Search Results for “Free PDF Quiz 2024 Huawei Fantastic H20-661_V3.0: HCSA-Field-UPS V3.0 Test Sample Online ➡ Search for ➽ H20-661_V3.0 🢪 on 《 www.pdfvce.com 》 immediately to obtain a free download 🚺Dump H20-661_V3.0 Check”

Seeds meet, initiate forum
to discuss Palestine U.N. bid

Sep 21, 2011 / No Comments

JERUSALEM | As diplomats debate Palestinian statehood and deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at the United Nations, a new generation of leaders are engaging directly with each other, meeting face-to-face and strengthening the relationships and skills necessary for lasting peace.

In a letter this week to the nearly 5,000 Seeds around the world, Seeds of Peace Executive Director Leslie Lewin reminded them that the organization was founded on the “belief that Israelis and Palestinians had the right to live independently and safely.”

“The world has much to learn from you,” she wrote. “And this is another opportunity for your voice to be heard.”

Over the weekend, 76 of our newest Palestinian and Israeli Seeds reunited in Jerusalem to launch a year of robust regional programs, including an online forum to share with each other directly their views on the developments at the UN, as well as leadership training, community development, and professional skill-building.

At the same time, older Seeds will be preparing to lead dialogue sessions with fellow Israeli and Palestinians, including younger Seeds, through our year-long facilitation and conflict transformation course in Jerusalem. The sessions will create a rare and critical facility for Israelis and Palestinians to engage in constructive conversations.

Whatever the outcome of the UN bid, Palestinian and Israeli Seeds will be meeting face-to-face in the coming weeks to discuss ways of reaching lasting peace.

World-renowned designer Marithe+François Girbaud becomes official sponsor of Seeds of Peace

Dec 19, 2006 / No Comments

(Français) / (Italiano)

 

MILAN & PARIS | Marithé+François Girbaud has denounced war. Far from an opportunistic move, this decision forms part of a long-term strategy designed to address adults who are aware of the world around them and concerned about the future of our planet.

Today, Marithé+François is talking about rebuilding, opening up, sharing, exchanging, using a communication strategy that appeals to reason and to the children of tomorrow—children who will grow up in a world that is an increasingly

OPEN SPACE.

The strategy applies to all the company’s communications: medias, outdoors, other marketing tools, in-store and online.

Seeds of Peace is proud to announce a partnership with Marithé+François Girbaud, the world-renowned French designer brand. Starting in February 2007, Marithé+François Girbaud will launch an advertising campaign that will feature Seeds of Peace. The million-dollar campaign will run in print magazines such as Vogue, Elle, Marie-Claire, Glamour, and Vanity Fair, and will be seen by an estimated 9 million readers in France, Italy, Germany, UK, and Japan.

In addition, the campaign will be featured on billboards in high-traffic locations in the heart of European and Asian capitals. This partnership was announced in press conferences in Paris and Milan in December 2006.

In addition, Marithé+François Girbaud will design a line of clothing especially for SoP. These clothes will be available for sale exclusively on the Seeds of Peace website, with 100% of proceeds benefiting Seeds of Peace. This advertising campaign marks the beginning of a long-term partnership between Seeds of Peace and Marithé+François Girbaud.

Summer 2007 photoshoot : a dozen teenagers originating, either by birth or through their families, from places like Israel, Lebanon, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, the Ivory Coast, and Tibet came together at a studio in Aubervilliers, Paris to bring the brand to life the clothing of tomorrow, the clothing they want to wear today and in their near future as young adults. These young people are the hope for different tomorrows and they owe it to themselves to represent the future with beauty. They are sowing the seeds of peace under the lens of Jackie Nickerson*.

To strengthen the brand’s message and to give it even more depth, the company has partnered with the non-profit organization “Seeds of Peace” (SoP).

SoP, founded in 1993 by the American journalist, John Wallach, is supported by famous names such as Bill Clinton, Queen Noor of Jordan and Shimon Peres. The organisation has created a process to sow the seeds of peace in the hearts of teenagers who have lived in regions of conflict, particularly the Middle East, since their birth. The objective of SoP is to establish a dialogue and show that young people around the world share the same hopes, the same desire to achieve personal fulfillment and the determination to build the foundations for a peaceful future.

