BY RICHARD H. BUCK | OTISFIELD It’s a visionary concept: Gather young “enemies,” 13- to 15-year-old Arabs and Israelis, place them in a neutral environment, get them doing things that are not normal for them, playing, learning, and eating together, sleeping only feet from each other, until those things become normal. Allow them, with some guidance and encouragement, to discuss, argue and learn from each other, then send them home to spread the word that peaceful dialogue is not only possible, it is essential.
“A year ago the peace process was in much better shape than it is now. Now we are the only place in the world where Israelis and Palestinians are together.”
“The only place” is Seeds of Peace, about 20 miles from Windham, at former Camp Powhatan in Otisfield.
The speaker is John Wallach, Seeds of Peace founder and president. At the July 22 opening flag raising ceremony, Wallach told the assembled Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian, Moroccan, Palestinian, Qatari and Tunisian teenagers, “The significance of this morning is that it is the last time you are all formally together as your own nations. From here on in we are one new nation, the Nation of Seeds of Peace.”
Later Wallach told some visitors, “The Palestinians are so upset with the Israeli government they’ve pulled out of all other exchange programs. The Middle East situation today is almost as hostile as before the 1993 peace accord was signed, but Palestinian officials at the highest level voted to maintain their commitment to this one.” He expects hostilities at home will be reflected in the camp’s discussion groups.
Confrontation is nothing new at five-year-old Seeds of Peace. Each morning and evening professional facilitators hold “coexistence sessions.” About half the facilitators are from the Middle East. “We can pair Arab and Israeli facilitators in the sessions so the the kids can see the model, the example of Arab and Israeli professionals working side-by-side. They work with groups of 12 to 14 kids, divided evenly between Arabs and Israelis, to make sure they understand that even though their differences may be very large, that they may carry a burden of hatred for each other, we will teach them to listen, to hear the other side without getting upset. That’s when the tears flow, and that’s when you get the real catharsis. That’s where the bonding takes place.
“The process doesn’t happen overnight. The kids bring a lot of hate with them, a lot of crap they’ve been taught. It’s almost a process of detoxification. And they have to educate each other. A sensitizing takes place that is very much part of the process. Peace must be built; it’s easier to tear something down than to build it.
“The kids have an enormous impact on family and peers when they get home. Often there is incredulity. Many of their friends don’t believe they could actually be with the “enemy” for a month and not wind up killing each other. One Palestinian girl wrote us when she got home that her friends said, ‘How could you be with Israelis and they don’t kill you?’ Well we have a lot of Israelis here who don’t sleep the first few nights because they’re scared the Palestinian in the same bunk is going to kill them.”
Seeds of Peace actually started at Camp Powhatan in 1993. “We were here for two years. We were renting then and could only get camps off season. Now we have our own place. Next summer we plan to have several programs here. Not only for Arabs and Israelis, but Bosnians and Serbs, Protestants and Catholics from Northern Ireland, and American inner city kids.”
Wallach abandoned a brilliant 30 year career in journalism that included being White House correspondent and foreign editor for the Hearst newspapers to follow his dream. “Nobody’s really paying attention to the challenge of building peace,” he says. “You have to start with the people…It’s one thing to send troops to some part of the world to separate two sides when they stop fighting, but unless somebody does the work with the next generation, they’re going to start fighting again as soon as the troops come out.”
Why did Wallach choose Maine? “I think it’s very important that this is taking place in Maine. I don’t think there’s any other place in the country, and maybe even the world, that is as hospitable to kids overcoming their differences. Because I often tell these kids in the morning, I speak with them every morning, that when god created the world, it looked a lot more like this than it does anywhere else. And that’s important, because we’re trying to get back to the basics, and the climate and area is just that, and it constantly reminds you of the beauty of the world that you often take for granted. It helps in the whole healing process, a process that’s required to make peace. So it’s very important that this is taking place in Maine. I can’t think of any place that would be better.”
And he knows this place very well. His children attended Camp Powhatan. “This is one of the oldest camps in Maine. It goes back to 1922. And I knew this was, physically, one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen.”
Seeds of Peace receives no funding from any government or the U.N., but they shared the UNESCO Peace Prize in 1996, and UNESCO is trying to mold their new program, “Culture of Peace,” after Seeds of Peace.
Seeds of Peace welcomes visitors and encourages them to talk with the kids, “… because we are preparing young people to become leaders and part and parcel of that preparation is knowing how to express themselves. We don’t tell anybody what to say, we encourage them to talk, to become articulate spokespersons for their causes, their countries, and for peace.”
From Raymond Village, take Route 121 to Casco Village, take a right after Casco Town hall, go 1.6 miles, take a left at the T (Coon Road) and the Seeds of Peace entrance is 3.5 miles on the left. Parking is across the road from the entrance.