Letter from the President
As I approach the end of my second year at Seeds of Peace, I am increasingly taken with the urgency and importance of the work we do. With the formal Arab-Israeli peace process at a deadly impasse and four years of non-stop Israeli-Palestinian confrontation embittering the attitudes of both sides, Seeds of Peace has emerged as one of the few practical alternatives to hopelessness and despair. Our capacity to build bridges and bring people together is a testament to the compelling nature of this mission. I was reminded of this again at the Seeds of Peace Forum on Conflict and Diplomacy this fall in New York City. Former Secretary of State James A. Baker was our featured speaker, and at the Secretary's table, we managed to convene the Foreign Ministers of Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and the Secretary General of the Arab League. Such a gathering has not occurred during the past four years. Why has Seeds of Peace proven so resilient? Why are we expanding – bringing record numbers of Arabs, Israelis, Indians, Pakistanis, Afghans, and Cypriots to our summer program in Maine, particularly against the background of growing regional tension and conflict? I believe the answer lies in the simple proposition that people do not want to give up. Clearly this is the case with many of the prospective young leaders that we are empowering with the skills required for serious peacemaking and reconciliation. But it is also true of publics and political leaders caught up in conflict. No one wants to abandon the future to the cruel forces of history, which if left to their own devices would guarantee perpetual conflict. And Seeds of Peace offers a practical and realistic pathway forward to ensure that when governments are ready to conclude political agreements – as only governments can – there will be constituencies and leaders at both the community and national level ready to support their efforts.
“Having spent nearly 25 years working on Arab-Israeli negotiations, people often ask me what they can do to contribute to serious peacemaking. I never had a good answer. Now I do.”
Seeds of Peace also understands the importance of innovation and adjustment to cope with the new challenges confronting our world. This summer we developed a new program called Beyond Borders which brought 30 young Arabs from Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen together with 30 Americans from all over the country to engage on the critical cultural, religious and political issues that can fuel bias and misunderstanding. All left transformed and will never again look at Americans or Arabs in a way that stigmatizes the group at the expense of the distinctiveness of the individual. This is a crucial first step to create a solid basis for greater understanding on one of the most critical challenges facing America and the Arab/Muslim world today. We plan to conduct a follow-up session in Jordan in March of 2005 hosted by Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania of Jordan. Having spent nearly 25 years working on Arab-Israeli negotiations, people often ask me what they can do to contribute to serious peacemaking. I never had a good answer. Now I do; Seeds of Peace can help create a new generation of young leaders – authentic and genuine representatives of their own societies, yet capable of reaching out to the other side. And we desperately need this kind of leadership. Investing in Seeds of Peace is an investment in the future. And no one can afford to abandon that future to the forces of extremism and despair. Thank you for supporting our effort to create a different alternative – one that offers a future based on understanding, respect and perhaps one day on real peace.
Aaron David Miller President, Seeds of Peace
www.seedsofpeace.org
Photo: Allen King
AARON DAVID MILLER
Save the Date!
Events
Photo: Allen King
In September, Seeds of Peace held its Forum on Conflict and Diplomacy in New York City with The Honorable James A. Baker, III, the 61st Secretary of State. The event drew many high-ranking foreign dignitaries including those from the Middle East. The forum, a lecture series begun by Seeds of Peace in 2004, offers statesmen, diplomats and negotiators an opportunity to discuss their views and experiences on the theory and practice of diplomacy. The first lecture, held in April 2004, was with former Senator George J. Mitchell.
SEEDS,
a full-length documentary film on Seeds of Peace produced by independent filmmakers Marjan Safinia and Joseph Boyle of Merge: Media, is now touring film festivals around the country! The film introduces movie-goers to ten extraordinary teenagers attending the Seeds of Peace International Camp during the summer of 2002. For three life-changing weeks, these teens learn to share their dreams and fears, to listen to opposing views, to see beyond prejudices, and eventually to respect each other as individuals as they attempt to build the one thing they all strive for: a future. SEEDS premiered in June 2004 at the SilverDocs Film Festival in Silver Spring, MD, and has since been shown in festivals in Hawaii, Minnesota, East Hampton, and Washington DC. Check out our website to find SEEDS in a city near you.
