BY GAIL ROSSI | OTISFIELD Teenagers at the Seeds of Peace Camp on Saturday heard international diplomats praise their contributions to peace in the Middle East, and they in turn staked their claim to a voice in the peace process.
Peace in the Middle East is inevitable, and no region of the world deserves it more, Undersecretary of State Thomas A. Pickering told an international crowd gathered for the official dedication of the international summer camp.
Referring to the recent deadly bombings in West Jerusalem that took the lives of 14 people, Pickering said the violence shows what many Middle Eastern observers have known for many years: “That the closer we got to the solution to the problem, the more the people who believe in violence would attempt to destroy the process through violence.”
But their actions simply show, he said, that “they know peace is getting closer.”
That hope was underscored Saturday by the smiles and speeches, the hugs and laughter of the 175 Seeds of Peace teenagers representing eight Middle Eastern countries and the United States, who put together a heartfelt afternoon program of songs and speeches for Pickering—a Bowdoin College graduate and former ambassador to Russia—and other gathered dignitaries, including the Israeli and Jordanian ambassadors to the United States and representatives of the Palestinian Authority and Tunisia.
The ceremony at the former Camp Powhatan drew several hundred guests from the surrounding area. Due to the presence of Pickering and other high-profile diplomats, officers from the Maine State Police and the Oxford County Sheriff’s Department provided a visible security presence on the campgrounds.
“You have the future in your hands,” Pickering told the campers. “A number of years ago, it was a real dream to ever believe that Arabs and Israelis and Palestinians and (other) Arabs would ever meet face to face. That has now happened.”
The campers sang, clapped and swayed in unison to songs they had written themselves in the two weeks they have been at the internationally acclaimed conflict-resolution camp, begun in 1993 by former Middle East journalist John Wallach.
Saturday’s ceremony celebrated the establishment of a permanent home for Seeds of Peace, which has signed a 10-year lease on the camp and plans to have a full three-month program with as many as 300 campers beginning next summer.
Israeli Ambassador Ben-Elissar sat with his arm around his wife, Nitza, in the front row as Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian, Moroccan, Palestinian, Qatari and Tunisian children sang the Seeds of Peace song. Before long, all the dignitaries had linked arms and were swaying to the songs.
“I have no doubt whatsoever—and believe my optimism—a settlement will be reached between Israel and the Palestinians,” Ben-Elissar said. “We will live together simply because we have to get used to living together.”
Ben-Elissar spent hours before the ceremony talking to many of the campers and visiting some of the coexistence workshops that form the heart of the four-week camp experience.
“You are accomplishing now the very first steps of this coexistence, this cohabitation, yes, this great future,” he told the campers.
Jordanian Ambassador Muasher commended Wallach for persevering in his dream to make the Seeds of Peace camp a reality.
“I’m very proud to be among you today, to see an idea that started in someone’s mind become such a big success,” he said. “If anything, it points to what hope and dreams can do when they are coupled with determination, perseverance, hard work and a belief in a better tomorrow,” he said
Muasher told the campers that the peace process in the Middle East faces great challenges, but “this place provides a peek at how life can be and hopefully will be in the Middle East. In an era where good news is often lacking, this event is a refreshing exception.”
The ceremony found its high point, however, not in the remarks by dignitaries but in the simple statements by several of the campers themselves.
Reem Kaldawy, an Arab-Israeli who claims Israeli citizenship, said she never had an opporunity to show her dual identity until she came to Otisfield.
“When I came here the second day, I didn’t know which anthem to sing—the Palestinian or the Israeli—and it caused an internal conflict in me,” she said.
Ultimately, however, she said she decided to “announce myself as a bridge between the two sides.” An American delegate, Emily Ratner, told the crowd she came to the camp knowing very little about the conflict in the Middle East.
“You can’t ask us, Seeds of Peace, to make peace tomorrow or next week or even next year,” said Ratner. “It’s not about that. What it’s about is that almost the entire Israeli delegation can now take a step back and look at what the other side is saying, and the Palestinians can do the same—and that is a huge step towards peace.”
Israeli camper Noa Epstein said when she learned of the west Jerusalem market bombing, “I felt terrible. But I saw Arab children come to me and comfort me. Right then, I felt something I’d never felt before.
“Being here at this camp gives me hope, hope that one day things will change,” said Epstein. “The most important lesson I have learned here in this camp is that both sides can go on fighting forever but we, the wonderful people who come here, are the ones who will one day make things change.”
Along with Pickering, Ben-Elissar and Muasher, international dignitaries in attendance included Palestinian Authority official Said Hamad and Tunisian diplomat Sahbi Khalfallah.