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Clinton’s Good Works: Letter to the Editor
The New York Times

Aug 25, 2002 / No Comments

To the Editor:

An Aug. 22 editorial says Bill Clinton “is showing no signs of flinging himself into good works the way Jimmy Carter did.”

No signs? There are many. To name just a few, President Clinton is helping small businesses and schools in Harlem, raising millions (with Bob Dole) for families of the victims of Sept. 11, building homes, hospitals and schools after the earthquake in India, working with Nelson Mandela to fight AIDS globally, starting the Clinton Democracy Fellows in South Africa, and aiding scores of charitable causes, from Seeds of Peace in the Middle East to the William J. Clinton International Peace Center in Northern Ireland to the Robin Hood Foundation in New York.

Former presidents have done many good works, but I can think of none who have done more within 19 months of leaving office than President Clinton.

JIM KENNEDY

New York, Aug. 23, 2002
The writer is communications director, office of William J. Clinton

Read the original Letter at The New York Times »

For 130 Arab And Israeli Teen-agers, Maine Camp Is Where Peace Begins
The New York Times

Sep 3, 1995 / 1 Comment

WAYNE, Me., Aug. 26 | Together again in the Maine woods, the two 16-year-old boys, one a Palestinian, the other an Israeli Jew, took up an argument they began when they met at camp three years ago.

“In 1948, the U.N. gave the Jews the right to build their own country, what Israel is today,” said one of the boys, Yehoyada Mandeel, who is known as Yo-Yo and lives in Israel. “Its a fact. We were happy. We were ready to settle for this. But the Arabs said no.”

Laith Arafeh is Palestinian and lives on the West Bank.

“The U.N. resolution 181 was unfair,” he countered. “It gave the Jews 56 percent of the land of Palestine when they were only 17 percent.”

“O.K., let me finish,” Yo-Yo said, waving his arms, as he and his friend sat down together on the dock by the lake. “Now, there was this war, the War of Independence.”

Laith rolled his eyes. “We call it the Catastrophe, the ’48 war.”

He looked at his watch. It was close to noon. History would have to wait.

“I have to pray now,” he said.

“I’m coming with you,” said Yo-Yo, who would be celebrating the advent of the Jewish Sabbath the next night. He wanted to take pictures of his friend kneeling for Muslim prayers on the soccer field. They left the dock, arm-in-arm.

Laith and Yo-Yo live less than 15 miles apart in the Middle East. But they had to travel thousands of miles, to the “Seeds of Peace” camp for Arab and Israeli boys and girls in Maine, to meet and argue and, with work, become friends. This is their third summer together in Maine. They are junior counselors now.

This is also the third summer of the nonprofit camp, which was founded by John Wallach, the former foreign editor of The Hearst Newspapers. He says he wanted to do what all the peace treaties could not bring together young people who have been taught to hate.

The 130 campers, ages 13 to 16, who were selected with help from their governments, arrived here last Monday for two weeks at Camp Androscoggin, just as the American campers had left. They came with adult escorts from their countries. The counselors are mostly young Americans.

“Seeds of Peace,” which operates on a shoestring budget with private contributions, does not have its own camp. At other camps, drama and tension are created during the ritual “color war,” in which campers compete on, say, the green and white teams. At “Seeds of Peace,” the drama and tension are always present. No symbolic divisions are needed.

Like Yo-Yo and Laith, Tamer Nagy, a 15-year-old Egyptian boy, is back for the third summer. “In the beginning it wasn’t easy,” he said. “It wasn’t like we said, ‘Hi, we’re friends.’ All my life, what I’ve been growing up on, ‘Israel is our enemy.’ Then we began to talk.”

The task of getting along is complicated by sharp political, ethnic, cultural and religious differences. Nothing, not even swimming, is simple. Girls and boys must swim separately, in deference to the Muslims.

Mohamed Karim Bada, a 14-year-old Egyptian boy, said his Israeli bunkmate was angry that someone had drawn a Star of David on the floor of their cabin.

“He said, ‘That is our great sign; please don’t walk on it,” Mohamed said. Out of deference to his new friend, Mohamed said, he was very careful not to step on the Jewish symbol.