February 16, 2005 Bid for Peace Celebrity Auction at Copacabana, NYC April 11, 2005 Forum on Conflict & Diplomacy with Gen. Anthony Zinni May 16, 2005 Seeds of Peace Gala at The Pierre Hotel, NYC
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Cover Photos: Ralph Alswang(top two), Susi Eggenberger(middle two), Ana Maria Cรกrdenas(bottom)
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OPEN
SPECIAL REPORT Fall 2004
Leaders Inspiring Leaders
“All of the youngsters who make up Seeds of Peace are living proof that people can change, that peace is possible, that attitudes can be changed. All of you are examples for others to follow.” – The Honorable Colin Powell, U.S. Secretary of State
Those in the news – from world leaders to television and movie celebrities to sports stars – continue to notice Seeds of Peace and show their support to the organization and its graduates. This summer, in Washington, DC and Maine, Seeds shared the spotlight with some of their favorite heroes. In July, Seeds met with National Security Advisor, Dr. Condoleezza Rice and in August, with Secretary of State, Colin Powell. Each visit not only validated to the Seeds their brave work but allowed them to hear first-hand what it takes to lead. With the help of board members Arn and Nancy Tellem, added excitement came when NBA and WNBA players visited camp to teach basketball. During the third year of the “Play for Peace” clinic, Brent Barry of the Spurs, Jarron Collins of the Jazz, Jason Collins of the Nets, Etan Thomas of the Wizards, and Carla McGhee of the WNBA Suns participated. Adding to the fun was Dave Chappelle from Comedy Central's The Chappelle Show who provided everyone with the day's entertainment! In addition to these celebrities, Maine's Governor John Baldacci visited camp and while in Washington DC in July, Seeds met on Capitol Hill with Senators Susan Collins and Carl Levin and with Representatives Tom Allen, Howard Berman, Eliot Engel, Steve Israel, Joe Knollenberg, Dennis Kucinich, Nita Lowey, Mike Michaud, Jerrold Nadler, and Nick Rahall. These political and celebrity visits remind the Seeds that everyone is taking notice of their courageous work, and, more importantly, everyone is listening to them. This truly inspires all Seeds to make a difference when they return home.
International Camp
Record-Breaking Camp Season
Seeds of Peace concluded its 12th summer season, welcoming almost 500 youth – a record number – to the woods of Maine. Over the course of three sessions, Seeds from throughout the Middle East, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Cyprus and the United States experienced the incredible program that Seeds of Peace offers and returned home energized by what they learned. The Middle East program rose to new levels this summer as Palestinians from the West Bank and Jerusalem, Egyptians, Jordanians, Moroccans, Tunisians, Qataris and Yemenis joined Seeds of Peace in larger numbers than in previous summers. Their presence alongside a diverse Israeli delegation made our program more challenging as the division among these youths was sharper and more persistent than ever after another year of violence in the region. Following camp, the high-level of activity on SeedsNet (the Seeds private email list-serve), proves the Seeds are more determined than ever to continue their hard work at home spreading the lessons learned at camp to their friends, family and community.
“I really benefited from Seeds of Peace and I hope you all keep in touch so that we create something even better from what Seeds taught us: to deal with each other, even if we are different.” -Alam, Palestinian
Seeds of Peace launched a new ground-breaking program, Beyond Borders, during its third session this summer. Beyond Borders brought together over 60 American and Arab teens (including new delegations from Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait) as well as 25 adult educators to spend two weeks of political and cultural exchange. As one of the American delegates reflected, “I walked away from camp with a new sense of things around me and where I want to go with my life. I’m making it my duty to get the word out there and share my experience with as many people as I can.” The entire group will be reconvening in Jordan in March 2005 for part two of the exchange.