Marithe+François Girbaud has committed itselves to supporting these efforts, associating its communication with the work of SoP and putting their talents at the service of the organization by creating a range of new merchandising tools. SoP will be present at future events organised at the stores in New York, Paris and Tokyo and will form an integral part of future communication campaigns.

* An Anglo-American born in Boston, but who now lives in London, Jackie Nickerson spent 5 years in the world of fashion before deciding to work on her own projects (starting in 2002, with the publication of the book “Farm”, a collection of striking images of farmers in South Africa). She regularly works with the New York Times and now, for the third time, has partnered with Marithe+François Girbaud.

Seeds of Peace annonce un partenariat avec Marithé+François Girbaud

Marithé + François Girbaud a récemment dénoncé la guerre. Cette approche n’était pas opportuniste mais s’inscrivait dans une stratégie à long terme tournée vers l’adulte conscient de l’actualité et de l’avenir de la planète.

Aujourd’hui ils parlent de reconstruction, d’ouverture, de partage et d’échange avec une communication qui parle aux plus raisonnables, aux enfants de demain qui vont grandir dans un monde de plus en plus

“OPEN SPACE”

Cette stratégie s’inscrit dans la communication médias et hors médias, les magasins et sur internet. Shooting Eté 2007 : une dizaine de jeunes d’origines ou de nationalités israélienne, libanaise, pakistanaise, sri-lankaise, rwandaise, ivoirienne, tibétaine, etc… s’est réunie aux studios d’Aubervilliers pour donner vie au discours de la marque et mettre en scène les vêtements de demain, ceux qu’ils ont envie de porter aujourd’hui et dans leur futur proche d’adulte. Ils sont l’espoir pour avancer vers d’autres lendemains et se doivent de donner une belle représentation de l’avenir. Ils sèment les graines de la paix sous l’objectif de Jackie Nickerson*.

Pour renforcer et donner davantage de profondeur au discours de la marque un rapprochement avec l’Association « Seeds of Peace » (SoP) s’est imposé.

Cette organisation créée en 1993 par le journaliste américain John Wallach, soutenue par des personnalités comme Bill Clinton, Noor de Jordanie ou Shimon Perès a mis en place un processus pour insuffler des graines de paix dans le cœur d’adolescents vivant dans des pays essentiellement du Moyen Orient en conflit depuis leur naissance. Etablir un dialogue et démontrer que les jeunes de tous les pays sont nourris par les mêmes aspirations avec une volonté de s’épanouir et de construire les fondations d’une vie à venir dans la paix, tel est l’objectif de SoP.

Marithé + François Girbaud s’est engagé à soutenir cette démarche, à associer à leur communication SoP, à mettre leur talent au service de l’association en créant les outils de merchandising. SoP sera présent sur des événements organisés dans les points de vente de New-York, Paris et Tokyo et s’intégrera naturellement dans les campagnes futures.

* Jackie Nickerson, une anglo/américaine née à Boston mais habitant à Londres. 5 ans d’expérience dans l’univers de la mode pour ensuite travailler sur ses propres projets (en 2002 sort le livre « Farm » qui montre des agriculteurs d’Afrique du Sud dans toute leur beauté). Elle collabore régulièrement avec le New York Times et pour la 3ème fois avec Marithé et François Girbaud.

Seeds of Peace annonce un partenariat avec Marithé+François Girbaud, la marque de vêtements mondialement connue.

En Février 2007, Marithé+François Girbaud lancera une campagne publicitaire sur laquelle figurera le logo de Seeds of Peace. Cette campagne, qui représente près d’un million de dollars d’investissement, paraîtra dans des magazines tels que Vogue, Elle, Marie-Claire, Glamour et Vanity Fair, et sera vue par environ 9 million de lecteurs en France, en Italie, en Allemagne, en Grande Bretagne et au Japon.

