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VIDEO: Seeds of Peace shifts focus to unrest in U.S.
WCSH (NBC/Portland)

Sep 7, 2016 / No Comments

OTISFIELD, Maine | A pilot program at Seeds of Peace summer camp came at the exact right time to deal with unrest in the United States this summer.

The program has already been used in Maine for the last 16 years, but this year the camp decided to hold a week long session with students from Maine, Los Angeles, New York City, and Chicago. The second year campers participate in closed dialogue sessions every day for 110 minutes where they discuss a wide range of issues facing the country.

“It helps you to understand like different perspectives about different people and also it helps you to like know about yourself more,” said second year camper Amy Umutoni.

Seeds of Peace was started in 1993 with just Israeli and Palestinian teenagers taking part, but has a much farther reach today. The sessions with daily dialogues consisted of 123 campers, with around 80 being from Maine. Leslie Lewin, Executive Director at Seeds of Peace, is hoping that the week long session will give kids a chance to find their voice while understanding those who have a difference of opinion.

“Meant to give young people an opportunity to engage one another and tackle together some of the most divisive issues facing us right now. Race, gender, economic disparity, educational disparity,” said Lewin.

For more information about Seeds of Peace, click here.

Watch the video at WCSH6.com ››

April 1, 2012 | Panel Discussion (Chicago)

Apr 1, 2012 / No Comments

Join Bobbie Gottschalk, AM ’66, and three Seeds of Peace graduates from Israel and Palestine as they share their experiences of the peace building process, Middle East tension, and youth development. Booth School of Business Professor Jane Risen will offer her perspective gained from research she is conducting about Seeds of Peace’s impact. Register for this event by March 27.

ADDRESS: 969 E. 60th Street, Chicago, IL 60637
DATE: April 1, 2012
TIME: 1-4 p.m.
LOCATION: University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration Lobby
WEBSITE: http://bit.ly/SSASOP
CONTACT: Ben | ben.durchslag@gmail.com

Sports stars put on clinic at Seeds of Peace
Associated Press

Jul 30, 2010 / No Comments

OTISFIELD, MAINE | Former Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra, his soccer-dribbling wife Mia Hamm and a cadre of NBA players put on a clinic for Seeds of Peace campers in Maine.

More than 4,000 campers have attended Seeds of Peace in the western Maine woods since 1993. Its original goal was to bring together Israeli and Palestinian teens in hopes of moving them beyond deep-rooted hatreds. Now there are teenagers from many other countries, including Afghanistan.

On Thursday, campers got a break to play soccer with Hamm, and do some one-on-one with the likes of Brian Scalabrine of the Boston Celtics.

Scalabrine says he thinks of his kids and then the campers and their futures. He says he wants to see peace in the Middle East “in my lifetime.”

Read the rest of this story at Boston.com »

Fit for the movies: 42 Indo-Pak filmmakers create 8 short cross-border films

Aug 29, 2022 / No Comments

They came together across borders and often-unreliable internet service, through artistic differences, countless Zoom meetings, delays, and cancellations wrought by a global pandemic.

And in July, the 42 emerging filmmakers from India and Pakistan finally came together to celebrate the eight short films they had created as part of the first ever Kitnay Duur Kitnay Paas—an initiative sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and implemented by Seeds of Peace.

“It was definitely one of the most beautiful moments of my life,” Haya Fatima Iqbal, one of the program’s three mentors, said of seeing the participants finally meet in person in Dubai for the film screenings, dialogue, and workshops.

The program was conceived by John Rhatigan, Cultural Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, with the goal of promoting peaceful connections between India and Pakistan by bringing together young visual storytellers to create short films.

“While the cultures of India and Pakistan are deeply connected, opportunities for people of both countries to interact can be limited,” Rhatigan said. “Programs like this one build greater connection and understanding.”

Beginning in October 2020, the call for emerging filmmakers ages 21-35 attracted hundreds of applicants with stories to tell. The final selected participants—21 from India and 21 from Pakistan—were brought together virtually for the first time in April 2021, where they were able to refine and build on their ideas, stories, and skills with the guidance of experienced filmmakers who served as mentors on the project: Haya Fatima Iqbal, an Academy-Award winning filmmaker from Pakistan; Sankalp Meshram, a five-time National Award-winning filmmaker and educator from India; and Marcus Goldbas, a 2007 American Seed, filmmaker, and educator at the University of Virginia.

The 42 participants were then divided into eight cross-border teams and tasked with pitching story ideas that had two primary criteria: They had to be filmed on both sides of the border and have themes of universal friendship between the two countries. The mentors selected one topic for each team, and over the next few months, the filmmakers finalized their stories and began to bring them to life.

The project’s name, which translates to “So Far, So Close,” in both Hindi and Urdu, captured the feeling described by many of the participants.

