BY DEBORAH NUSSBAUM COHEN | In a new effort to foster peace in the Middle East, a group called Seeds of Peace selected 55 Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian and Jordanian boys to spend part of the summer in the United States.
The program, designed for boys age 11-14, is the brainchild of John Wallach, a Washington-based author of several books on the Middle East.
“Bringing the next generation together, before they have been poisoned by the hostility of their region, is the best hope for the future. It is also the only answer to the extremism and fundamentalism of all kinds,” said Wallach.
“The friendships that I hope will emerge can become the seeds of peace,” he said.
The boys were chosen in nationwide competitions sponsored jointly by their governments and the private sector.
Most of the 20 Israeli participants are Jewish, but Moslems, Druze and Christians are also included. The Palestinian participants are from villages and towns throughout the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.
After touring New York City, the boys left for two weeks at Camp Powhatan in Maine. They will next travel to Washington where they are scheduled to meet with Secretary of State Warren Christopher, Supreme Court justices, members of Congress and FBI Director Louis Freeh. There will be a ceremony in their honor preceding an Orioles-Mariners baseball game in Baltimore, Sept. 8.
The cost of the nearly month-long program has been largely underwritten by the Abraham Fund, along with the Goldman Fund, Preston Robert Tisch, president of Loews Corp. and co-owner of the New York Giants, and several private contributors in Jordan, Lebanon and Saudi Arabia.
Seeds of Peace has been commended by President Clinton, Vice President Al Gore, Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres and the crown prince of Jordan, El Hassan Bin Talal.