OTISFIELD, MAINE | No one was discussing the cease-fire’s prospects or analyzing the roadmap for peace Wednesday as Israeli and Palestinian teen-agers linked arms and began singing in unison.
Seeds of Peace International Camp inaugurated its 11th summer in the Maine woods just hours before Palestinian militant groups agreed to a three-month halt on attacks.
But amid the towering pines near Pleasant Lake, campers were not focused on the latest political developments from the Middle East. They have been disappointed so many times before.
Instead campers were talking about the difficult but enormously rewarding challenge they’ll face over the next three weeks: overcoming their own deeply ingrained views of longtime enemies.
“It’s really hard to take that road, but I think everybody here can do it,” said Oren Karniol-Tambour, a returning camper from Israel.
Seeds of Peace, which was founded in 1993 by the late journalist John Wallach, brings youths from rival factions together to learn about conflict resolution.
The roughly 170 campers at the first session, which runs through July 16, hail not only from Israel and the West Bank, but also from Afghanistan, Egypt, India, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, the United States and Yemen.
At Wednesday’s ceremony outside the camp’s main gate, campers wearing matching green T-shirts sang each delegation’s national anthem as their flags were raised.
The Palestinian flag flew beside Israel’s, but over the next 21 days only the Seeds of Peace banner will remain airborne.
As the festivities concluded, campers linked arms to sing the camp’s anthem, “I Am A Seed Of Peace.” Girls wearing Arab headdresses swayed in unison with boys in baseball caps.
Linor Grisariu, a first-time camper from Israeli, hopes Seeds of Peace will shed light on the lives of Arabs who live nearby, but in a world apart. Already she’s sharing a bunk with a Palestinian.
“I’m sleeping with the enemy, literally sleeping with the enemy,” the 15-year-old said.
Sharing a cabin breaks down physical barriers. But the teens will face difficult questions about their beliefs once the camp’s coexistence sessions get under way, said Sami Habash, a 17-year-old Palestinian from Jerusalem.
Seeds of Peace began as a symbol of hope for a better future in the Middle East. Today it stands as a rejoinder to extremists who aim to derail peace efforts.
Aaron David Miller, the camp’s president, knows better than most about dashed political dreams, having worked for decades on U.S. diplomatic efforts for Middle East peace.
At the flag-raising Miller shed the diplomat’s suit and tie for jeans, sneakers and a Seeds T-shirt.
He said campers will undergo remarkable changes during their brief time in Maine.
“In three and a half weeks, you would not believe what happens to these kids,” Miller said. “One reason is open hearts and minds at the ages of 14,15 and 16.”
Miller recalled that 46 Seeds alumni attended the White House signing of a Middle East peace accord in 1993. A decade later peace remains elusive, but Seeds of Peace marches forward.
“It’s a defiance of history,” Miller said. “Seeds of Peace is the only organization from that period that is still doing viable work.”