La campagne publicitaire figurera également sous forme de panneaux d’affichage dans des lieux très fréquentés au coeur des grandes capitales d’Europe et d’Asie. Ce partenariat a été annoncé lors de conferences de presse à Milan et Paris en Décembre 2006. Ci-dessous, le communique de presse, ainsi que quelques articles déjà parus. De plus, Marithé+François Girbaud créera une ligne de vêtements spécialement concue pour Seeds of Peace. Cette gamme sera vendue en exclusivité sur notre site internet, avec 100% des ventes revenant à Seeds of Peace. Cette campagne marque le début d’un partenariat à long terme entre Seeds of Peace et Marithé+François Girbaud.

Dossier de Presse, Conference de Presse des 18 et 19 Dec 2006 »
 

Marketing multietnico per M+FG

La comunicazione di Marithé+François Girbaud si schiera contro i pregiudizi. La nuova campagna che debutterà a fine gennaio in tutta Europa per un investimento pari a 600 mila euro, è stata realizzata in collaborazione con Seeds of Peace. L’associazione Semi di pace nata nel 1993 ha lo scopo di far crescere le nuove generazioni nel rispetto reciproco e della tolleranza, organizzando campi estivi a cui partecipano giovani di paesi a rischio di guerra come Palestina, Libano, Israele, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Rwanda, Costa D’Avorio.

La pubblicita ha per soggetto ragazzi di diverse nazionalità che corrono in mezzo si campi come a rappresentare i frutti di un seme cresciuto senza pregiudizi, spiega lo stilista François Girbaud noto anche per la campagna delle modelle che evocano il dipinto dell‘Ultima cena di Leonardo. Spot condannato che però ha chiuso la faccenda giudiziaria vincendo il ricorso in Cassazione.

In futuro, spiega il direttore marketing Muriel De Lamarzelle, vogliamo veicolare la strategia di comunicazione e marketing in più direzioni per colpire diversi target: la comunità del fashion, gli opinion maker del settore del lusso e del design. Inoltre sempre a partire dalla fine di gennaio, è al vaglio l’ipotesi di realizzare un cd con 15 canzoni in partnership con la case discografica Emi. Una raccolta che contiene musica proveniente da culture di diversi paesi e che riflette la filosofia multietnica e cosmopolita della marca. Tra le altre attività prosegue la collaborazione con il Rallye des Gazelles, dedicato alle donne. M+FG è partner fornendo l’abbigliamento. Il Rally è in evento in cui il brand francese partecipa da sei anni e in futuro la volontà è di accrescere gli investimenti.

Israeli and Palestinian Teens Confront Each Other Peacefully at a Camp in Maine
Newsweek

Aug 7, 2014 / No Comments

As Israeli and Palestinian leaders begin to engage in peace talks—albeit indirectly, during a 72-hour cease-fire—they would do well to follow the example set by some of their nations’ teenagers who have already started the difficult conversation.

Dialogue sessions began on Saturday at Seeds of Peace International Camp in Otisfield, Maine. Though this is the camp’s 22nd summer in operation, it is far from a smooth one, given the circumstances that the 95 Israeli and Palestinian teens left back at home last week. Upon arrival at the lakeside camp in the woods, they were joined by 87 other young people from Jordan, Egypt, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and the United States and welcomed by Seeds of Peace co-founder Bobbie Gottschalk, who introduced camp as “the way life could be.”

Over the course of the three-week program, each camper participates in fifteen 110-minute small group dialogue sessions led by professional facilitators. Sitting down to face people that they are accustomed to considering their “enemy,” these teenagers directly confront the difficult issues. They are encouraged to speak openly and honestly with one another about their own experiences of, beliefs about and raw feelings associated with the conflict, while learning to listen to and consider the perspectives of those on the other side of it.

The courage it took for these kids to even come to camp this year is something that the program’s associate director Wil Smith emphasizes. He says, “The kids are always courageous for doing so…but particularly for doing so this year,” because they decided to come despite being “under fire from their peers, [who are back home] thinking that they’re coming here to collaborate with ‘the enemy,’ when they’re really coming to understand and be better understood by their so-called ‘enemy.’”

