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Volume CXXXIII, Number 1 |
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Seeds of Peace
TODD JOHNSTON
Staff Writer
This is the first in an occasional series
of "Beyond Bowdoin" articles aimed at exploring some of the
interesting events and learning about some of the people in the Great
State of Maine.
This summer, much of the news' coverage began with the depressing reality
of the Middle East conflict between the Palestinians and Israelis, and
the continuous bloodshed in the region. Headlines similar to "Six
Palestinian Officials Killed in the West Bank" or "Suicide Bomber
Kills Five in Jewish Café" were not uncommon. At the same
time bombs were going off overseas, Palestinian and Israeli teenagers
were living together in the remote town of Otisfield, Maine, in a drastically
different kind of environment where peace predominates. All this happens
at a small but very significant camp called Seeds of Peace. I visited
two members of our Bowdoin community there as they participated in and
witnessed this inspirational and, in many ways, historic saga unfold.
Wil Smith, who is Coordinator of Multicultural Student Programs
and a member of the Bowdoin Class of 2000, has worked at Seeds, as it
is often called, for three summers, and was the Assistant Head Counselor
of the camp this year. Emily Duffus, who is the Vice President of Howell
House and a member of the Bowdoin Class of 2003, also worked as a counselor
this summer in her first year at the camp.
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| Wil Smith, center, with Seeds of Peace campers. (Courtesy of Wil Smith) |
Seeds of Peace was founded by former journalist John Wallach,
who had spent many years reporting on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict
in the Middle East. Wallach wanted to do more than simply report on the
struggles in Israel, so he started a peace camp in Maine that brought
together Palestinian and Israeli teenagers. In his book, The Enemy Has
a Face: The Seeds of Peace Experience, Wallach says, "Seeds of Peace
was an idea that seemed to make sense: Bring the next generation together
before they too fall victim to the hate that ensnares their parents and
grandparents - bring them together and see what happens."
On the first day of camp, Wil and Emily already began to
see evidence that peace between two groups who consider themselves enemies
is a very difficult goal to achieve. "You see the distrust in their
eyes." Wil says, "There's an Israeli or a Palestinian sleeping
next to me … it's tough."
Instead of focusing on their differences, the camp concentrates
on what they have in common -- they are all teenagers who want to have
some fun. And they certainly do. It's very easy, though, for the campers
to only interact with their own group while away from their homes and
in a foreign place with people they have been taught to hate. They are
grouped into teams with both Palestinians and Israelis and they play basketball,
soccer, go swimming, water-ski, play tennis, arts and crafts, act in the
camp theatre, and do just about anything else that summer camp could offer.
Even the location of the camp in remote Otisfield, Maine, along Pleasant
Lake is designed to help the students feel at home and away from the pressures
of society. Despite the appearance of any ordinary summer camp, Seeds
is no ordinary camp, since its mission is "to help humanize a conflict
that has thrived partly because both sides have so successfully dehumanized
each other" (Wallach 8).
Possibly the most challenging and yet beneficial part of
"humanizing" the camp experience are the "coexistence sessions."
For two hours each day, groups of twelve students, led by facilitators,
participate in sessions where many underlying beliefs are drawn out of
each student as they discuss the events that occur back in their homeland.
It's their chance to explore the conflict with the other side.
Often times, there are two very different historical accounts
of the same event. And as Wil points out, in many cases, "It's the
first time they've heard the other side. There's usually a lot of anger,
hurt and tears …" After the coexistence session, Seeds immediately
puts the students back on the grassy fields to play sports together once
again and not let them dwell on the emotional discussion they just experienced.
Wil recalls one student saying, "I was just hating the other side,
and now I'm helping them score a goal."
Conflicting emotions seem to be the norm as students grapple
with the stereotypes they have been taught at home and their individual
experience at camp with the other side.
Emily Duffus saw how many of the campers began to change
and grow over the course of the summer. "(They) get an understanding
of both sides … we're all human beings and they realize that violence
is happening against the other side who is just like them."
It was a fabulous experience to see two groups, who normally
are in the news because of continuous killing of each other, and now they
are in the news because in Otisfield, Maine they are at peace with each
other. As Wil Smith sums up, "This model should be used more often.
Bring them together, take them away from society's influences, share their
true feelings, and only then can you begin to trust and respect…
it's been said they can't work together, (but) put ten to twelve boys
and girls together and they form a family."
As the summer ends, the ultimate question remains: Can the
Middle East ever have peace? Emily Duffus says, "There's always somewhere
to start the process." And Wil believes that "Anything is possible.
That's why we are there." At this camp, anything does seem possible.
Only time will tell.