It is arguable whether bringing 130 young people together in the woods in Maine can change the situation back in their countries. But for a visitor to spend two days with Mohamed and Yo-Yo and Laith, and the others, is to see something powerful. They play soccer, baseball, basketball and tennis together. They sleep together in cabins.

And they are changing. When he heard about five Israelis dying in the latest suicide bombing of a bus, Laith told Yo-Yo he was sorry. Eighteen months before, after an Israeli settler attacked a mosque in Hebron, Yo-Yo telephoned Laith to say that he was sorry. The boys talk regularly on the telephone. Back in Jerusalem, Yo-Yo has enrolled in an Arab study program.

“I did a project on Arafat,” he said, referring to the Palestinian leader. “Laith helped me.” Looking at Laith, he grinned. “You have to do a project on Rabin.”

Laith said: “Rabin is the one we have to deal with now. But I cannot forget that he used to be Minister of Defense. I consider Rabin as a terrorist.”

Yo-Yo said: “The same goes for Arafat. He was the biggest terrorist.”

Laith interrupted: “For you.”

Yo Yo: “I’m saying for me.”

Yo-Yo changed the subject. “I’ve read the Koran in Hebrew. I memorized the first chapter.” He began reciting it.

“I could practically be a Muslim. Laith invited me for a Ramadan feast. It was great. I didn’t even have to fast.”

Laith said his parents, both doctors, like Yo-Yo. He added: “His mother is a nice lady. She came to my house.”

Laith asked: “Do you think your father would come to my house if I invite him?”

Yo-Yo’s voice was pained. “I don’t think so.”

“My father fought in the 1948 war, in ’56 and ’59,” Yo-Yo said. “He has no reason to trust them. When I go to visit Laith, he always says, ‘Something bad is going to happen; they’re going to do something.’ ”

When Laith visits, Yo-Yo said, his father says hello, nothing more.

The silence hurts him, Laith said. But he added, “I can understand it.”

In the evening, the campers meet with trained facilitators to talk about how they feel about each other. The discussions can get intense.

During one recent discussion, 15-year-old Sara Ababneh, Jordanian Muslim, talked angrily about her religion teacher back home.

“He’s anti-feminist,” she said. “He says women can’t be judges, they can’t do things to do with emotion because they’re so emotionally sensitive. I really hate this.”

In another discussion, Laith recalled an incident on the bus the first summer, when he broke up a fight over a seat between two boys, one Israeli, the other Egyptian.

“You know what the Egyptian said to me?” he told the group. “He said, ‘You Palestinians are all terrorists.’ I was stunned. I heard it many times from Israelis, but you know something? I don’t care. They’re supposed to say something like that.” Everyone laughed. “But he’s Arab,” Laith said. “He’s supposed to be my buddy. I despised him. I thought, ‘He doesn’t even deserve being punched.’ ”

That afternoon, Laith and Yo-Yo had been talking about American teenagers.

“They know a lot about basketball, baseball,” Laith said.

Yo-Yo said: “We both wish we could live like Americans. We would like to care about basketball and shoes … should we wear the red shoes or the black shoes?”

Yo-Yo grew serious. “In two years I’m going to go into the Israeli Army. In two years, I’m going to have a gun in my hand. Naturally, it will be my nation first. Laith feels the same way.”

Laith looked his friend in the eye.

“If you were in a jeep, and I threw stones at the jeep, would you shoot me?”

Yo-Yo did not hesitate. “I can’t tell you I would not,” he said.

Read Sara Rimer’s article in The New York Times »

Talking it Out, Agreeing to Disagree
New York Jewish Week

Apr 26, 1996 / No Comments

Members of Israel-Arab youth group at odds over fighting in southern Lebanon, but they’re still friends.

BY ADAM DICKTER | Shouq Tarawneh, a 15-year-old Arab, was deeply upset by the deaths of at least 75 Lebanese refugees during an Israeli artillery barrage last week.

But there was no reason to hold it against her Israeli friend, Yehoyada Mandeel. After all, Yoyo, as his friends call him, would never have carried out such an attack, she says.

But Yoyo held up his hand in a cautionary gesture. “You’d be surprised,” said the 17-year-old Jerusalemite, who will enter the Israeli army next year.