Though campers may not reach agreement on the issues, they do learn how to communicate effectively and, above all, to see each other as fellow human beings—capacities necessary for leaders to begin building real peace. As Yaron, a 17 year-old camper only a year away from military service in the Israeli army, told NBC’s Andrea Mitchell, “The other side is also a people. They have a face, a personality.” Smith honors the kids for realizing this, saying, “Even facing that reality that the ‘enemy’ is human is a giant step and a courageous step and a difficult step”—and “something we could all learn from.” He told Newsweek on Tuesday, “Just because you have strong feelings against someone, doesn’t mean that you should dehumanize them to the point that you won’t sit down and talk and listen to them.”

The camp posts daily reports online, and according to Tuesday’s update, “The daily dialogue sessions are definitely heating up. It isn’t easy to be confronted by your peers for actions taken by your government. That is one thing campers will learn: none of the teenagers at Camp is responsible for the violence back home… but this will take time.”

One of the ways the campers start to learn this is through play. When they take part together in all the fun activities typical of a summer camp (swimming, sports, scavenger hunts, etc.), the barriers begin to break down, allowing the teenagers to see each other as people independent of their national identities. “Direct contact goes a long way towards humanizing the other person,” says Smith.

Furthermore, many of the activities are team-building challenges that “appear impossible to achieve until the campers work together to find creative solutions.” The idea is that the problem-solving mindset and can-do attitude “carries over to their dialogue sessions,” Tuesday’s report explains. However, according to Wednesday’s update, that process is a slow one. Staff anticipate that once the campers tire of “making well-rehearsed comments … There will be more ‘I’ statements and fewer ‘you people’ statements. Their vocabulary will expand beyond ‘terrorists’ and ‘murderers.’”

Smith points out that “trying to balance [the daily life of camp] with remembering the reality of what’s going on back home,” generates a “lot of complicated feelings for teenage kids.” He explains that, in addition to worrying about the safety of loved ones, many campers feel a “certain amount of guilt” for playing and having fun in a safe and beautiful place, while people are dying or living in fear back home.

Smith says that news updates in the campers’ native languages are posted on a bulletin board twice each day and that the reality of life outside of camp is never far from their minds. “It’s important for people to realize that we’re not sitting around in a circle, holding hands and singing ‘Kumbaya,’” he says.

At the camp’s flagraising ceremony on Sunday, a 17-year-old returning camper from Gaza, whom the Palestinian delegation elected as its representative to speak at the event, invited her fellow campers to close their eyes for a moment of silence, according to the organization’s August 4 Facebook post. Requesting that they think of the ongoing violence and loss of innocent lives, consider their commitment to basic human rights for all, and look ahead, Salma asked, “Is this what you want the world to look like?”

For that ceremony, the Israeli delegation chose to have both a Jewish and an Arab speaker coordinate their remarks. There were also speakers from Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, and the United States. The camp’s report from that day says that the “speeches were creative, thoughtful, reality-based, and hopeful.”

Campers do not pay to attend, but rather they apply through a competitive process within the school systems in their home countries. The $6,000 cost of each camper’s attendance is paid by donors to the non-profit organization.

While the world waits with cautious hope to see if the 72-hour cease-fire and any subsequent truce will be honored, the campers, staff, and 5,200 alumni of Seeds of Peace remain committed to their cause.

The organization’s Facebook page posted a note from a 1998 Egyptian camper, Aly, on August 1: “People always ask me how I can simultaneously be both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. The truth is,” Aly wrote, “one can have a principled stance on this conflict, and that principle is nonviolence.”

A July 5 post on the Facebook page includes a note from a 2009 Israeli camper, Yaala, who wrote, “While I realize that many question the validity of SOP and organizations similar to it … the memories I have made and the friendships I have formed there help me cope with the helplessness and powerlessness that I feel. I am hoping for the safety of all Palestinians and Israelis tonight.”

In a July 24 note on the page, the Seeds of Peace program director in Gaza describes having his 30-person extended family huddled in his home after the fighting displaced them from theirs. Mohammed writes, “The power is out and soon food will rot, and we will not have water now since we can’t pump it. Sewage is running in the street. The banks are closed, so there is no money. And sick people cannot go to the hospital … bombs … are dropping… [yet] I keep doing my job because I believe in peace.”