“I had never interacted with anybody from Pakistan, let alone for a creative project like this so that was also a very unique experience for us and just a huge learning curve,” said Akshaya, an Indian filmmaker whose team created “When Jay Met Ammar.”

Often drawing from their own lives and communities, the filmmakers created narratives and documentaries that take viewers across well-known and unexpected corners of India and Pakistan. Along the way, they often weave together the past and present, depicting aspects of people’s lives touched by the interconnectedness—and divisions—of the two countries.

They include films like “Nani,” in which a boy in Pakistan tries to help his grandmother fulfill her final wish by taking her to a Pakistani town that looks so identical to her childhood village in India that she is at last satisfied. And “Eik Tha Kabootar,” which explores fears surrounding the border through the true, and often humorous, story of a Pakistani pigeon keeper who names his birds after Bollywood stars.

They show two brothers split across the border; a Kakar Muslim man waiting for his Hindu neighbors to return; a family treasure divided by countries. They show the dreams of storytelling from small rural towns, and the reconnection of lost family and friends.

While the films explored diverse lives across the border as well as within India and Pakistan, at the same time, many of the characters find that they are more similar than different, more connected than they believed.

It was a lesson not lost on the filmmakers themselves.

“We need to support the people that are different from us, rather than constantly fighting, making everything a single kind of color, trying to make a nation a homogenous nation,” said Priya, one of the Indian filmmakers behind “Small Time Cinema.”

The film project is the latest in Seeds of Peace’s long history of working with and through art to connect people and create pathways to peace.

“The film project is exciting for many reasons, but most especially because it bridges proven people-to-people methodologies with powerful new technologies that have the ability to motivate and move the masses,” said Joshua Thomas, executive director of Seeds of Peace. “Here, participants were able to not only share their stories with people they may have otherwise never met, but to also create new stories that can reach hundreds of thousands of people, and that can open eyes to the past, and change minds about what the future can be.”

While the films don’t show the late nights, last-minute set changes, and creative problem solving of the teams, they serve as records of the collaboration, openness, and commitment of each of the filmmakers. Each team faced tremendous challenges, and in the end, created something better because of it.

“If left to themselves, people can find a way to interact with each other, to communicate with each other, and to like and love each other,” said Sankalp. “The success of KDKP shows that if you create such platforms where people can interact, if you let people talk to each other, if you bring people closer together, magic will happen.”

The films debuted June 22 with simultaneous screening events in India and Pakistan, and have since been viewed thousands of times each on YouTube and as part of film festivals and cultural screenings in South Asia. They are available to view on the Seeds of Peace YouTube channel through September 1, after which they will be available to view through film festival websites. Learn more about the participants and the project at kitnayduurkitnaypaas.com.

Seeds of Peace camp welcomes only Maine students | ABC (Portland)

Aug 2, 2021 / No Comments

OTISFIELD, Maine | The second session of the summer is underway at Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield. Due to the pandemic, the camp is not able to welcome the normal international campers from areas of conflict.

For the first time, this session is all students from Maine.

The camp was originally created to bring together teenagers from Israel and Palestine and help them find common ground. The programs have expanded to include other areas over the years.

This summer, Maine teens are getting the chance to explore their own divisions. Lead counselor and Maine high school graduate Danielle Whyte said she hopes this will help end hatred and violence within Maine communities.

Read the rest of the story at WMTW.com ››

OPINION: Young people are showing up for democracy
CNN

Nov 15, 2018 / No Comments

As seen on CNN on November 15, 2018

George J. Mitchell is a former US senator and Senate majority leader. A Democrat, he has served as the US special envoy for Middle East peace, the vice chairman of the 9/11 Commission, and US special envoy for Northern Ireland. He is on the advisory board of Seeds of Peace. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.

Democracy is not for the faint of heart. It is hard work, and it takes time: Sweeping change doesn’t come from any one election.

Leading up to this year’s midterm elections, that’s one reason why so many reporters, pundits and other public figures cast doubt on whether young people would turn out to vote. They cited low youth turnout figures from past elections, and often various negative stereotypes of millennials, asking: Can we really expect change from our young people? Aren’t they just too ignorant, too apathetic, too selfish, too lazy to vote? Are they really up to the task of reshaping our democracy?

With the results of the midterms now in, we have an answer: The skeptics were wrong, and our youth are indeed ready to do the work of democracy. Across the country, young people turned out in numbers dwarfing the last several midterm elections; for many of them, it was their first time voting. Of course, the election results varied widely across the board, and in some cases, their candidate didn’t win. But I have full confidence that these youth have made a lasting, lifelong commitment to engaging in our democracy.

