to the far East. I think that after listening to the Seeds and their message, I thing you know that I go with the wind at my back.

Thank you very much.

Read transcript at the U.S. Department of State »

Seeds of Peace: Not blind patriotism
Afternoon Despatch & Courier (Mumbai)

Sep 10, 2014 / No Comments

Participants from regions of conflict attend a camp and discussed issues like the India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir

A group of teenagers who participated in this year’s Seeds of Peace camp returned from their three week tour at Maine, United States of America. Seeds of Peace was founded by American journalist John Wallach in 1993. The idea was to get people from the regions of conflict to come together and speak to each other so that they can understand the situation of their opponents and the young generation can help in building up a hate-free world.

“The camp was a great learning experience. We met Pakistanis. Since childhood, in one way or the other we have been told that they are our enemies. For example, let’s take the Kashmir issue. Both the countries think that the state belongs to them. As an Indian I had my reasons to believe that Kashmir belongs to us. But after this camp where I was with Pakistani Seeds (volunteers) I realised that they also had their reasons for the same,” Hussain, one of the participants at the camp told ADC in an open discussion on Wednesday at the US Consulate.

“The camp was like a self-realisation period,” says Rahul, another participant. He further added, “After meeting Pakistani participants I came to know about their problems as well. I realised that their country is going through a bad phase.”

The participants also known as seeds spoke about some of the reasons which are responsible for enhancing the conflict and the hatred in the hearts of the people of both sides.

Divyushi, one of the seeds said, “Our news media filters out the information. It decides what people should know about the situation at the border. Our country’s media will blame Pakistan for violation of the ceasefire at the border. And the Pakistani media does the same thing by blaming India. People don’t get fact based information.” She further added, “We entered the camp with a pro-India mindset. But at the camp during our dialogues our understanding of the issues improved. We lived together, became friends, shared secrets and now we are out with a new bunch of friends.”

“Our initial mindset was ‘we are right and you are wrong’. But the camp taught us to not to be blindly patriotic. It taught us that being patriotic doesn’t mean that you blindly believe in your government, but it also means to be critical about its actions,” said Anaina.

Jeffrey E Ellis, Press Officer, US Counsulate General addressed the young participants. He said, “I am glad that all the participants spoke about four important words – friendship, respect, understanding and dialogue. I believe these four words are the base for peace.”

Read Santia Dudi’s article at the Afternoon Despatch & Courier â€șâ€ș

Diplomat sees both sides of Mideast conflict
Santa Barbara News-Press

Feb 27, 2005 / No Comments

BY MICHAEL TODD | He’s a U.S. diplomat who spent most of his career trying to find peace in the Mideast, and he now runs Seeds of Peace, a program that teaches youths on both sides of the divide leadership skills needed to avoid war. But Aaron David Miller doesn’t see either approach bringing peace.

“It’s not the diplomats who can or will regulate what goes on between human beings. Seeds of Peace cannot end the Palestinian conflict, but neither can the diplomats.”

Still, there’s no despair in the adviser on Arab-Israeli negotiations to six secretaries of state. Quoting President Kennedy, he calls himself “an idealist without illusions.”

“I think that’s the only approach to take up because you can’t give up … but you must go in with your eyes open.”

Mr. Miller will bring that pragmatic idealism to UCSB’s Corwin Pavilion on Wednesday when he addresses “Arab-Israeli Peacemaking” in a free lecture. The author of three books on the Mideast, he served in the State Department for two decades formulating U.S. policy in the region. His most recent posting, as senior adviser for Arab-Israeli negotiations, ended when he took the presidency of Seeds of Peace in January 2003.

In his book “The Missing Peace,” U.S. Middle East envoy Dennis Ross, Mr. Miller’s boss for a dozen years, assessed his deputy: “He was Jewish and in no small part that helped shape his personal commitment to peace. He deeply believed in Israel’s moral legitimacy, while also understanding the profound sense of grievance that Palestinians felt. Perhaps, because of his training as a historian, Aaron always tried to understand what was going on in terms of basic trends … He was also guided by his own sense of fairness, believing instinctively that the Palestinians should not be treated differently from any other Arab party. Aaron’s analysis was thoughtful, logical and honest. One thing I knew for sure: With Aaron, I would have a deputy who would never shy away from expressing the truth as he understood it, no matter what the audience.”