Read Louise Stewart’s article at Newsweek ››

Seeds of Peace offers 2011 summer educators course: Narratives; Moral Imagination; Educational Action

May 1, 2011 / No Comments

OTISFIELD, MAINE | This summer, for the first time, Seeds of Peace is hosting an intensive two-week summer course for educators at the Seeds of Peace Camp in Maine.

This course will focus on themes at the heart of the Seeds of Peace experience. “Narratives” are the stories that shape identity, provide meaning, and often feed or mitigate conflict. What values and skills are needed to understand radically different narratives, radically different perspectives? How can education enlarge the scope of empathy? How can education encourage moral imagination and moral courage? How can education prepare citizens for active, peaceful, productive, engagement in the world? How can educators who care about such values have the greatest impact?

These are some of the questions that we will raise together, in a beautiful environment, with wonderful educators from around the world.

Course Description

“… like the invisible ‘dark matter’ that cosmologists tell us make up 90 per cent of our universe, the intangibles in the conflict, largely based on history that is ‘remembered, recovered, invented’ … profoundly influence the willingness of the two sides to make peace, or to continue with war.” —Scham, Salem, Pogrund, Shared Histories: A Palestinian-Israeli Dialogue

Educators play a pivotal role in preventing, fueling, or resolving violent conflicts. For 18 years, Seeds of Peace has brought together educators from regions in conflict, primarily the Middle East and South Asia, in order to develop the personal relationships and professional capacities needed to help move their societies from decades of conflict to lasting peace.

This summer, 2011, for the first time in its history, Seeds of Peace is offering a two-week summer course for educators from the Middle East, South Asia, and United States dedicated to an in-depth exploration of the educational themes at the heart of the Seeds of Peace experience. In this course, participants will learn from a wide range of educators and community leaders, including from one another, through workshops, large and small group discussions, team-building activities, visits to local schools, universities, religious institutions and community organizations.

Goals: Participating educators will have the rare opportunity to form lasting relationships with their colleagues from the Middle East, South Asia, and the United States while working together to:

  1. learn ways to welcome and teach the stories that shape identity, that can feed conflict or create common ground;
  2. cultivate the moral imagination through educational experiences that encourage understanding and empathy;
  3. integrate mutual respect, active learning, critical thinking, dialogue, leadership, civic engagement, and a commitment to pluralism and positive social change into their teaching practices;
  4. create educational action plans and projects that put course themes into practice upon their return home; and
  5. develop effective practices and gather new resources to create a culture of peace.

Eligibility: Seeds of Peace welcomes applicants from educators, both formal and informal, in Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, Palestine, and the United States. Applicants from a wide range of subjects are invited to apply, with preference given to educators who work in the realm of values—in history, social studies, civics (citizenship), language instruction, community service, peace education and peace-building. Successful applicants will demonstrate creativity, competence, and commitment.

Dates: July 27-August 10, 2011

Location: Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield, Maine, approximately three hours north of Boston, Massachusetts. This is a traditional American summer camp setting located on Pleasant Lake. While this is a beautiful, very special, place, you will live in wood sleeping cabins with fairly basic accommodations. Before committing to this course, please be sure you are prepared to happily spend two weeks in a summer camp environment.

Cost: Each participant is asked to contribute 375 USD as well as any visa-related costs—a small portion of the overall expenses for lodging, food, activities, and all transportation, including airfare. There are scholarships available, and Seeds of Peace will not turn away any participant for financial reasons. Participants must cover the cost of “incidentals,” e.g. gifts or snacks.

Application Process: The application can be accessed and submitted online. Applications must be received by Monday, April 30th, 2011. Seeds of Peace expects to select and announce all applicants by Monday, May 9, 2011.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact camp@seedsofpeace.org.

Seeds of Peace educators launch model Israeli, Palestinian schools initiative

Nov 23, 2009 / No Comments

USAID

With the support USAID Cooperative Agreement, over the last three years Seeds of Peace has designed and implemented a set of programs to reach into Palestinian and Israeli communities, to strengthen the values and skills embodied by Seeds of Peace, to make social and institutional change and to multiply the impact of the organization.