Yoyo said he supported Israel’s retaliation against Hezbollah rocket attacks on its northern towns from Lebanon. “I feel very bad for those casualties, but we had to fight fire with fire.”

“You have no right to kill all those people,” countered Shouq, who lives in Amman, Jordan. “Kill the Hezbollah, but don’t kill those innocent people.”

Shouq and Yoyo argued while Mohamed Adileh, 14, a Palestinian from East Jerusalem, tried to get a word in edgewise. Shouq soon put her head down on a conference table as Yoyo, making a lengthy point, refused to yield.

The trio are alumni of Seeds of Peace, a program designed to foster amity between Israeli and Arab teenagers. But there was little amity as they sat in the organization’s Midtown offices for an interview Monday. The three could not agree on who should answer questions first, much less how to bring peace to the Middle East.

But according to Seeds of Peace founder and President John Wallach, arguments are not only allowed during Seeds of Peace sessions, they are encouraged.

“The point is to learn how to disagree civilly and respectfully, and to listen to the other side’s point of view so that conflicts can be resolved without war,” says Wallach. “Nobody is saying they have to agree with the other side. The minute you begin to hear the other side you examine your own views, and then there’s the basis for understanding and trust and mutual respect.”

In three summers, Seeds of Peace has brought 300 teenagers, selected by their schools, to the United States for tours of New York and Washington D.C., followed by several days at a Maine retreat where they play sports and undergo intensive conflict-resolution seminars. Participants have included Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, and Jordanians.

Shouq, Yoyo and Mohammad, with six other Seeds of Peace veterans, were in New York this week to attend the organization’s annual dinner, which was held Sunday at the Rainbow Room in Manhattan. The dinner was attended by 275 supporters, including diplomats from Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian Authority and the Gulf state of Qatar. This summer, Wallach says there will be Qatari children as well as, he hopes, Serbs and Croats.

Yoyo Mandeel has attended all three previous Seeds of Peace programs, and is contemplating coming to the fourth. As a veteran, he had no reservations about voicing his opinions, rather than avoid an argument. In Yoyo’s view, Israel began its peace process with the Palestinians only when Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat was willing to renounce terrorism and negotiate with Israel.

“In Lebanon, we couldn’t find someone like that,” said Yoyo, dressed in a jacket and tie, to Shouq, wearing shorts and a T-shirt. “Nobody knows who rules and who sets the terms. In order to make peace … you need first a leader who is ready to negotiate and take responsibility.”

Both Shouq and Mohamed argued that Israel should negotiate with the Lebanese government, despite the widely held contention that Syrian President Hafez Assad is the de facto ruler of Lebanon.

“The Israelis have negotiations with Syria,” said Mohamed. “If you are going to Syria you are denying the government of Lebanon. Like the Palestinians, the need support.”

The kids did agree on one point: that terrorism and war against civilians was their common enemy.

“We generally agree that Israeli civilians have been killed, Palestinian civilians have been killed and civilians …”

“… are the victims,” Yoyo finished.

Of the three, Shouq carried the least emotional baggage. Although she knows children in her school from families who fled the West Bank after Israel’s victory in 1967, she says, “I’m pure Jordanian, my roots are in Jordan.”

Mohamed, though, has relatives who were arrested for activism during the intifada. Yoyo’s father was injured during the Six-Day War, and twice in February he woke to the sound of bomb blasts on the Jerusalem No. 18 bus line, which passes near his home.

But Shouq said the beauty of Seeds of Peace was the lesson of identifying fellow participants simply as peers, not as future enemies. “The atmosphere is all about helping us see each other as individuals, without caring who they belonged to. I deal with Yoyo as an individual. We don’t [agree on everything], but he’s my friend.”

Camp hosts hundreds of volunteers to prepare for its 16th season

Jun 3, 2008 / No Comments

125 volunteers from Toll Brothers Inc. will help prepare Camp for arrival of young leaders from the Middle East, South Asia and the USA

OTISFIELD, MAINE | The Seeds of Peace Camp, which focuses on conflict resolution and leadership development, announced today that clean-up activities to prepare the camp for its sixteenth season will take place on Saturday May 31st. Over 125 volunteers from the New England Division of Toll Brothers Inc. will participate in the activities. Toll Brothers Inc. is America’s leading luxury home builder and Bob Toll, Chairman & CEO, is a member of the Board of Directors of Seeds of Peace.