Why am I so confident? Because young people didn’t simply turn out at the behest of their elders, political parties, or other existing institutions run by adults. Rather, they took the lead in changing the political landscape, building their own organizations, amplifying each others’ voices, turning out their peers to vote, and sending our political leaders a powerful message: that hate, racism, and division are not our future, and that a government that looks like and represents the country we live in is.

Just look around the country for examples:

Since the February 2018 school shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, the survivors, who saw 17 of their peers killed, have emerged as the new faces of the gun control movement, starting with the March for Our Lives. On Election Day, they launched a phone bank to get out the youth vote on behalf of candidates who support sensible, widely supported gun control policies. While key races in their home state of Florida didn’t go as hoped (and remain unresolved), there was still much to celebrate, as the youth vote helped defeat dozens of NRA-backed candidates across the country.

In Shorewood, Minnesota, dozens of students walked out of their high school on Election Day; the school was just one of 500 schools across the country to participate in the national Walkout to Vote movement. In each walkout, students held rallies and marched their peers to the polls; whether or not they were old enough to vote, they took a strong, clear stand, telling
those in power that they are the future of the country, and that their voices must be heard.

In North Dakota, Native American communities faced a new voter ID law that heightened their barriers to voting. In response, teens and college students from the Turtle Rock reservation led a march to their polling place, standing up against discriminatory voter suppression with signs and slogans that included “We are the grandchildren of those you couldn’t remove.” One young woman said: “It made us want to go in there and vote twice as much and make a statement.”

The power of young people to effect change is not limited to this election, or to the United States. I’m proud to have facilitated it and learned from it throughout my own career, helping exceptional youth around the world come together in dialogue, overcoming immense social, political and economic divides.

In Northern Ireland, I was one of the organizers of a program that brought Catholic and Protestant youth together for this purpose. I also serve on the advisory board of Seeds of Peace an international organization that does similar work with youth on opposite sides of conflicts between Israel and Palestine, India and Pakistan, and even among youth from different backgrounds here in the United States.

Whether in Lahore, Ramallah, or my home state of Maine (where the Seeds of Peace Camp is based), the organization is inspiring the next generation of leaders worldwide by cultivating the skills they need: empathy, respect, active listening and critical thinking. That’s because progress can only be made through dialogue and constructive engagement across these lines of division, something we sorely need here in America in these polarized times.

Each and every time I meet those who participate in these programs or hear about the exceptional young people who made an enormous difference in the midterm elections, I find myself newly inspired. Just as American youth are defying conventional wisdom about their political participation, these young people elsewhere around the world are wisely defying the pessimism of too many of my generation, who see these conflicts as insurmountable.

It goes without saying that our young people aren’t fully formed leaders. They still have much to learn, and the immense challenges they must confront will take many years to resolve, as the mixed results of this midterm made clear. But even as we work to inspire and educate our youth, we can learn much from the dedication, courage and passion they are already demonstrating, because the change we need will ultimately not come from those already in power.

It will be our youth, the leaders of today and tomorrow, who are transforming our political conversation for the better. They’re off to a strong start.

Read Sen. George Mitchell’s op-ed at CNN.com ››

Indian students enjoy visit
Dawn (Pakistan)

Mar 15, 2012 / No Comments

LAHORE: “It’s been surreal to be in Lahore and this will be an experience that I will never forget and carry it with me wherever I go,” says Ira, 17, an Indian student who along with five other students is on a week-long visit to Pakistan.

“I have found many similarities between the home of my host family and my own home. I felt like being home all over again and had the feeling of being loved,” Ira said.

The Indian students were hosted by local families in Lahore. The Seeds of Peace organised a seven-day Cross Border Trip which brought six students from Mumbai to Lahore in order to provide them with a first-hand experience about life in Pakistan.

The Seeds of Peace is a non-government organisation that works towards conflict resolution in many regions of the world, including Pakistan, India and Afghanistan.

The week-long stay entailed visits to historical sites in Lahore, which included a trip to witness the flag-lowering ceremony at Wagah Border.

The visiting students learnt more about the Pakistani education system and also had an opportunity to interact with the students outside of their host families.

“It has been lovely to have the Indian Seeds here to share our culture with them. Having the students at my home and being so close with them allowed us to discuss about different issues, and our cultures and different events. I hope to host them again and wish it could have been for a longer period of time,” said Jazib Ijaz, 17, a Pakistani student.

Sajjad Ahmad, country director Seeds of Peace Pakistan, said the basic objective of the trip was to provide both Indian and Pakistani students a rare opportunity to interact with one another on an individual level by sharing conversations, meals, as well as making each other aware of their respective cultures and countries.

“We encourage a people-to-people interaction between Pakistan and India, which can lead to improved relations between the two nations,” he said.