Speaking via telephone from the New York offices of Seeds for Peace, Mr. Miller demonstrated that his brand of diplomacy still brooks no evasions of hard truths, even about his own legacy.

“For me, the Arab-Israeli conflict has never been a morality play, no good vs. bad,” he said. “It’s not some sort of Manichean drama of light vs. dark.”

Instead, it’s a matter of meeting and dealing with competing needs that must be reconciled.

“My moral and political point of departure was not rooted in that I am an American Jew,” he contends. Instead, his interests were in furthering U.S. international influence. That meant, quite simply, “You really have to look at both sides’ needs,” he said.

His historian’s dispassion allows him to criticize both the current Bush administration’s “disengagement” with the “over-involvement of the Clinton administration.” The latter occurred under his watch.

“Three or four tactical and strategic mistakes were made during the Clinton administration, and those enabled the Palestinians and the Israelis to, I think, pursue policies that couldn’t succeed.”

In short, he said, “we were not tough enough on both sides.”

The recent death of Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat and the election of Mahmoud Abbas as his successor provide a fresh baseline for peace, he suggested.

“I think the passing of Yassir Arafat offers a chance for the Palestinians for the first time in their history to move from a politics based on personality to a politics based on legitimacy.” But legitimacy requires results, Mr. Miller stressed. One thing that isn’t needed, he said, is a “mad rush” back to the negotiating table. “What is needed is a series of unilateral actions (by both sides) that are credible and build trust … Any notion of going back to permanent status negotiations are not just foolish but a catastrophe.”

Mr. Miller’s suspicion about the favored weapon in the arsenal of traditional diplomacy is reflected in how he views two signal moments in the peace process — the Oslo accords, a 1993 agreement between Mr. Arafat and the late Yitzhak Rabin that codified Palestinian sovereignty, and the most recent nuts-and-bolts meeting between Mr. Abbas (one of the architects of Oslo) and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon at Sharm el Sheik, Egypt.

“Oslo was a religion for believers,” Mr. Miller said. “Sharm el Sheik was a business proposition for pragmatists.”

Unstated is that the United States must be a part of the solution.

“While the time is long past when the U.S. can single-handedly solve the problem, when it comes time, there can be only one mediator. The United States is the only power in the international system that enjoys the trust and confidence of both sides,” he said.

Asked if Arabs trust the United States in a time of street protests and car bombs, Mr. Miller replied, “I do not believe, despite our diminished credibility, that the Arab world has given up on us.”

In that vein, he rejected additional “projection of American military power” in the region, although he did counsel the United States using “sunlight as the best disinfectant” in hounding Syria and Iran.

What he embraces, both as diplomat and president of Seeds of Peace, is “transformational diplomacy” to erode the “generational” conflict between Arabs and Israelis.

“Even if political agreements are reached, those will take years to take effect as anything we would recognize as peace.”

And that’s where Seeds of Peace comes in. The organization, founded in 1993, takes up to 500 youths from Israel and predominantly Muslim countries and teaches them leadership skills at a camp in Maine.

“We’re building for the next generation,” Mr. Miller said, unveiling his idealism. “Only individuals can turn back and reshape the crueler aspects of history.”

New Season for Peace
Portland Press Herald

Jun 26, 2003 / No Comments

BY DEIRDRE ERIN MURPHY | OTISFIELD More than 170 teenagers from the Middle East, the United States and elsewhere linked arms and sang a song of peace Wednesday for the opening day at Seeds of Peace camp.

Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings together teenagers from regions in conflict, kicked off its 11th season with a flag-raising ceremony. The tradition represents the teenagers’ pledge to embrace other cultures and ethnicities during their three weeks at Pleasant Lake.

The campers’ stay comes against a backdrop of renewed violence in the Middle East despite a Wednesday agreement among Palestinian militant groups to a three-month cease-fire of attacks on Israelis.