This is the tenth consecutive year that Toll Brothers Inc. employees, friends and family from all over the northeast will head to Maine with their hand tools and power tools, paint cans and paint brushes, rakes and shovels, to prepare the camp for the arrival of young people from around the world. Major project includes repairing roofs, landscaping, carpentry needs, and the expansion of washroom facilities near the dining hall.

“This is a tremendous volunteer effort and Seeds of Peace is grateful to have such experienced professionals donate their time and talents,” said Leslie Lewin, the Director of Camp. “It has been a tough Maine winter and the camp is in dire need of repairs, so to have such skilled and generous group of people help us is really amazing.”

“We are so pleased to be able to come together as a family to lend our time and talents to this great cause,” said Tony Casapulla, New England Division President of Toll Brothers Inc. “Seeds of Peace is something we all look forward to as it marks the beginning of a new summer and hopefully a new peace-filled understanding between our friends abroad.”

Toll Brothers is the nation’s premier builder of luxury homes and is currently building in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, and Virginia. Toll Brothers, Inc., is the successor to three generations of home builders and is a publicly owned company whose stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:TOL).

Visit to Ground Zero tests resolve of Seeds of Peace alumni
Portland Press Herald

Nov 14, 2001 / No Comments

BY MEREDITH GOAD | The landscape, gray, black and smoldering, still looks shocked. As the young activists from the Maine-based Seeds of Peace program gazed at the vortex of death splayed in front of them, there were floods of tears and hugs of comfort.

Supported by two friends, Shani, a 17-year-old from Israel, went inside the remains of the World Trade Center complex where her cousin died. She emerged with eyes red from tears, shocked at the size of the hole. The hole, she said again and again. She couldn’t believe it was so big.

Shani was in New York for a Seeds of Peace International Youth Conference, called Uprooting Hatred and Terror. One of the highlights—if it can be called that—on Tuesday was a visit to ground zero. A reporter and photographer from the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram were invited to attend.

Standing on a platform above the remains of the towers, thinking of her cousin, Shani was surprised to feel herself filled with hate. If Osama bin Laden had been standing there, she said, she would have stabbed him.

“It was the first time in my life I felt hatred,” said the girl, who has seen herself as a lifelong peace activist. “It was horrible.”

An Egyptian friend wrapped her arms around her. “She was my friend and I love her, but she’s Arab and I’m not feeling really good about Arabs right now,” Shani said.

The Seeds of Peace visit, blessed by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, marked the first time a youth group has been allowed to visit the site. It was also the first time such a diverse group had come to pay its respects. Muslims and Jews, Indians and Pakistanis stood together on the wooden platform overlooking the cranes, trucks and other equipment gently searching through the rubble. It was a sight that shocked many after years of working to combat such acts of hate.

Shani, like the other youths there, became enamored of the Seeds of Peace group at its camp in Otisfield, Maine, where children from countries in conflict come together to debate world problems and make friends with “the other side.” The New York conference was arranged as a response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Parents worried about sending their children to New York, but 120 of them from 20 countries came anyway, intent on drafting their own anti-terrorism charter to present to the United Nations on Thursday.

This week, as they heard from dignitaries such as Queen Noor of Jordan and met with the wife of a World Trade Center victim, they have hugged and talked and laughed—and asked tough questions of politicians. Nabil Sha’ath, a Palestinian official, pledged Yasser Arafat’s future support for the camp.

Seeds of Peace delegates are chosen for their bravery in being able to take a hard look at themselves and listen to points of view that can enrage them. Many showed a different kind of bravery Tuesday as they braced themselves for the World Trade Center visit.

Lars Okot, 15, of Portland, a Sudanese refugee, said he was a little nervous about the field trip.

“It might feel like I’ve been home again,” he said. “The ground is actually covered in the blood of everyone.”

