OTISFIELD – Seeds of Peace camp began its 13th season Thursday with its traditional flag-raising ceremony and an entreaty to campers to open their hearts and minds to the beliefs of youngsters from countries they have been taught to hate.

Israeli and Palestinian youngsters, along with others from Jordan, Egypt, Morocco, Yemen, India, Pakistan and the United States, sang their national anthems as their respective flags were raised on separate flagpoles. The arrival of a group from Afghanistan was delayed until later in the day.

The ceremony concluded with the raising of the Seeds of Peace flag and the singing of the organization’s anthem.

To emphasize the importance of co-existence and understanding, the Seeds of Peace flag will be the only flag permitted to fly at the camp during the three-week session that ends July 13.

Speakers at the ceremony included Seeds of Peace President Aaron David Miller and camp Director Tim Wilson, who welcomed the nearly 200 teenagers to the lakeside camp in western Maine.

Miller appealed to the teenagers to try to separate themselves from what they have been taught to believe and to make room for the narratives of those whom they have grown up to regard as the enemy.

Miller said he was not asking anyone to dilute his or her national identity, but to add another identity – “an identity that can be used to overcome conflict.”

The Seeds of Peace president said the spirit among the youngsters on a picture-perfect day was “really uplifting.”

He said they would confront the knotty issues that their countries face and that most will leave the camp “convinced of one thing: that their story, their narrative, is not the only one.”

Miller said that when the majority of people in countries in conflict come to the conclusion that there is some legitimacy to the other side, “it is then that you will have achieved a real breakthrough.”

A second session of the camp, scheduled to run from July 18 to Aug. 9, will include youth from refugee communities in Portland and Lewiston, as well as from the general population of Maine’s two largest cities.

An eight-day Leadership Summit that begins Aug. 12 will bring together some 200 Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians and Americans who attended the camp between 1993 and 1999.

The gathering, which coincides with the scheduled Israeli disengagement from Gaza, will provide an opportunity for former campers to recommit themselves to Seeds of Peace and peace-building.

This summer’s camp schedule also includes the annual “Play for Peace” basketball clinic, a July 26 event that features players from the NBA.

Seeds of Peace, founded in 1993 by the late journalist John Wallach, brings together teenagers from trouble spots throughout the world. Campers are encouraged to move beyond deep-rooted hatreds by eating, sleeping and participating in activities with youngsters from rival factions. “Co-existence” sessions give campers the chance to share their feelings in an effort to promote understanding.

This summer, for the first time since 2000, the Palestinian delegation will include young people from Gaza, as well as a former camper from Gaza who is returning as a counselor.