Delegation Leaders This summer, 65 adult Delegation Leaders (ages 30-60) participated in their own challenging coexistence program at the International Camp. The Delegation Leaders Program provides these adult educators and community leaders with advanced training on how to promote the teaching of tolerance and peaceful coexistence in regions of conflict. Through the program, these educators truly act as a gateway to their society – encouraging their own students to evaluate the stereotypes that discourage understanding of others from different cultures, religious traditions, and political views. One example of this impact came recently when, just days after the bombings in Taba, Egypt, the Delegation Leaders Program organized an exchange between students and teachers from a school in Aqaba, Jordan and Eilat, Israel. Photos (top to bottom): Ana Maria Cárdenas, Susi Eggenberger, Ana Maria Cárdenas (middle two), Susi Eggenberger (bottom four)
Center for Coexistence Programs at the Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem brought Seeds of all years and backgrounds together this summer for seminars and activities including advanced dialogue sessions, parent meetings, community service projects, cultural exchanges, school presentations, and language courses. One seminar highlight included “Spread the Word” which offered Palestinians and Israelis an opportunity to volunteer and educate their home communities. Upcoming programs will include “Mother Tongue,” which brings Israeli and Palestinian Seeds together weekly to learn Hebrew and Arabic from one another. In addition, the Daniel Pearl Media Internship Program, a joint project of the Daniel Pearl Foundation and Seeds of Peace, enabled nine Israeli and Palestinian Seeds to spend the summer interning at Israeli, Palestinian and international media organizations located in the Middle East including The Jerusalem Report and Al-Ayyam.
Expanding Reach in the Middle East Larger-scale seminars are also in the works. In November, 40 Seeds will gather in New York for a three day conference on the “Art of Negotiation” organized by the student-run Seeds Advisory Council. In December, Seeds of Peace will bring over 100 Seeds together to participate in an international seminar on civil and human rights. Against the backdrop of IsraeliPalestinian violence, our Seeds are emerging into young adults and Seeds of Peace is adapting and growing along with them so that we can continue to offer programming that gives our Seeds the tools and experiences to truly make a difference. The Center’s regional presence will soon extend beyond Jerusalem into Haifa, Tel Aviv, Ramallah, Amman, and Cairo to meet the Seeds’ growing needs. This expansion will allow the Seeds an opportunity to both engage in more meaningful programming and broaden their outreach into their communities thus amplifying the Seeds of Peace message to a wider audience.
South Asia The India/Pakistan home-stay program continued for a second year this summer as 21 Pakistani Seeds traveled to Mumbai, India. Indian Seeds and their families hosted Pakistani Seeds as they reconnected, continued their dialogue sessions, and created plans for the future. The Seeds conducted school presentations addressing over 1,000 students, teachers, and school officials to discuss their Seeds experience and their commitment to mutual understanding. This summer in Afghanistan, 20 Afghan Seeds came together in Kabul to discuss important community issues and how those issues related to their Seeds of Peace experience. U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalizad also hosted a reception for the Afghan Seeds and encouraged them to share their experiences with others in the community. Leadership, critical thinking and facilitation were some of the topics addressed in all the South Asia workshops to equip the youth with new skills and insight to conduct more effective community presentations and seminars. In this way, Seeds of Peace ensures a ripple effect that goes far beyond the groups of youth attending camp.
“Seeds of Peace, in itself, can achieve very little, if we don’t try to reach out to our communities and show them that there is a different way. There’s no one who can do that but us.” -Sagi, Israeli
Education The Education Program launched the Washington Fellows project this summer placing five Seeds Scholars interested in international relations or politics at Congressional offices and independent think tanks in Washington, DC. Placements included Senate and House offices and the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Almost 150 Seeds Scholars now study in the U.S. through the Education Program, which has accessed over $1M in scholarships from the U.S.’s top universities. The program’s impact is further multiplied on campus where Seeds spread their commitment to diversity, coexistence, and respect to their peers.
Seeds Blossom as Young Adults
Profiles
Suha Tazami, Palestinian
Sara Ababneh, Jordanian
Karim Abdel Monem, Egyptian
Inbal Shacked, Israeli
Seed graduate, 1994
Seed graduate, 1995
Seed graduate, 1997
Seed graduate, 1998
Suha Tazami is a 22-year-old Palestinian from Jerusalem. Suha first came to Seeds of Peace in 1994 at age 12 in the first ever female delegation and returned in 1998. In 1996, she also joined Seeds of Peace during a reunion program held in Jordan.
Sara Ababneh is a Jordanian from Amman who was a camper first in 1995 and then again in 1996 and 1997. In the summer of 2004, Sara returned to Seeds of Peace International Camp as a facilitator for the Beyond Borders program.