Seeds, as the campers are called, are 14- to 16-year-old boys and girls from Afghanistan, Palestine, Israel, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Yemen and the United States. Three different sessions this summer will allow campers to express themselves through structured discussions with fellow campers. During each three-week stay, Seeds from different nations share cabins and play on the same sports teams. They eat and live with people who, at home, are called the enemy.

“It manages to take people who normally wouldn’t have contact and have them sleep in the same bunk together,” said Oren Karniol-Tambour, a second-year camper from Israel.

Campers often apply what they learn to their lives back home. Karniol-Tambour said when he returned to Netanya, Israel, he brought his father, who found it difficult to agree with his new views on peace, to have lunch with a Palestinian friend he made at camp.

“It was very hard for (my father) to hear me say, ‘Now wait a minute, maybe you’re wrong,’ ” he said.

Although much of their time at camp is structured, sometimes the unstructured events leave the most lasting impressions. Karniol-Tambour said last year he learned just as much spending time with his friends as he did at the emotionally charged training sessions. His best friends last year were a Palestinian and an American.

“The first thing we did was talk about girls and music,” he said. “We’re all the same.” Only 15, Karniol-Tambour already knows he wants the conflict between Israel and Palestine to end. He says using violence isn’t the right path to peace.

“What you’re doing, in fact, is counteractive,” he said. “Blood only causes more blood.”

Sometimes it is this violence at home that has a disheartening impact on the camp, Seeds of Peace president Aaron David Miller said.

“The most different thing (about this year’s camp sessions) will be how they react to events going on at home,” Miller said. This year the campers and staff will have to learn “how to balance what is happening over there with the reality of what we are trying to do here.”

The camp is only one part of the organization’s year-long programming throughout the Middle East and in Portland. Other efforts include producing a newspaper, attending seminars and conducting online discussions to promote peace.

“Camp is the departure point and it has to be seen that way. Camp provides the transformation,” Miller said. “We also give them the freedom to speak for themselves.”

For campers, this freedom is precious. “It’s all safe. There’s no violence,” said Sami Habash, a Palestinian attending camp for a second year. “I always want to talk about my point of view with Israelis and now I can,” he said. “The No. 1 thing that made me get into this summer camp is it has the word peace in it.”

Americans at the camp also have the opportunity to learn what their role could be in a worldwide peace process.

“I’m interested in making a peaceful world,” said Abby Becker of Morgantown, W.Va. “I think I’m going to take what I learn from other cultures and ethnicities and teach people in my community that we’re not that different.”

The ambitions of these teenagers on the first day of camp are high, but for right now, they are just eager to go play.

“It’s not only work,” Karniol-Tambour said. “It takes a lot of emotional strength and it drains you, but it’s a lot of fun.”

Maine Seeds organize dialogue to find solutions to high school problems

Mar 29, 2014 / No Comments

PORTLAND, MAINE | On March 29, Maine Seeds from five Portland High Schools held an open dialogue session at the Portland Public Library to address pressing issues they face in their schools. These ranged from problems with the English Language Learners programs (ELL), tension between the differing global and national perspectives in school culture, and LGBTQ bullying, and stereotyping by both students and teachers.

The dialogue session was student-led, empowering the teenagers to find solutions together. Ideas generated during the solution-seeking brainstorm session include using televising world news throughout the school so as to raise awareness about international issues, establishing more apparent LGBTQ Safe Zones, and expressing their concerns to politicians regarding flaws in the ELL programs in Maine.

The spirit of community continued into the afternoon, as Seeds moved from the library dialogue to South Portland High School, where they saw a musical and supported the two Seeds who played in it.

“We were all very impressed by the production,” said organizer Erica Zane. “It was a great example of how public schools can provide positive opportunities for students.”

Students across Maine have been part of Seeds of Peace since 2000, with tailored programming focused on local intercommunal tensions. With a high concentration of Seeds in Portland, and numerous opportunities for others across the state to come together, Maine Seeds stay connected post-camp through educational, fun, and meaningful encounters.

Israeli-Palestinian youth choir makes peace through song
The Washington Post

Feb 17, 2014 / No Comments

JERUSALEM — While attending a U.S.-based interfaith camp as a teen, Micah Hendler had an idea.

