BY REBECCA MAHONEY | OTISFIELD MAINE OTISFIELD, MAINE Growing up, Palestinian-born Jawad Issa was taught to hate Israelis. Then they became his bunkmates.
This summer, 18-year-old Issa is spending the summer at Seeds of Peace, a camp deep in the Maine woods, in hopes of helping other kids from warring nations find common ground.
Against the backdrop of an escalation of violence in the Middle East, the task of bringing together Israeli and Arab teenagers will be particularly daunting for this year’s summer’s camp. Since fighting began Sept. 28, nearly 500 people have been killed on the Palestinian side and more than 100 on the Israeli side.
Among the dead is one of Seeds of Peace’s own, 17-year-old Asel Asleh, an Arab Israeli shot by Israeli police during pro-Palestinian riots in October.
“I’ve had two friends die,” said Issa, who attended two previous sessions and returned this summer as a staffer ready to share his experiences.
The Palestinians declined to send a delegation because of the increased tension but teens from 16 countries, including Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Morocco, are participating.
“We’re trying to do something here that nobody else does, and people believe in it,” said Tim Wilson, the camp’s director. “Lots of kids may not like each other but they’ll learn to respect each other.”
The first of 160 teenagers began trickling into the camp Monday night. The first session runs through July 18 and the second begins July 23.
Because of the increased tension, state troopers will be bunking down in a cabin for the first time, bolstering the camp’s 24-hour security. In addition, troopers are stationed at the camp’s entrances.
At the wooded camp, the boys and girls ranging from 14 to 17 years old will spend nearly four weeks living together, playing sports and discussing the issues that divide them. The goal is for teenagers who are born enemies to get to know each other as humans on neutral ground away from the conflicts in the hope that they bring their new attitudes back to their communities.
“I believe young people, if taught, do very, very well, much better than their elders. Some of these kids will become tomorrow’s leaders,” Wilson said Monday. “They will step up.”
Many Israeli and Palestinian campers from past years have kept in touch through phone calls, e-mails and an Internet message board set up for campers who refer to themselves as “seeds.”
John Wallach, who founded Seeds of Peace in 1993, hopes the Mideast cease-fire agreement that took effect June 13 will help cool things down, perhaps enough to bring Palestinians to the later forum.
“Right now, there’s a cease fire, thank goodness, and that has improved the prospects of our getting a Palestinian delegation” for the second session, he said. “I’m an optimist.”
The Middle East program isn’t the only one at the camp. For the first time, the program will include teenagers from India and Pakistan, which have been embroiled in hostility since the partition of the subcontinent. There also will be teenagers from eight countries in the Balkans; teenagers from northern and southern Cyprus, which was divided after a Turkish invasion in 1974, and from Portland’s refugee community.
For Issa, the program offers hope for people like him who have seen the horror of violence firsthand and yet have been able to call an Israeli one of his best friends.
“I’m trying really hard to work on peace and then an (Israeli) F-16 comes by the school,” he said. “That makes no sense. But giving up makes no sense either.”