As part of this set of initiatives and working through the established network of Palestinian and Israeli Delegation Leaders, Seeds of Peace has worked closely with selected Palestinian and Israeli schools.

Teaching Tolerance in Israeli and Palestinian Schools—a Model School Initiative

To cultivate an environment of tolerance, dialogue and civic engagement in Palestinian and Israeli schools and youth organizations.

Model Schools InitiativeObjective: The objective of these project was to increase the number of educators in the region who support the mission of Seeds of Peace, to support these educators in their work promoting dialogue, peaceful learning environment, respect for the other and differences of opinion, non-violent resolution of conflict, and civic responsibility.

Project Description: Seeds of Peace, along with its regional and American faculty, worked separately with a selected group of Israeli educators and Palestinian educators who committed to develop action plans, to introduce new methods and new curriculum into their schools, and to train other educators. Both the Palestinian and Israeli Model Schools Initiatives included seven and four day workshops as well as site visits and online support. Participants were encouraged to participate in the Seeds of Peace Cross-Border Educators’ Workshops. For the Palestinian Model Schools Initiative, Seeds of Peace partnered with Peace Games, a peace education organization based in Boston; for the Israeli Model Schools Initiative, Seeds of Peace partnered with the Greenshoe Group, based in Portland, Maine.

Read more in The Olive Branch Teacher’s Guides »

Blips on the timeline
Timeline (Foundation for Global Community)

Jun 6, 1998 / No Comments

The Seeds of Peace Program has brought almost 800 Arab and Israeli teenagers together in the Maine woods over the past five summers to help break the generational cycles of violence and hatred that sustain the conflict in the Middle East. In daily conflict resolution sessions, they learn to disagree yet remain friends.

“After a summer of sharing everything from shaving cream and showers to sports and sing-alongs, ‘reentry’ into hostile societies often is as sobering for them as it must be for astronauts … No longer are they in a ‘safe’ place,” said John Wallach, the founder of Seeds of Peace.

But the youth are maintaining friendships though e-mail and an online “chat room.” Their messages are filled with pain and anger, as well as compassion, reassurance, and encouragement.

A Jordanian teenager wrote about returning home: “We were rejected everywhere; we were traitors.” An Israeli wrote that his peers blamed terrorist bombings on “your new friends.” A Jordanian youth wrote: “We have to do what our leaders are not doing—and will not do if we don’t push them … Please continue fighting for what you believe in.”

Israeli, Palestinian Kids4Peace: ‘Stubborn Optimism’ in Violent Days | The Olive Branch (United States Institute of Peace

Oct 28, 2015 / No Comments

A Jerusalem Program for Understanding Feels Strain and Carries On

By Fred Strasser

To hear voices of peace challenged by a surge of violence, simply listen to a conference call held by Arab and Jewish parents in Jerusalem who are involved in the program Kids4Peace. The bonds formed over the years their children attended the group’s dialogues and camps are at once strained and sturdy, resolute and despairing and frayed by fear. For the program’s staff, one posted message reflects their defiance at this moment in the Arab-Israeli conflict: “We will not be defeated. Nothing is cancelled.”

Over 12 years, Kids4Peace, a U.S.-based nonprofit, has brought together more than 1,100 school-age youths—Jews, along with Muslim and Christian Arabs—in Jerusalem and at international summer camps to support them in “embodying a culture of peace and empowering a movement for change.”

The kids engage in dialogue, trust-building workshops, games and joint projects aimed at bridging the often-violent chasm that separates them in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. Parents must also commit to the program when their children join, creating a sustained, family engagement that project leaders say is key to creating a sense of community; 80 percent stick with the program through all six years.

The work is never easy and the opposing narratives of the students’ backgrounds leave them without a firm base to even begin a dialogue, said Father Josh Thomas, an Episcopal priest who leads the organization. But as children from families that are at least motivated to reach out to the other side, they make friends, learn about each other’s religions and, by the end, are pushed to see themselves as something bigger than just an intercultural youth group: they are trained to become a community of peacebuilding leaders. A U.S. Institute of Peace grant is helping the group evaluate the potential of that process to have long-term impact.