Karim Abdel Monem is a 22-yearold Egyptian from Cairo who was a camper during the summer of 1997 and this summer returned as a counselor. Since his first summer at camp, Karim has been very active in Seeds programming including doing school presentations, community outreach and recently helping Seeds of Peace generate a bigger presence in Egypt by running local activities and helping in the Egyptian selection process.
Inbal Shacked is an Israeli from a settlement in the West Bank who first came to camp in 1998. Growing up in a right-wing family made it tough to get support for the person she became through her Seeds of Peace experience but, despite this, she persisted in her involvement by taking courses through the Center and visiting her Arab friends as often as she could.
Since the establishment of the Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem, Suha has been very involved in their follow up programs. In 2003, Suha began working on the Seeds of Peace Graduate Program organized specifically to benefit and educate older Seeds (age 18-and-over). Part of this program involved her taking an advanced mediation course that met weekly for a total of 90 hours over a three-month period. As part of the Graduate Program, Suha also interned in one of the dialogue groups held for the younger Seeds. Suha is currently in her senior year of medical school at Al-Quds University in Jerusalem. This summer, with the help of Seeds of Peace board member Dr. Allen Hyman, Suha participated in a sixweek observation course at the University Hospitals of Columbia & Cornell where she worked with teams in the rheumatology and neurology departments. Said Suha, “I saw patients and went to clinics and conferences; it was a wonderful experience.” Suha hopes to specialize in ophthalmology for her medical residency and plans to continue organizing community projects for the West Bank that utilize both her medical skills and those skills she learned at Seeds of Peace.
Sara began learning the process of facilitation at her school in Jordan, right after returning from her first summer at camp. After organizing workshops aimed at presenting the human face of the “other side” and teaching people how to acknowledge another’s suffering, Sara and another Seed turned this project into a larger conference for Seeds of Peace alumni and asked other Seeds to prepare workshops of their own. Sara then used her own conference workshop to do a presentation for her entire school as well as other schools in Amman. Sara still does many community projects in Jordan. Just recently, she organized and conducted workshops for girls in a rural village in Jordan using many of the skills she had learned at Seeds of Peace. Said Sara, “The skills I learned at Seeds of Peace I apply to all my workshops and it never ceases to amaze me how these workshops effect change.” Sara graduated with honors and a Phi Betta Kappa with a double major in Politics and Economics from Earlham College and has a Masters degree in International Politics from The University of Wales, Aberystwyth. Currently, Sara is at Oxford University getting her PhD in Politics.
For the past few years Karim has been working with an Egyptian charity organization called RESALA, which provides clothing, education, food, English instruction and shelter for orphans. Karim also conducts computer training courses for academicallyunder-equipped people so they can find better jobs and thus, provide a better life for themselves and their family. In addition, last year he taught time-management, marketing, communication skills and public relations. Karim recently became an entrepreneur starting his own business producing promotional items. Said Karim, “It started by just knowing contacts and as time passed, people would recommend me for items such as t-shirts, key-chains, suitcases and so on. Now I have come to manufacture these items by special order and sell them with the client’s logos.” Currently, Karim is a student at Cairo University in a 5-year program studying Engineering, Communications and Electronics. He will graduate in 2005 and hopes to continue his promising business career.
Inbal joined the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) and trained as an officer eventually being stationed in the Engineering Force headquarters. Throughout her army service, Inbal continued visiting the Center once a week to take classes such as one in negotiation and one on conducting difficult conversations. Said Inbal, “I used a lot of the knowledge from Seeds and the programs I’ve been through at the Center during my service in the army, and in my life in general. That is because I had skills that not many people have – to question things we’re told, and to listen and feel the pain of both sides. Knowing that I am not always right. That is the gift I have from Seeds of Peace – and I am glad to say I am using it every day.” Following her discharge from the IDF, Inbal returned to Seeds of Peace International Camp in 2004 as a counselor and is currently in Israel exploring career opportunities within the field of public relations. She hopes to use her Seeds of Peace experience and interest in communications to help her society better understand the Palestinian viewpoint and contribute to a more balanced representation of it in the media.