What would happen if he launched an Israeli-Palestinian choir that encouraged Jerusalem-area Israeli and Palestinian high school students to make music and engage in dialogue?

Two years ago, the 24-year-old Maryland-born Yale graduate moved to Jerusalem to do just that.

Hendler knew several of the coexistence projects that once flourished in the city had collapsed under the weight of Palestinian terror attacks and Israeli military incursions. And he knew the work wouldn’t be easy.

But he had studied music and international studies, sung with the Yale Whiffenpoofs, and directed a number of ensembles, including the Duke’s Men of Yale, an all-male collegiate a cappella group.

More pertinent, in high school he had apprenticed with Ysaye Barnwell, a composer who was then a member of an African-American women’s vocal group, Sweet Honey in the Rock. Barnwell led events called community sings in which she taught songs of social justice and community building by ear in multiple parts to mostly untrained singers. He planned to use her techniques.

The first thing he did was contact area schools. Many didn’t want to participate.

“I went class by class, giving presentations in Hebrew and Arabic, trying to make the choir sound like the coolest thing in the world,” he said.

Ultimately, 80 students auditioned and 30 were chosen.

The criteria: musical talent, but also open-mindedness toward learning about new perspectives.

The YMCA Jerusalem Youth Chorus is the result.

The program, whose ultimate goal is to create a cohort of thoughtful, tolerant young leaders, takes place at the Jerusalem International YMCA, one of the few places in this contentious city where Jews and Arabs frequently form close friendships.

The musical component, which includes multicultural songs sung in Arabic, Hebrew and English, is fairly straightforward, despite the fact that Hendler and the teens are constantly juggling languages.

The dialogues are more complicated, but not due to linguistics.

“Essentially, the program is designed to provide a safe space for the participants to explore one another’s identities, histories and life experiences, even regarding sensitive issues like the conflict,” Hendler said during a rehearsal, emphasizing that trust can’t be built overnight.

“You start slowly, not with 1948,” he said referring to the year Israel was created, an event Arabs call “al Nakba,” or “the disaster.”

“Instead, you start with an exploration of where people come from, what makes them who they are. Then you start getting into some of the issues surrounding nationality, citizenship, which takes you into the conflict from a personal direction.”

Once the Arab teens begin to see the Jewish teens as friends and vice versa, “they broaden that understanding to the wider group” of Arabs and Jews, Muslims and Christians.

The choir has continued to meet even during the toughest of times.

Hendler recalled how in 2012, just a month after the choir was launched, Israeli troops entered Gaza in an attempt to stop Palestinian rocket fire into Israeli population centers. Israelis felt the incursion was justified; Palestinians accused Israel of excessive force.

At one point during the fighting “rockets were falling near Jerusalem,” the music director said, “but the choir met anyway. Defiantly so.”

Avital Maeir, who is Jewish and Israeli, said she decided to join the choir “to show that Muslims, Christians and Jews can work together. Actually, it’s happening already, but most people don’t know about it. “

Maeir, who lives in a neighborhood that skirts East and West Jerusalem and is home to both Jews and Arabs, noted that she has many Arab neighbors.

“We hang out together,” she said.

Yasmin Khoury, a Christian Arab who lives in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in West Jerusalem, and attends the city’s only Arabic-Hebrew school, said she enjoys the choir’s mandatory dialogue encounters.

“There are a lot of special kids here, Jews, Muslims and Christians together,” she said. “We talk about the conflict. We talk about what Arabs and Jews have done wrong, and we don’t always agree. We agree to disagree.”

Alaa Obied, a Palestinian 11th-grader who studies in Ramallah, in the West Bank, said he joined the choir first because he wanted the opportunity to sing on a higher level, and because he wanted to meet new people.

Obied, who must pass through Israeli military checkpoints, said his “negative preconceptions” of Israelis as a whole “haven’t changed” since he joined the choir.

“My relatives and I feel persecuted by the Israeli police and soldiers. But at the same time, I feel that the Jews in the choir are different. Here I feel like I’m an equal,” Obied said.

