BY LIV LEADER | Tony Bing introduced John Wallach, Sunday evening’s lecturer, hailing him as “a model of what we want students to do.” Wallach, a former journalist, is the founder of Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings together young people from areas of conflict in an attempt to transform them into “seeds” of peace. The camp brings Israeli, Palestinian, Bosnian, Serbian, and other young people from troubled parts of the world to a summer camp in northern Maine. … FULL STORY

BY CHARLES W. BELL | The photo was printed on front pages around the world in October, showing President Clinton, Yasser Arafat, Benjamin Netanyahu and King Hussein assembled at a Maryland conference center after the Israelis and Palestinians signed yet another deal brokered by the White House. In the photo, Hussein is wearing a necktie depicting children holding hands, standing on olive branches. “Ah, the tie,” says John Wallach. “There’s a story there.” The children—one Israeli, one Arab, one American—and … FULL STORY

OTISFIELD, MAINE | Yasmin Mousa was frightened on her first day of camp in the Maine woods this summer. Who could blame her, given the unfamiliar surroundings, the new faces and the clouds of mosquitoes? But Mousa’s worries ran deeper than the typical new camper’s. In all her life, the 15 year-old child of Palestinian refugees from Gaza had never socialized with Israelis. Even before her grandmother was killed by an Israeli soldier, her Palestinian family had regarded Israelis as … FULL STORY

Maine camp hosts Arabs and Israelis for frank talk, fun BY KATHRYN SKELTON | The first words I heard when I entered Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield came from one little boy calling another boy’s people terrorists. He meant it. You could tell. The frank speech was part of their daily facilitation regime, required of all campers at the month-long retreat. Usually, it’s done in groups of 10, but this morning was a little different. Half of the group … FULL STORY

BY LEE MICHAEL KATZ | OTISFIELD, MAINE When her friends at the Seeds of Peace camp want to tease Dalal Erekat, they call her “Saeb’s daughter.” Dalal, 16, is the daughter of chief Palestinian peace negotiatior Saeb Erekat. Youths here learn to live in peace while Dalal’s father is still trying to negotiate it. Dalal had to assume her father’s role and negotiate for Palestinians at a special Seeds of Peace summit in Switzerland in May. She called home to … FULL STORY

BY LEE MICHAEL KATZ | OTISFIELD, MAINE Teams of teenagers in blue and green T-shirts have been battling each other for days in everything from basketball to canoeing. Color wars are an American Camp tradition, but you’ll never hear that term used here. At the Seeds of Peace International Camp, the staff makes a point of calling the fierce intercamp battles between teams “color games.” That’s because the kids here are unlike others in the many camps that dot the Maine … FULL STORY

Summer camp in Maine isn’t so unusual. Unless of course the campers are Middle East ‘rivals’—Israelis and Palestinians—and politics is all part of the program. BY ABBY ZIMET | OTISFIELD Flags flutter, multi-hued. Clusters of dark-haired kids stand, heads high, voices rising, each singing their ardent anthem before their flag: Israel’s blue and white, Palestine’s red, black and green. The flag of Israel, notes a grave John Wallach, rests between Jordan and Palestine. “You are neighbors,” he stresses. “Geographically, strategically … FULL STORY

BY CHARLES E. HOWELL | OTISFIELD Governor Angus King faced an audience last Thursday during his visit to the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Otisfield that was powerful and unique in Maine, if not the world. King stepped before the 175 teenage Arabs and Israelis on their fifth day of a three week stay at the camp, during which they will try to find common ground for peace with the hope that they can have influence when they are … FULL STORY

BY JILL DUBE | OTISFIELD Under ordinary circumstances, Edi and Ahmed probably wouldn’t be friends. They probably wouldn’t even know each other. But now, because of Seeds of Peace, they share a camp cabin and talk about what most teenage boys talk about, such as cars and sports and computers and girls. Edi Shbitz is an Israeli. Ahmed Saadeh is a Palestinian. Back home, every day, the boys see conflict between the two nationalities. Here at the Seeds of Peace … FULL STORY