The latest violence in Jerusalem is testing the resilience of the organization and its participating families in new ways, Thomas said. The one-on-one nature of knife attacks on soldiers, police and civilians, as well as the response from Israeli police and defense forces in Jerusalem and the West Bank, have deepened fear and suspicion on both sides beyond what the group faced—and overcame—during the last Gaza war in 2014.

On the conference call, set up in mid-October by Kids4Peace facilitators to discuss the personal effects of the current violence, parents talked about their feelings during the tense time and how to help their children through it. The conversation was transcribed on the group’s website.

  • “All of us are feeling unsafe,” the mother of a Muslim 7th grader said, concerned she’s infecting her son with the “panic” she feels walking in Jerusalem. “Someone with a gun might shoot you because you are an Arab and thus you are a suspect! Or someone stab you, thinking you are a Jew.”
  • “We are torn because we want to trust, but we are frightened,” said a Jewish 7th grader’s mother.
  • “Should we speak about being scared to our children?” posited a parent facilitator at Kids4Peace and father of a Muslim 8th grader. “Yes. This reality, they see it, they hear it in our voices.”
  • “We at Kids4Peace, what can we do?” asked a Jewish 8th grader’s father. “How can we move forward? I do not know how we can change the situation.”

‘Difficult Days’

As a group of Israelis and Palestinians, Kids4Peace participants “feel the pain of both sides like almost no one else,” Thomas wrote to the community on Oct. 14. He said staff and parents would “reconnect with our sisters and brothers across the lines of conflict,” in person or virtually; the fall programs for 120 students would begin as planned the following week, meeting together if it was safe; online or in homes, if not.

“We had difficult days last week,” Thomas said in an Oct. 22 interview. “I’m hearing new ways of mistrusting the motivations of the other side, even in our group.”

Publicly, he declared: “We feel called to take leadership in building a new future. Division, despair, hatred, fear, injustice—this cannot be our future.”

As comments posted on the organization’s website make clear, kids who participated in the program’s monthly meetings, quarterly overnights and summer camps in the U.S. over the years, say it opened them up in new ways. In one of the most poignant remarks—unattributed by religion or ethnicity—a student said: “Kids4Peace broke the wall of hate in my heart.”

In sixth grade, the students explore each other’s religions and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through dialogues, workshops, volunteering and a summer camp. In seventh grade, the focus shifts to fostering relationships and solidifying commitment to peace. In eighth grade, a year for coming of age, students tackle historical narrative and personal identity and how they relate to the broader community. The ninth grade program centers on leadership skills and issues of living in a conflict zone. Finally, participants are offered opportunities to become counselors in training with the Kids4Peace program in the 10th and 11th grades.

‘From Personal Transformation to Societal Change’

“The value of this project is the embrace of self-reflective practice,” said Lucy Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, USIP’s director of programs on the Arab-Israeli conflict. “They are asking the tough questions of themselves and their work at a particularly trying time in the field—how do you move from personal transformation to societal change?”

An interim report on the research paints a complex picture of Kids4Peace outcomes. Participants value their relationships, the experience of respectful cooperation and the model they’ve created of peaceful interaction. They have found Kids4Peace a sane sanctuary amid war and violence.

But fear is high: almost everyone is more afraid for physical safety than at any point in their lives. Confidence in a peace process is low: emotion and frustration are taking a growing toll even on committed peacemakers.

Almost every Jewish Israeli said their time in the Army is a turning point in their lives and, for many, one that can sometimes force compromise with their values. For Palestinians, Jewish Israelis’ mandatory military service leaves them asking why friends would agree “to occupy us,” since their only association with the Israeli military is likely of soldiers serving at checkpoints and within the West Bank.

The general climate is such that “people are more drawn to extremes now,” Thomas said. “They have to be demonizing the other, totally pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli.”

Yet, on Oct. 22, with the violence unabated, Kids4Peace’s fall session began as scheduled. More than 100 grinning kids and 50 of their parents gathered in Jerusalem for an evening of music, dance, and tough dialogue, Thomas reported to his supporters, sending along photos. The meetings were moved to avoid locales perceived as most dangerous, and a conference line was set up for people too concerned about security to come.

