Israeli mayor visits Seeds of Peace camp Mideast violence nearly kept teens home

OTISFIELD – An Israeli mayor who challenged his government by sending dozens of young people to the Seeds of Peace camp received a warm welcome from campers during a visit this week.

Because of an escalation of Mideast violence, the Palestinian government balked at sending a delegation this summer to the camp that brings together teen-agers from nations where they are born enemies.

The Israeli government was hesitant to send its delegation, but Haifa Mayor Amram Mitzna said Israel’s third-largest city would send kids regardless of the government’s official decision.

Within a few days, he assembled a group of 21 teen-agers, who are now spending a 24-day session at the camp in the Maine woods. Israel also decided to send another 21 kids from other cities to the camp.

“He did something very important for us,” said John Wallach, president and founder of Seeds of Peace. “When he did that, the Israeli government was so embarrassed. He took a very brave stance.”

The Palestinian government later decided to send a delegation to the second of two sessions at camp, but the decision came too late for a delegation to be assembled and for travel to be arranged.

Haifa, which has 450,000 inhabitants, is located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Carmel mountains.

Mitzna, the city’s popular mayor, said becoming friends with the people of enemy countries is important because Jews, Arabs, Muslims, Christians and others mingle in Haifa.

“It is routine in Haifa to bring kids together, to bring people together,” Mitzna said. “So it was very natural for me to send the kids here.”

Mitzna hopes the Israeli children will spread the message of peace to their friends, family and neighbors when they go back to Israel.

“They will distribute their feelings, their hope and their belief,” Mitzna said. “There is a way to live together … This can be a drop in the ocean or in the lake. This drop is so strong.”

After he retired from the Israeli Army as major general, Mitzna became mayor of Haifa in 1993. He was re-elected in 1998.

Mitzna is well respected in Israel because of his army background and his status as a high-ranking member of the Labor Party. He might run against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in the next election, Wallach said.

“The current situation is not as I felt that it should be, but when you come here, people are friendly to each other,” Mitzna said. “You add another weight to your hope that sometime, someday we will succeed to live together.”

Idan Spund, 17, is one of the 21 kids sent from Haifa. He said he learned a lot at the camp.

“It’s amazing what we build in three weeks,” Spund said. “We can sit and talk peacefully.”

Jamal Abuzant, 17, a Palestinian who participated in the camp unofficially because of his dual citizenship as an American, said he made a lot of Israeli friends.

“Just because a person is Israeli or Palestinian just doesn’t mean that he’s different,” Abuzant said. “He’s just a normal person. I can get to know him in person, then judge him about what kind of person he is.”