New York Seeds Jonathan and Sandhya speak about our US programs with Seeds of Peace Executive Director Leslie Lewin and Good Day New York anchors Greg Kelly and Rosanna Scotto.
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.”
NEW YORK | Seeds of Peace graduates from around the world continued their conference on “Uprooting Hatred and Terror,” remembering the victims of the September 11th attacks and meeting with prominent dignitaries and decision-makers, highlighted by Her Majesty Queen Noor, Nabil Sha’ath, Minister of Planning & Senior Deputy to President Arafat, and Aaron Miller, Senior Advisor to Secretary Colin Powell for Arab-Israeli Negotiations.
The day began with a reception with Her Majesty Queen Noor at the UN Millennium Plaza. A large group of Seeds of Peace supporters turned out to meet Her Majesty as well as the many Seeds from around the world. John Wallach presented Her Majesty with a Seeds of Peace brooch as a token of gratitude for her unwavering support of and assistance to the Seeds of Peace program, continuing the legacy of her late husband, King Hussein.
An ecumenical service at the Church Center for the United Nations followed the reception, as Seeds and guests gathered to remember the victims of violence and pray for peace. The service was officiated by representatives from many faiths, including remarks delivered by Rev. James Fitzgerald, Rabbi Joel Goor, Dr. Khurshid Khan, Imam Abu-Namous, and Dr. Uma Mysorekar. Hideko Udagawa performed a stirring rendition of Ciaccona by Bach, followed by “Wanting Memories,” a song performed by Seeds Mariam Bazeed and Keren Greenblatt.
Connie Taylor, who lost her son in the World Trade Center attacks, and Lauren Rosenzweig, who lost her husband when American Airlines Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center with him aboard, gave moving tributes to their loved ones, and both appealed for peace and understanding.
Her Majesty Queen Noor delivered a moving keynote address, reminding the audience of the continued need for Seeds of Peace—a need highlighted by the September 11th tragedies.
“We need your energy. Young people like you are an untapped force in the world today,” she said. “We need you to participate, to push, to fight for the future. We need your experience. Because you, the Seeds of Peace, have seen this before … We need your motivation. Seeds of Peace, we are ready to listen. We hope the tragedy of two months ago today will inspire and motivate people. You do not have to sit and watch while failed strategies continue to fuel conflict. You have fresh ideas, energy, courage, and the compassion to reach out to others like yourselves. You do this no matter what their religion, no matter what their race, no matter what their prejudices.”
The ecumenical service was followed by an important address by Nabil Sha’ath, who affirmed the Palestinian commitment to the Seeds of Peace program.
“I commit myself, and I have President Arafat’s support, that Palestinian children will join all your future camps in Maine and in the region itself,” Sha’ath said. Sha’ath also delivered some important revelations to the Seeds of Peace crowd, disclosing new aspects to a three-step American plan. Sha’ath explained that step one is the restatement of the end goal, an important aspect because “people hate to see the problem of their long-term struggle dwindling into just security arrangements. We must show everyone that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. That there is an objective we all have to reach.”
Step two is immediate steps to reach a ceasefire and stop violence, and the final step is the full implementation of the Mitchell Plan.
In response to questions by Seeds of Peace delegates, Sha’ath also commented on United States President Bush’s decision not to meet with President Arafat.
“I don’t think it was helpful that President Bush did not meet with Mr. Arafat,” he said. “I think it was unhelpful. Nevertheless, I think the promise of a future meeting is real [and] the assurances we got from all the American officials that the President would like to have it in Washington in the White House, and not in the United Nations, alongside a very important international meeting like this. I have to say we accept that explanation and we hope that a meeting like this will happen as soon as possible.”
The evening ended with a discussion of the American perspective on the Middle East peace process and the war on terrorism, with Aaron Miller addressing the delegates at a dinner hosted by Manhattanville College.
Miller explained the rationale for American action in Afghanistan, and answered the many probing and powerful questions posed by the Seeds delegates.
Seeds of Peace graduates from around the world have gathered for a conference on “Uprooting Hatred and Terror,” which began on Saturday, November 10, and ends Thursday, November 15. The conference, coinciding with the United Nations’ General Assembly meetings, represents the first time that youth will interject their voice into the debate over violence and terrorism. Twenty-two delegations from regions of conflict such as the Middle East, South Asia, the Balkans, and Cyprus will exchange perspectives on the root causes of hatred and violence in and across communities, with particular focus on the role of the media, pop culture, education, economic disparity, safety and security, religion, principles of government, and guiding principles.
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.
Dear Partner in Peace,
As we celebrate the New Year, Seeds of Peace is gratified by the personal wishes for peace shared with us this holiday season!
Below are some that were particularly inspiring to us:
• “I wish that everyone will live for each other, so that the peace will be found every where in the world.” — Ali, Kabul
• “I wish that every person would find a beneficial program in their community to become active in and compassionate about. That would make a world of difference to their community and themselves as well.” — Karen, Tulkarem
• “I wish that young people will learn to respect and listen to each other and hopefully these people will be the next leaders of the world, so they can make the world a better place to live.”
— Shai, Maale Adumim
Thank you for believing in these courageous Seeds who are working to bring us closer to Peace on Earth.
With best wishes for a happy and peaceful New Year,
Seeds of Peace
PS — Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian National Authority President, recently hosted 60 Israelis in Ramallah for a luncheon to reinvigorate the peace process. During the lunch, President Abbas extolled the positive benefits that Seeds of Peace had on four of his grandchildren and wished that more youth were able to participate. Full article ››
NEW 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.”
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).
NEW YORK | Twenty-five Seeds in the US attended the Winter Seeds Reunion in New York for a weekend of re-connection, dialogue, and panel discussions.
The group heard from a older American, Israeli, and Palestinian Seeds about ways to bring their Seeds of Peace experiences to college, and also how these experiences impacted their career trajectories.
The Seeds attended a powerful, eye-opening NYC Youth Poet Laureate Competition at the 92nd Street Y focused on race, violence, social justice, and socio-economic issues.
They also toured the 9/11 Memorial and Museum and held a dialogue session afterwards about terrorism and the US security state, foreign policy, and the post-9/11 world.
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.
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.