Seeds of Peace opens with flag ceremony

OTISFIELD – Students from Islamic countries and Israel set aside the baggage of nationality Wednesday at the opening of Seeds of Peace, a camp that promotes peace and is poised to welcome its first Iraqi campers later this summer.

During a symbolic ceremony, youngsters from Afghanistan, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Palestine and Yemen raised their flags and sang their respective national anthems to the unexpected and excited cheers of fellow campers.

The program, which began 12 years ago, promotes peaceful resolutions of some of the world’s most intractable disputes. Thirty U.S. campers and 30 Iraqi campers will take part in the second phase of Seeds of Peace, which begins Aug. 18.

“For me, Seeds of Peace is more than a camp – it’s a dream,” said Rhonda Farid of Egypt. “We can make peace become a reality and not a treaty.”

Shira Gamer, a 17-year-old Israeli from Jerusalem, returned to camp after attending the 2002 session.

“The most important thing Seeds of Peace gives me is hope. If you just never stop hoping, this dream can become true,” she said.

Gamer recalled that after her first summer at the camp, suicide bombings in Israel sometimes made it hard to remember the messages of cultural acceptance and peace that she took home with her. But after bombings, she and other former campers often would gather in front of the Seeds of Peace center in Jerusalem to share their thoughts.

The private, nonprofit camp, founded by the late author and journalist John Wallach, has brought together Israelis and Palestinians, Indians and Pakistanis and youngsters of other nationalities that have been at odds with each other over generations.