Read Michele Chabin’s article at The Washington Post â€șâ€ș

Seeds of Peace sends representatives to the 2008 Islamic Games in New Jersey

May 30, 2008 / No Comments

NEW YORK | Seeds of Peace recently attended the second annual Islamic Games held in the city of South Brunswick, New Jersey, on Saturday, May 24, 2008. The objective of the Islamic Games was to execute a professional athletic and sports event within the Muslim community that promotes athletic skills, develop appreciation for sports and encourage participation from the community.

For Seeds of Peace, it was an opportunity to engage in a conversation with Muslim youth. Having an open and honest dialogue with the Muslim community is a priority for Seeds of Peace and the organization was thrilled to participate in the games.

Representing Seeds of Peace were, Jacob Toll (Member, Junior Board of Directors), and Seeds Sadeq Damrah (and Olympic swim team coach for Palestine), Rami Qubain, Eitan Paul, Laith, and Chuck Poliacof-Goldberg. They spent the afternoon speaking to attendees of the games and introducing the work of Seeds of Peace.

New session, new hopes: Mideast meets Seeds of Peace
Lewiston Sun Journal

Jul 26, 2007 / No Comments

BY M. DIRK LANGEVELD | OTISFIELD Amid songs and flag raising, the Seeds of Peace International Camp began its second summer session on Wednesday morning.

Camp Director Leslie Lewin praised the campers for making the trip to Maine, as well as the camp’s staff whom she said includes several former participants.

“They truly love being here,” Lewin said. “They are not your average camp staff.”

The camp’s purpose is to build trust and friendship between teenagers from different countries with longstanding conflicts between them. The camp’s first three-week session concluded last Tuesday.

Campers attending the new session include Egyptians, Israelis, Jordanians, Palestinians and Americans. During the ceremonies, a second-year peer support camper from each nation gave a short speech on their experience at the camp. Following each speech, the country’s flag was raised and its national anthem sung.

Lewin called the ceremony the “official start” to the program. The campers arrived Tuesday, and the dialogues and activities begin after the starting ceremony.

Youssef Selim of Egypt said that despite the varying backgrounds, the camp “is the one place where all of us belong.”

Eyas Sharaiha of Jordan said the camp offered “a new window that is unbiased” through which to see people from other countries.

Or Bainhorem of Israel said the camp was a place to learn about respect for other cultures and other values.

“All you have to give is yourself,” he said. “And that’s a small price to pay.”

Oula Abu Hwaij, a Palestinian, recalled her first session with Seeds of Peace, during which a fellow camper claimed to have “won the dialogue” by bringing another participant in the discussion to tears. He told her the next day that he was sad about what he had done. She suggested that he apologize, and he did.

“When he did that, I think he actually won the dialogue,” Hwaij said.

During the ceremonies, the Israeli and Palestinian flags were raised on adjacent poles.

Leila Hunter spoke on behalf of Maine Seeds, a program within Seeds of Peace that addresses racial and ethnic tension within Maine cities.

“You never know who you’re going to meet,” said Hunter. “You never know how they’re going to impact you.”

For Maine’s anthem, several campers sung the state’s 16 counties to the tune of “Yankee Doodle.”

Nicolla Hewitt, president of Seeds of Peace, said she had met with several Middle Eastern government officials, who were enthusiastic about the project. She said Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian ambassadors would be at the camp on Sunday.

Wil Smith, the camp’s head counselor, said that only the Seeds of Peace flag would fly within the camp’s gates after the event. The ceremony closed with the singing of the Seeds of Peace song.

The camp was founded by journalist John Wallach in 1993 in response to the first attack on the World Trade Center. The program seeks to encourage understanding among different national and ethnic groups as a way of dispelling future conflict.

The camp’s programs include daily dialogue sessions in which the teenagers discuss contentious issues, as well as athletic activities intended to create trust and teamwork between different groups.

“It’s a good way to tell the other side what you feel in a peaceful way,” Hwaij said.

Bainhorem said he comes from a right-wing family and was living in an area of Israel where rockets were falling near his home. He said the circumstances made it easy to feel hatred for Palestinians, but he wanted to gain his own perspective.

“This could be the only chance for me to meet Arab people in a noncombat circumstance,” he said.