“Everyone says similar things,” Thomas said. “Kids4Peace provides a place to be honest, to share, to disagree. In the end, they come and see again, yes, there is an alternative.”

Read Fred’s article at The Olive Branch ››

Seeds of Peace Camp: Sowing Tolerance Among Former Foes
GoodNewsNetwork

Jul 16, 2010 / No Comments

BY STEPHEN KAUFMAN | While governments can do important work to promote it, peace, tolerance and understanding come mostly from people. That’s why the South Asian Seeds of Peace participants will be important messengers in countries back home—Afghanistan, India and Pakistan.

This week, teenagers complete a three-week camp program in Maine designed to promote conflict resolution and mutual understanding. They were joined at the camp by Palestinian, Israeli, Egyptian and American teens.

“During your weeks at camp you established new friendships that cross borders and barriers,” a State Department official told the campers in a gathering on Wednesday.

Seeds of Peace “is more than a summer program,” said Under Secretary of State for Public Affairs and Public Diplomacy Judith McHale. “It is dedicated to empowering young leaders from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence.” The South Asian participants were among 164 campers who arrived at the Otisfield, Maine, camp on June 23 for the program’s 18th season. Beginning with 46 Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian teenagers in 1993, the Seeds of Peace alumni includes more than 4,000 young people, some of whom now serve as camp counselors or work elsewhere within the organization.

With support from the State Department, the program was expanded to include participants from South Asia, beginning in 2001.

Now ambassadors for the program, each of the participants began their journey at a flag-raising ceremony on the first day of their camp experience. A second-year female participant from Egypt told the participants who are idealistically expecting peace that it will be an elusive goal, but that the program nevertheless asks them to courageously pursue it.“The only thing you can do is carry on,” she said. “We live in a world of atrocities. The journey you are embarking on is not easy. But if you want to enjoy the honey, you must endure the sting of the bee.”

“Be brave. You are blessed to be here. Bloodshed and hate and war are not inevitable. We are the Seeds of Peace.”

According to a July 14 State Department media note, participants remain in touch with each other after their camp experience, both online and through digital videoconferences, as well as face to face through home stays and regional programs.

The visit to Washington at the conclusion of their camp experience allows them to share their experiences and gain exposure to U.S. policymakers. Along with the State Department, the ‘Seeds’ also visit the White House and meet with members of the U.S. Congress.

Addressing the Seeds, Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs Robert Blake said, “All of you are really going to be serving as important bridges between all of your three countries.”

Important update on Camp 2020

Mar 18, 2020 / 3 Comments

To the Seeds of Peace Community,

I’m writing to share the difficult news that we have decided to cancel both sessions of the Seeds of Peace Camp for this summer because of the worsening situation with coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

This is not a decision we took lightly, and we know many people will be disappointed. Hundreds of young people from around the world were preparing for a life-changing summer, and our staff has been working hard to build delegations and prepare the program and logistics.

We made this decision for several reasons: Camp is home to a global community. During the summers, campers and educators travel to Camp from places like Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Syracuse and Maine.

Pulling together Camp under normal circumstances is complicated, and with so much uncertainty around the global health and travel situation, we simply cannot anticipate or prepare for all the potential risks that we might face this summer, from sickness at Camp to travel disruptions.

In the last few days, we have also encountered new logistical issues—especially with travel permits and US visas—caused by closures of schools, government offices, and border crossings. These are creating delays that cannot be resolved before summer.

But even without Camp this summer, Seeds of Peace will continue.

Over the summer and fall, we will organize a series of community conversations, both in person and online, for Seeds, Educators, board members, staff and supporters to talk together about our vision, strategy, and impact.

We will resume regional programs as soon as circumstances allow.

We will move quickly to make plans for next summer, and to open applications as soon as possible.

And we will use this time to update our program, so we can continue to offer a best-in-class experience to all our participants for years to come.

Thank you for your commitment to Seeds of Peace.

Josh

Fr. Josh Thomas | Interim Executive Director, Seeds of Peace