Planting Hope

Noa was one of the ninth grade girls that read Shakespeare with me in the library last year. (see 'Language of Romeo'). She's not bashful; straight-spoken but not-out spoken in flawless English. She was born in Jerusalem and from age two until second grade lived in the Philippines with her family.

Last year a teen counselor asked Noa if she wanted to go to a camp. What kind of camp? "A peace camp with kids from around the world."

"I always wanted to go to a camp outside of Israel. So even if it was a peace camp, why not?".
 
The 'peace camp' is the International Camp held by Seeds Of Peace every year for hundreds of kids from regions of conflict. The idea is to open up new possibilities for young people from opposing sides by giving them a time and place far from the combat zones where they can meet and get to know each other face to face.

Noa never had any contact with Israeli Arabs until she was interviewed during the selection process.

"Before I had this stigma about them, about how they were. Like they're all religious and can't be with boys and [boys] can't be with girls. I thought they were very closed within themselves, like they don't have their own thoughts. Like puppets on a string."

Noa was interviewed (in English) about current events in Israel, about her thoughts on politics and religion. Candidate 'seeds' attended classes and seminars during the year, and finally some were chosen for their ability to speak and interact with others, their opinions and their proficiency in English. As time grew short and the selections narrowed, she started getting excited about it.

"It really got me boosted up. It sounded like so much fun, getting to know people around the world and what they think of the conflict. People out of the country; people that don’t know exactly what's going on directly. Like telling them what I think and seeing their ideas and their thoughts about everything."

The Seeds Of Peace International Camp takes place every year by Pleasant Lake in Otisfield, Maine for three weeks during summer vacation. Besides other Israeli (Jewish and Arab) teenagers like Noa, there were Palestinians, Egyptians and Jordanians.


I asked Noa to tell me about one of the Palestinians she met at camp.

"The one that stands out the most was Haya. She's from the Palestian delegation, I think from Ramallah. She's a Christian. Even though she's very 'Palestinian', very against the conflict and believes that this is a Palestinian state and not an Israeli state, she still came to camp with an [open mind] and not with a script they gave her at home. She was open to our ideas and heard what we [Israelis] had to say in our dialog groups and what we think should happen with the Palestinians at the check points and the wall that is being built and everything. At the end of camp she came [went?] with the idea that there should be a united state called "Palestine/Israel". Both people should be in this land and both people deserve it."

"Do you think Haya is a typical Palestinian?"

"I think she's a bit different. In a good way. She listens to people and tries to understand the other's opinion, the other's situation."

"Are you a typical Israeli?"

"I don't think I'm unique in my opinions. I think there are many people that think like me, but I don't think I'm typical because, unlike my classmates, I point more to the left. I think we should try to get along, open the borders; try, like, an utopia and try to understand each other. If more people would try, and if we had a government that wanted to try, I think that the conflict would cool down a bit and more Israeli and Palestinian kids could get along better."

Less than half a year after the 'seeds' returned home from camp, war broke out between Israel and the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza. Did that change the way the seeds look at things?

"Some kids were saying, "Save Gaza!", and pulling up pictures of little kids that were injured very badly. People were, like, 'Stop the war!' and 'F--- Israel.' Others were saying, 'This is a test for all the seeds, everywhere, from all the years. How are we going to react to what's going on? How should we act in a time of war?' Others were saying, 'Go IDF! [Israeli Defense Forces] After 8 years of Hamas throwing bombs over Israel, it's time to do something.' "

"Some were confused, like me. I didn't know where to go, what to say. On one hand I was pissed at the army for [killing] over 1000 people, a thousand people that didn't do anything. On the other hand I was angry at Hamas; 'Who do they think they are, throwing bombs at Israel. They have no right to do that, especially when we had this peace agreement or whatever it was. I didn't know how to react, express myself about all the different opinions. I didn't know what to say."

"Haya kinda disappointed me. She was like, 'F--- Israel, I hate everyone.' She got really mad, bad talked the Israeli girls that were with her, and Israeli friends, and it disappointed me to hear her talk like that. Afterwards I talked to her and she calmed down and said it was just out of anger and she does believe in peace – it's just harder now."

Noa's still in touch with other seeds.

"With most of the kids I talk to them on Facebook, sometimes I call. I talk to them on Messenger and keep in touch on how they're doing at school. And after everything going on in Israel and in the world, what do they think. Have their opinions changed, or are they still the same?"

"I talk to Haya. She doesn't get on the computer a lot, but when we get a chance we talk a lot. Personal and political. If it were possible, I would like [her to visit me], but she has a tough time getting out, the check points, and she'd rather not. It would be different for me [to visit Haya], a little bit scarier, because a lot of Palestinian people don't believe in peace. They would see it as 'treason' and say, 'Why is she [Haya] bringing an Israeli person.' "

"Are Palestinians the enemy?"

"No. They're a group of people, some do believe in peace, and there are others that are religious and anti-Israel and think Jerusalem should be theirs and Jewish people shouldn't be here at all. It's very complicated, but I don't see any [of the Palestinian people] as my enemy, not even the extremists."

I asked Noa if getting to know the other side will bring peace.

"I don't call them 'the other side'. They're just a group of people, and once you get to know them and get to know their opinions and what they've been through and how their life looks like, it gets to you. It tells you, look at what we're doing, it's ruining lives."

"And when we tell them about our families that get hurt by suicide bombings, and everything that’s going on hurts us. People we know. I think once you actually get to know both sides and what both think, you can start getting to peace. You have to put religions aside and think, "What would bring peace?"

What will the Seeds Of Peace camp be like this summer? After the war?

"I think it will be different in a way because of the war and what's happened, but all in all it will be the same dialog, almost the same conflicts, almost the same ideas. You'll [they will] still go camping and still have activities and have group challenge, still eat and sleep together. I doubt if Seeds Of Peace will change."

It looks like it will be another dry year here in Israel. Like lot of farmers, I'm wondering if there's any point in planting. But looking at last years crop of seeds, that have survived the heat of war and are still growing, I reckon we should keep on planting seeds of peace.