Shani was a little afraid. “I don’t want to make a scene, and I know I’m going to cry my guts out,” she said. “It’s going to be so weird to see that place. I haven’t quite grasped it yet.”

She still can’t believe that her cousin, Collin Healey, is gone. Collin’s father, Robert Healey, was working in the World Trade Center on Sept. 11. He had stopped smoking seven years ago, “and he decided that on this day, at this specific hour, he wanted a cigarette.” He went out and sat in the park to have a smoke.

Little did he know that his son was coming by work that day to give him the good news that he had been accepted at New York University. Robert Healey, Shani’s uncle, saw the first plane hit, and ran away.

In Israel, Shani hopped into a friend’s car and heard the news on the radio. She went to school.

“The school was like dark,” she said. “It reminded me of the day Yitzhak Rabin died. People were sad. New York has meaning for the world. Seeing the thing that actually represents New York destroyed and so many people there, it was terrible. People could truly relate to that.”

As they prepared to board four buses Tuesday, John Wallach, a former journalist who founded the group in 1993, reminded the group not to take cameras with them. It has pained some of the victims’ families, he explained, to see so many people going to the platform overlooking the site. They are worried about this hallowed ground—where there are still thousands of bodies buried—potentially being exploited.

“We are being given an extraordinary—I hate to say—privilege. It’s a terrible thought,” he said.

When the buses, escorted by New York police, reached the site, the young people went onto the platform about 50 at a time. Anxiety was already apparent on many faces. Waiting in line, Amal Khan, a 15-year-old from Pakistan, wasn’t sure she wanted to go in.

“I’m saying to myself now, why did it have to happen?” she said, her eyes tearing. “Why would anyone be so angry? I’m so confused. I don’t know if I want to see it.”

As they looked out over the rubble—the skeleton of the first tower—they listened to Dina Hanna, a liaison with Giuliani’s office, recite a litany of bodies found, buildings still around. The Seeds of Peace youths have a firsthand relationship with terror, but it was hard even for them to understand this. Here, thousands of innocent souls first met both terror and death face to face. Their presence still lingers, sorrowfully.

On the wooden railing are messages to the dead, an impromptu and heartbreaking American journal: “We miss you Dad.”

“We love you Frank. I know you are happy to be at peace. Love, Mom and Dad.”

“Bless those who have died in this horrible tragedy.”

Naima Margan, 14, a Somalian refugee who lives in Portland, was sad and trembling when she left the platform.

“It brings back memories,” she said. “It just brings back innocent people dying. It’s a disaster. It should never have happened. It’s hard because you think of these people that were jumping out the windows …” She stopped, unable to go on.

Walking back to the United Nations, Shani said the experience reinforced her belief that the work Seeds of Peace is doing is as important as the work of diplomats. She also needed to call home.

“I really want to talk to my parents,” she said.

Political, religious talk encouraged at camp
Courier Post (New Jersey)

Nov 16, 2004 / No Comments

Front Gate of Camp

The front gate of the Seeds of Peace International Camp greets campers and visitors alike at the campground in Otisfield, Maine.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the second part in a series by Static Writer Kaitlyn McMahon that chronicles her experience at a unique camp this summer.

The first night, I sat on the bottom bunk bed listening intently to my counselors, eyes wide as they explained a bit of what we were about to experience in the next two weeks. In the cabin (Bunk 8, our humble abode), there were seven other girls: Janet from Texas, Jess from Chicago, Kavita from Georgia, Safi from Egypt, Sarah from Yemen, Nouf from Kuwait and Shatha from Jordan.

I fell asleep anxious for the days ahead, unsure of what to expect or how I would fare in this new environment.

In the beginning, Seeds of Peace camp was a complete culture shock for me—I was living and playing games and speaking with people whose lives were completely different from mine. These Muslims and Arabs, who I had learned to stereotype since 9/11, became my closest friends. They were just like me: teenagers who loved life, loved to have fun and who had come to camp with open minds.

One of the most important elements of camp was our dialogue sessions. We were split into six groups with two professional facilitators assigned to each. I was a part of dialogue group E, which had four Arabs and six Americans, all of whom had very diverse outlooks on the world. Group E talked about everything from religion, to women’s rights in Arab countries, to the war in Iraq, to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to President Bush, to racism in the United States.