VIDEO: Making a Difference by setting an example
NBC News

Apr 27, 2007 / No Comments

Wil Smith is a role model for minority students at an elite college in Maine

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BRUNSWICK, MAINE | Starting with 11-year-old daughter Olivia, Wil Smith tries to point young people in the right direction. He’s an assistant dean at Bowdoin College, a small, elite school in Maine that, with Smith’s help, has changed from virtually an all-white campus to a school with nearly a 30 percent minority enrollment.

Smith’s mission is to make sure those students succeed.

“It takes support to remove that self doubt that they belong here,” Smith says.

One reason Smith connects so well with Bowdoin’s students is because he also attended college here — graduated back in 2000 — and those years are where this story really began.

When Smith enrolled at Bowdoin, Olivia was just 2. He was raising her alone, struggling to pay tuition, not eating some days so his daughter could.

He took her to class, to basketball practice. He had no money for day care. Eventually, the Bowdoin community learned their story and helped Smith become the first single dad ever to graduate from the college.

“He gives people like me inspiration, he gives everyone on this campus inspiration,” says student Hassan Mohammed.

Beyond campus, Smith just coached a girl’s high school basketball team to the state championship game. They lost, but players say Smith taught them how to win.

“He’ll always be, like, in the back of my head, come on you can do this, just push a little bit harder, you can go a bit further,” says Morghan McAleney, a student at Catherine McAuley High School.

Summers he spends at Seeds of Peace, a camp where Israeli and Palestinian kids come together, trying to build a peaceful future. And of course, he’s always there for Olivia.

“I think more than anything, young people need to know that the people who love them are going to love them no matter what,” Smith says.

He thinks of himself as a “coach” from a small place, helping young people do big things.

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Follow the Fellows: Slapping Israeli society awake

Oct 19, 2019 / 1 Comment

“Protest songs are not very popular in Israel because protest is not very popular in Israel,” said Shira, a 1995 Israeli Seed and 2019 GATHER Fellow.

Shira has set out to change this mindset.

A singer-songwriter and Hebrew teacher from Jerusalem, Shira is using her platform as a musician to “sing, speak, and shout about what is whispered, censored, and suppressed.” In early September, ahead of the Israeli elections, Shira released Everything is Political, a compilation of protest songs aimed to “slap Jewish Israeli society awake” and shake up the silent majority.

Shira’s music, well-known in Israel’s indie music scene, hasn’t always been as overtly political as her recent release. She’s performed with different bands and ensembles for over a decade in Israel and abroad. A self-described singer of “bitter-sweet contemplations with a groovy heart,” both Shira’s music and her presence radiate a colorful combination of playfulness, grit, and elegance.

Shira sees music as an essential ingredient in bringing about both individual and systemic change. She sees society as living, for the past few centuries, in a “silly adolescent stage, wasting time and energy hating each other and themselves” and she wants to help society grow up. She speaks of the concept of resonance, a natural phenomenon that occurs when one wave meets another wave with the same frequency, so they start moving together. Resonance is, of course, at the core of music, but Shira also sees resonance as an essential part of the human experience.

Bringing about individual and systematic change isn’t made easy in Israel. Although Israeli artists have a platform that allows them to address political issues or advance progressive messages to the public, very few do so either out of fear or lack of support. Self-censorship, Shira said, plays a significant role in shaping Israeli art. At least half of the Israeli public is not left-wing, so by releasing a left-wing song, artists run the risk of losing half their audience—as well as necessary funding and opportunities. All you need to know about artistic censorship in Israel, Shira explained, “is embodied by Miri Regev, our Minister of Culture, who used to be the Chief Censor of the Israeli Army. It couldn’t be more ironic.” Censorship is an all-encompassing, but underlying aspect of the artistic culture in Israel, and Shira is tackling it head on with the release of her new album, Everything is Political.

In the creation of Everything is Political, Shira set the most recent Israeli election as a deadline and ran with it. She reached out to a diverse cohort of Israeli musicians, both familiar and famous, asking them to contribute new or existing “harsh, strong, loud, and clear protest songs” to her compilation.