Read the article at Dawn.com »

Heroes Among Us
People Magazine

Sep 7, 2009 / No Comments

A Jewish Student Helps Put Arab Friend Through School

LOS ANGELES | Growing up in Ramallah, Palestine, Omar Dreidi always dreamed of going to college in America. So in 2006, when he got accepted into Earlham College in Richmond, Ind., Omar was elated. There was just one problem: Even with a partial scholarship and a work-study job, he couldn’t afford the $42,000 for tuition and expenses.

One night Omar called his best friend, Joseph Katona. They had met two years earlier at Seeds of Peace (seedsofpeace.org), a camp in Maine that brings together children from areas of conflict. The boys became fast friends after an emotional discussion about their desire for peace in the Middle East.

“From that day on I felt that Joey understood me,” says Omar, 20. After camp ended, they e-mailed and called regularly and visited each other’s families. Yet Omar was still shocked when Joseph said he would raise the tuition money himself. “It was like someone telling me, ‘Your dream is going to come true,’ ” says Omar.

By soliciting family, writing grants and digging in his own pocket, Joseph has raised more than $60,000. Omar, a business major, plans to pay back his friend, but Joseph isn’t concerned. “If I could do this to give him a chance to have a more successful future, why wouldn’t I?” he says.

If you are interested in supporting Joey’s fundraising efforts or have any questions, suggestions, or well-deserved kudos, please email him directly at josephkatona@gmail.com.

Read Wendy Grossman’s article in People Magazine »

Seeds of Peace Op-Ed
MSNBC

Jul 16, 2014 / 2 Comments

BY DONNA STEFANO | Last month I attended a gathering of Israeli and Palestinian organizations to discuss the collapse of the US-led peace initiative. I pointed out the challenge of mapping out a new strategy when so many Israelis and Palestinians are disillusioned with negotiations, noting that the only certainty we have in this region is that a single unforeseen event can take us down a path we would never have predicted.

The very next day, a few miles down the road from where we had met, three Israeli teenagers were killed.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve tried to support young people stunned at the level of hate behind the retaliatory burning death of a Palestinian their own age. I’ve spoken to teenagers in southern Israel who try to convince me that everything is normal, even as they seek shelter from Hamas rockets. I’ve listened to colleagues in Gaza whose neighbors are looking to them for leadership while nearby, Israeli bombs kill scores of civilians, including children.

This violence is senseless, but not surprising. There have been shifts in Israeli and Palestinian society over the last decade which have served to deepen and dehumanize the conflict. Restrictions on Palestinian movements have limited contact between ordinary Palestinians and Israelis. Meanwhile, a swing to the political right in Israel has muted calls to end the occupation.

In Palestine, the political divide between the West Bank and Gaza has resulted in a civil society which sees no legitimacy in any of its leaders. Many Palestinians believe that if the current violence in the West Bank is the beginning of a third Intifada, the uprising will be directed simultaneously at Israel and at their own leadership.

In the current climate, I find hope in the thousands of emerging leaders I work with who can see the other side in a way that most people within their societies seem unable or unwilling to: as fellow humans with the same basic needs of freedom and security.

They engage each other face-to-face as they examine and propose solutions to divisive issues. As they gain positions of influence in their societies, they begin to leverage their new skills and understanding to advance change.

What I see today in the Seeds of Peace community are 5,000 inspired young people reaching out to the other side, listening compassionately to each other, and working towards a different future – one they know is possible. Young people who do not view the conflict as simply “us versus them.”

As one new member of Seeds of Peace said in a meeting with her fellow Israeli and Palestinian peers, “I don’t know what I’ll do yet with my future, but I do know that the next time there is active conflict, I will look at it differently and I will see my friends and their opinions from the other side in a different light. I will talk to them and I will listen.”

Many critics of our cross-border work with young people think it is useless at times like this to try to change how our children view people on the other side of the conflict, to allow them an opportunity to learn about the needs and suffering of the other. In my opinion, it is the only thing that will alter the horrific dynamics we are seeing today.

Donna Stefano is the Jerusalem-based Director of Middle East Programs for Seeds of Peace, a non-profit that seeks to inspire and equip new generations of leaders from regions of conflict with the relationships, understanding and skills needed to advance lasting peace.

Read Donna Stafano’s op-ed on MSNBC.com ››

May 21, 2013 | 20th Anniversary Dinner (New York)

May 21, 2013 / No Comments

Please join us in celebrating the 20th Anniversary of Seeds of Peace with Senator George Mitchell and honoring Janet Wallach.

ADDRESS: 583 Park Avenue, New York, NY
DATE: May 21, 2013
TIME: 6:30 p.m. – Cocktails | 7:30 p.m. – Dinner
LOCATION: 583 Park Avenue
WEBSITE: 583parkave.com
CONTACT: Georgia Etheridge | getheridge@seedsofpeace.org