We wanted to spend each of our 1 1/2-hour-long sessions communicating and learning, soaking in all the information we could.

Mealtimes were also a unique Seeds experience. We started out with a “grace,” which we all recited at the top of our lungs: “For friendship, health, love and opportunity, we are thankful.” Each table in the dining hall sat eight campers and two counselors.

This table was different than most I’d been at; here, discussion of religion and politics was encouraged. Some of the most interesting conversations I had at camp were at meals, like when Jules, who was Jewish, explained to me exactly what kosher was and what it meant.

Another great one was when George and I got into a debate about President Bush during which I said, “Let’s not get into politics.” Our table counselor Kevin asked me, “why not?”

Bunk 8, my home away from home, became a favorite place of mine. All the girls in my bunk had great personalities, and the eight of us together had chemistry. Our counselors, Mandy and Fadia, taught all of us how to knit on one rainy night, and soon knitting was everyone’s favorite hobby. We also spent a good deal of time dancing to Arabic music and belting out Maroon 5’s “She Will Be Loved” (which all the Arab girls knew).

The best time was when we made up a song about our rivalry with Bunk 6. We were always laughing and being silly.

Every morning we woke up at 7 to the camp director (and Seeds of Peace Vice President) Tim Wilson ringing the loudest bell I’ve ever heard and shouting, “All up!” Though unsettling the first few days, I grew to love our wake-up call.

At 7:30, we’d walk to the “line up” area, a group of benches where we sat with our bunk three times a day so that Wilson could make announcements. Before breakfast, he always gave us something to think about and strive for.

Wilson is the kind of person everyone respects—he doesn’t mince words, he doesn’t play games and he loves every kid who ever walked through the camp gates. He played a big role in every part of camp: Of course he was the boss, but he was also constantly present. Wilson helped us to get our heads on straight and to realize what an important opportunity we had at Seeds of Peace.

Something truly amazing about Seeds of Peace is that everyone at camp is equal. We were all on a first name basis—there was no need for titles or labels. We were encouraged to ask as many questions and be as honest as we pleased, and above all else to value our experience.

After the first week of getting acquainted with everything camp had to offer, I was determined to cherish every moment of the next week and every moment I had to spend with my new friends.

Summer camp is Heaven on Earth­
Courier Post (New Jersey)

Nov 23, 2004 / No Comments

Seeds of Peace

Seeds of Peace Bunk 8 was made up of counselor Mandy of Chicago (top row from left), Nouf of Kuwait, Kavita of Georgia, Kaitlyn of New Jersey, Janet of Texas, counselor Fadia of Chicago, Jess of Chicago (bottom row from left), Sarah of Yemen, Safi of Egypt and Shatha of Jordan.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the final part in a series by Static Writer Kaitlyn McMahon that chronicles her experience at a unique camp this summer.

At camp, there was writing all over. Writing on the walls, on the ceilings, on the bedposts, even in the bathrooms, and though the messages were written alternately in English, Arabic and Hebrew, most conveyed a similar message: Seeds of Peace is heaven on Earth.

For the first few days, I wasn’t sure if I agreed with this idea. As my bunkmates and my counselors can attest to, it took me awhile to get accustomed to being without the luxuries of home. With about 15 minutes’ time allotted for showers each day and a half hour to get up and out in the morning, there wasn’t much room in the schedule for blow-drying hair or putting on makeup. Bad hair? No makeup? Surely this was not paradise!

I admit it took me far too long to realize that my camp predecessors weren’t talking about the material elements or the facilities at camp; they were talking about the people and the environment, the safety, the comfort. These are the things I miss most about Seeds of Peace. Not a day goes by that I don’t wish I was there again, knitting with my bunkmates or debating with my dialogue group, feeling like we were all in our own world where cultural differences didn’t separate us.

Near the end of each camp session, everyone is randomly split into two teams for Color Games. The green team and the blue team face each other in intense competition for two to three days. Color Games highlight all kinds of abilities (with activities in areas like athletics, music, art and even cooking), and they manage to include and to unify the whole camp.