“The compilation is supposed to be an intervention for Jewish Israeli society,” Shira said, “to convince the convinced,” appealing to Israelis who couldn’t find the ideal candidate or were too far left to consider voting. She wants to break the vicious cycle by which Israeli left-wingers become apathetic and alienated as a result of harsh political realities in Israel, thus, they isolate themselves from the political system, and as a result, the political system doesn’t change.

The compilation, despite being comprised of left-leaning protest songs, is diverse in terms of the contributing musicians’ identities, genres, and messages. Some songs straightforwardly call for an end to the Occupation, others are more subtle, and a few focus on other issues in Israeli society, like LGBTQ+ rights or police brutality. One song, for example, “The South is Burning,” by a 16-year old female rapper Chica Loca from Ashkelon, serves as a powerful call to action. “Bibi you should quit and I’m going to be the next prime minister,” Chica Loca sings, “you’re not doing anything, and the South is burning.”

The album’s cover, like everything else about the compilation, is multi-layered in its meaning. Designed by Shira herself, it features a browning banana, emulating the iconic Andy Warhol and Velvet Underground album cover. The banana is also an international and Israel-specific visual play on words. Shira wanted to suggest that Israel is turning into a banana republic and that “our banana is rotten.” She also wanted to invoke the common phrase ‘it’s not rot, it’s honey’ that Israeli parents employ to get their kids to eat overripe bananas. The cover cleverly suggests that if a browning banana can be political, then indeed, everything is political.

Shira connects the compilation, and her career in general, to her experience at a Seeds of Peace Camp reunion in Jordan in 1996: “Strangely and interestingly enough,” she reflected, “Seeds was the first time that I actually realized that maybe I could sing.”

For much of her childhood, Shira assumed that she had no musical talent (ironic, considering her name means ‘singing’ in Hebrew!) At this Seeds reunion, however, Shira spontaneously auditioned to sing the Seeds of Peace anthem, was selected, and performed publicly for the first time in her life
 in front of King Hussein and Shimon Peres.

Seeds of Peace also strengthened Shira’s human rights-centered and artsy upbringing. Seeds helped her bridge the gap between being politically aware and politically active, even though she feels like doesn’t do enough. “I think the fact that I want to do stuff, even if it’s just a tiny bit, it’s definitely inspired by the Seed in me—it’s that part of me that was supported ever since.”

This idea of doing your bit, no matter how small, has manifested in many parts of Shira’s life. A week before she was supposed to enlist in the Israeli army, Shira awoke in the middle of the night questioning how—as someone so left-wing, anti-Occupation, and anti-military—she was supposed to become a soldier. “I just had this seed of peace in me,” she said. Instead of joining the army, Shira volunteered at a youth center in Jaffa and, many years later, co-anchored a talk show at Galatz, the army-run radio station. While working at Galatz, Shira tried to sneak subversive messaging onto the show—determined, even then, to use her platform for protest.

Shira applied for the GATHER Fellowship in part to rekindle the structure and support she received as a Seed. Running with the Seeds metaphor, she describes GATHER as a garden in which she nurtures and grows projects. Shira has to work hard to create the conditions for herself to be successful, as she’s a self-described midnight-to-sunrise creative, not a 9-5er. GATHER provides her with the necessary resources, support, sunshine, and most importantly, structure to thrive. “What artists need most is not inspiration, it’s not money, it’s not love. It’s deadlines,” Shira laughingly acknowledged.

“As I grow older, I see how appropriate and accurate the metaphor of our life as a garden is” said Shira. “I’m happy I’ve come to realize what I need to keep my garden alive, and grateful for the times it’s flowering or even bearing fruit. But I’m also grateful for being able to just sit there, hum a song with the birds, and watch the seeds grow.”

You can listen to Shira and a bold cohort of Israeli musicians using their platform for protest at Everything is Political.

Following the success of Everything is Political, Shira has published a call for artists for the planned sequel to the compilation. Musicians and writers are welcome to send their songs and texts envisioning a better future for Israel and Palestine to contact@shiracarmel.com.

This series highlights our 2019 GATHER Fellows. To learn more about the inspiring social change that Shira and our other Fellows are working towards, check out #FollowtheFellows on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.