BY KEITH HENDERSON | As the Middle East’s political leaders inch toward a lasting peace in their region, some 12- to 14-year-olds in the Maine woods have made strides of their own toward that goal. One of them, Laith, a Palestinian youth from East Jerusalem, grimly recites the history of his region—the progressive incorporation, since 1948, of what had been Palestine into what is now Israel. But he also sees the possibility of attaining through peace what was never gained … FULL STORY

BY MARY K. FEENEY | MAINE The August day broke gray and chilly as a summer camp in Maine waited for its extraordinary visitors. Three Peter Pan buses were on their way from Boston, carrying 119 children and their escorts, to a ground-breaking experiment in making peace. The trip to Camp Powhatan in tiny Oxford was only one leg of a long journey for the 12- to 14-year-old children of Seeds of Peace, a program to help Arab and Israeli … FULL STORY

Visit State Department and White House/Tour Washington area as part of 1994 Seeds of Peace program WASHINGTON, DC | For the first time in history, a group of more than 100 Israeli and Arab teenagers will usher in the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah—together—at Washington’s Adas Israel Congregation. The following day, the same group of Egyptians, Israelis, Jordanians, Moroccans, and Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip will visit the Islamic Center/Mosque and participate in a Muslim prayer service. … FULL STORY

More than 100 Arab and Israeli children visit Boston/Maine/Washington, DC as part of program designed to promote Middle East Peace WASHINGTON, DC | In an announcement made by Seeds of Peace founder John Wallach, it was revealed that the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is sending a delegation to the Seeds of Peace program—a unique summer camp for Arab and Israeli children created to promote peace in the Middle East. The teenaged Jordanian boys and girls join more than 100 young … FULL STORY

BY ANDREA FINE | Israelis and Palestinians are still uncertain whether the new peace agreement between them will really work. Although the majority of people seem hopeful, it’s hard for enemies to trust each other after years of bitter fighting. Building trust isn’t impossible, though—especially if it is taken one step at a time. Coming together is the first and, in many ways, the hardest step. That’s what 46 boys from rival groups in the troubled Mideast region learned for … FULL STORY

WASHINGTON | BY JOHN WALLACH This summer, I saw a miracle. So did the 46 Arab and Israeli boys, 11 to 14 years old, invited by President Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton to attend the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian peace accord at the White House. The miracle began in August at a camp in Maine when one of the Palestinians encountered his first Jew, an Israeli from Jerusalem. Shortly after their arrival, each of the boys participating in the Seeds … FULL STORY

Never in his wildest dreams did JOHN WALLACH imagine that the program he organized this summer—to bring together Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptians boys at a camp in Maine—would end the way it did: front and center at the historic ceremony for the signing of the peace pact on the White House lawn on Monday. In T-shirts with the logotype “Seeds of Peace,” 46 boys from the program, ranging in age from 11 to 14, were acknowledged by President Clinton when … FULL STORY

Among the thousands of witnesses to Monday’s ceremony were members of the group to whom the speakers said their efforts were devoted: the children of the region. About 50 Palestinian and Israeli children who spent part of the summer at a Maine camp delayed their return home to attend. The camp was sponsored by “Seeds of Peace,” a private group that brings children of the region together. The kids, who sat with Chelsea Clinton, presented President Clinton, PLO Chairman Yasser … FULL STORY

Some things are nonnegotiable. Which comes as no surprise to Fadi, a 14-year-old Palestinian who was at the reception sponsored by the National Association of Arab Americans and the American Jewish Congress. Wearing a tender smile and the bright green T-shirt of Seeds of Peace, the summer camp that took him and 45 other Arab and Israeli boys to Maine for three weeks of sports and “coexistence seminars,” Fadi said that he has made many friends here and has somewhat … FULL STORY

BY MICHAEL KRANISH | WASHINGTON A Secret Service agent raced into the White House’s Palm Room just before yesterday’s signing of the Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. “Make a little hole!” the agent shouted as he parted the crowd in the room. “It’s the president!” Suddenly, a tanned, smiling George Bush raced by on his way to meet with President Clinton. “Ex!” Bush corrected the agent. “Ex! Ex!” Nearby, on the North Portico of the White House, Yasser Arafat was arriving. Until … FULL STORY