All disagreements or biases are forgotten when you and your teammates must work together for the common good of green or blue.

The Color Games were amazing. We all became attached to our teams, feeling emotion with each win or loss and making up cheers for team spirit. We worked and played hard, and it was worth every moment of the experience. Color Games broke down all the boundaries at camp and in the end, they brought us together more than any of us thought possible.

The same night Color Games concluded, we had a big campfire. Each of the eight coaches from our teams gave speeches, mentioning how proud they were of us for working together so well and hoping that we had as much fun as they did. Tim Wilson (camp director and Seeds of Peace vice president) gave us a speech as well, saying that he hoped we had valued our time at Seeds and enjoyed every moment.

I started to cry while Tim was speaking. I didn’t take advantage of the experience as much as I should have, I thought. Maybe I spent too much time dwelling on the insignificant things and not understanding and treasuring the big picture. What a wonderful place, what fantastic people—and now I had only one day left at camp to enjoy them.

The last day, we met with our dialogue groups one final time. Group E had a little party, laughing and joking and having fun with each other. Ahmad Al-Shammri, from Kuwait, said he had some gifts for the American girls—he gave all four of us traditional Kuwaiti dresses. We put them on over our clothes and exclaimed how beautiful they were. I had brought some gifts to give to my new friends also, so I gave out souvenirs from Cape May.

Bader Jamjoom, from Saudi Arabia, said, “Hey Kait, what’s Cape May?”

The next morning we got up, ate breakfast and finished packing. Buses were waiting to take all the kids from Beyond Borders to Boston. We shared warm goodbyes with many of our counselors who could not join us on our trip because of obligations at work or school. We boarded the buses and waved goodbye to camp, missing it already.

Boston was great. We went shopping in Quincy Market, and all the Arab kids rushed into the Gap to buy “American clothes.” We also went sightseeing on a Duck Tour and later had dinner in the John F. Kennedy Library.

When it was time for us to leave Boston to board our planes and head back home, many of us were crying. We had all become so close in the last two weeks, sharing an unforgettable, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and now we’d have to go six months without seeing one another.

Beyond Borders will meet again in Jordan for a week in March. We will be visiting historical and cultural sites, hearing speakers and meeting again with our dialogue groups for continued leadership training.

I miss my friends, especially Bunk 8 and Group E, every day. Often I say to myself, “Ash would think this was hilarious!” or “Joan would love this song.” All of us are connected by this experience. We will all hold special places in our hearts and minds for Seeds of Peace—and for one another.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas meets with Seeds of Peace in New York

Sep 24, 2009 / No Comments

President Abbas & Dr. ErekatNEW YORK | Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Seeds of Peace today to reaffirm his commitment to the organization’s conflict resolution and leadership programs for young people from throughout the Middle East.

President Abbas was in New York City along with Chief Palestinian Negotiator Dr. Sa’eb Erekat for a series of events and meetings at the United Nations.

“Seeds of Peace is committed to productive and positive working relationships with governments from all the regions where we operate,” said Tim Wilson, Seeds of Peace Senior Advisor.

“President Abbas and Dr. Sa’eb Erekat have been long-time supporters of our programs and we are grateful for their continued partnership.”

New York City Seeds meet to reflect on Camp and look ahead to impacting their communities

Oct 20, 2018 / No Comments

NEW YORK | Sixteen New York City Seeds gathered for a “Small Hall” event on October 19 to reconnect, refocus, and discuss what it means to be a Seed post Camp.

The event, held at the Seeds of Peace offices in Manhattan, offered Seeds from different sessions and summers over the past three years a chance to interact and reflect on their big takeaways from Camp.

“Interacting socially and changing the way you interact socially can be such an important endeavor,” said Eliana, who attended Camp in 2017 and 2018.

Participants also discussed how their views have changed since returning from Camp, what type of programming and projects they would like to see happen, and gave encouragement for using their Seeds of Peace experience to accelerate their impact at home.

“You were chosen for Seeds [of Peace] because you were already active in your community,” said Will, who also attended Camp in 2017 and 2018.

“Seeds [of Peace] isn’t the end all, be all … you already have the tools you need to make change in your communities.”

PROGRAM PHOTOS