Seeds from 1993-1999 will reunite at camp in August for the inaugural Leadership Summit
OTISFIELD, MAINE | Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, Egyptian, Moroccan, Yemeni, Indian, Pakistani, Afghan and American youth will once again meet as Seeds of Peace opens its 13th season with a unifying flagraising ceremony at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, June 23 at the Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield, Maine.
Two hundred campers along with their adult Delegation Leaders will be attending the first session of the Seeds of Peace Camp which this year includes Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank. During the ceremony, each delegation will sing their national anthem and the ceremony will conclude with the raising of the Seeds of Peace flag and singing of its anthem. After the ceremony and during the three weeks at Camp, the only flag that flies is the Seeds of Peace flag symbolizing the importance of coexistence and understanding.
Seeds of Peace President, Aaron David Miller, and Camp Director, Tim Wilson, will speak at the opening ceremony. This summer, for the first time since 2000 and the outbreak of the Intifada, the Palestinian delegation will include young people from Gaza, as well as a former Seed from Gaza who is returning as a counselor. Additionally, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education officially participated in this year’s selection of the Palestinian delegation so this year, all Israeli and Palestinian participants were chosen to attend the program by their own Ministries of Education.
This first camp session runs from June 21 through July 13. A second session of the Camp with delegates from the Middle East and the Maine Seeds program will run from July 18 through August 9. This will be the fifth year of the Maine Seeds program which brings youth from Portland and Lewiston, whose lives and communities have been affected by ethnic-based problems. Maine Seeds includes teens from Cambodia, Rwanda, Somalia, Sudan, Vietnam, and Uganda who have recently settled in Maine, as well as European-American families whose roots date back several generations.
Special events also this summer include the annual “Play for Peace” basketball clinic with players from the NBA. This year’s basketball clinic will be held on Tuesday, July 26.
From August 12 through 20, Seeds of Peace will hold a Leadership Summit for Seeds who attended the Camp between its founding year in 1993 through 1999. Approximately 200 Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian, and American Seeds will reconvene at this Summit now as young adults. The experience of meeting together again after so many years in the place where they first lived in coexistence with “the other” will truly be a significant event for all. Much has changed, not only in the Seeds’ personal lives, but in the region and in the conflict. In fact, the Summit will take place against the currently scheduled Israeli disengagement from Gaza.
The Leadership Summit, which is being organized by the graduate Seeds themselves, will provide an opportunity for older Seeds to recommit to Seeds of Peace and peace-building as they enter the next stage of their lives. Leaders in the fields of government, negotiation, entertainment, and media are all expected to address the Seeds during the Summit. Press opportunities will be available during the week; more information will be available in the coming weeks.
Since 1993, Seeds of Peace has graduated over 2,500 teenagers from four conflict regions from its internationally recognized leadership program. Through its Camp in Maine, its Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem, international youth conferences, regional workshops, educational and professional opportunities, and adult educator programs, participants develop empathy, respect, and confidence as well as leadership, communication and negotiation skills all critical components that will ensure peaceful coexistence for the next generation.
The Seeds of Peace Camp is located at 183 Powhatan Road in Otisfield, Maine. For more information, please visit www.seedsofpeace.org. For visiting or press opportunities, call Mandy Terc, at (207) 627-7015, or Rebecca Hankin, Director of Communications at (212) 573-8270.