One-week exchange program through Seeds of Peace will build ties and reduce misunderstanding among Arabs and Americans
AMMAN | Thirty-three Americans and 28 Arab teenagers from Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Kuwait and Yemen will meet in Amman next week to participate in the second part of Beyond Borders/Bila Hodood, an exchange program created by the international nonprofit organization Seeds of Peace.
The group, that also includes 22 adult educators, will spend March 12-19, 2005, in discussions and lectures on various issues related to the Middle East and the Arab-American relationship, as well as touring sites in Jordan.
The first part of Beyond Borders took place in August when these same youth spent two weeks at the Seeds of Peace Camp in the US state of Maine, where they met for the first time to build relationships, reduce misunderstanding and forge cooperation at a critical time in the Arab-American relationship.
“We are very excited about the second part of this ground-breaking program that is helping bridge the gaps in understanding and respect between Americans and the Arab world,” said Seeds of Peace president Aaron David Miller, who spent 25 years as a Middle East peace negotiator for the US State Department. “These young people will be future leaders in their communities and countries, and we are working with them now to provide an environment in which they can accomplish this.”
The week-long program in Jordan has the full support of His Majesty King Abdullah and Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan and participation by many high-level speakers is anticipated.
In addition to the lectures and discussion, the group will be touring a number of cultural and historic sites around Jordan. There will also be a visit to schools in Amman with the teens and the adult educators. As a conclusion to the program, a final web-based educational project will be created by the teens and adults and be available for an online audience to use for promoting worldwide peer-to-peer cultural exchange and understanding.
The participants were initially selected with the assistance of LeadAmerica in the US and AMIDEAST in the Middle East based on their leadership potential. Following their summer experience, the teens have been working in paired groups (Arab and American) to jointly design projects that help their community better understand the “other.”
Some of the project accomplishments since August include: Three websites connecting Cairo-New York, Kuwait-Chicago, and Jeddah-Los Angeles School bulletin boards with question-answer exchanges in Boston and Yemen School presentations in Kuwait, Egypt, Los Angeles, Dallas, New York.
The Beyond Borders program builds on the 12-year effort by Seeds of Peace to bring together Israeli and Palestinian teenagers, as well as youth from four other conflict regions including South Asia, Cyprus and the Balkans. Since 1993, nearly 3,000 future leaders have been through the Seeds of Peace program. Most of the teens remain involved with Seeds of Peace into their adult years through year-round follow-up activities at the Seeds of Peace Center for Coexistence in Jerusalem and through other ongoing regional program activities.
About Seeds of Peace / Beyond Borders
For over 10 years, Seeds of Peace has answered the rise of international crises in the Middle East, South Asia, Cyprus, and the Balkans with effective and practical programming that addresses the root causes of violence and conflict. In 2004, with tension and violence between the United States and Middle East intensifying, Seeds of Peace again took the lead to address what is emerging as the defining relationship in the international system with a program called “Beyond Borders/Bila Hodood.” Beyond Borders brings together 62 young leaders and 23 adult educators from six American cities and six Arab countries for cultural and political exchange in both the US and the Middle East.
Participants Seeds of Peace aimed to bring approximately 30 Arab and 30 American teenagers, and 12 Arab and 12 American adult educators, together for the pilot year of the program.
From the Middle East With the ability to bring a total of only 42 Arab participants, Seeds of Peace selected six countries to participate—Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, and Yemen—with 5-6 teenagers and two adults comprising each delegation. Countries were selected on the basis of their unique position in the Arab world and/or unique relationship with the United States.
From the United States Seeds of Peace chose six cities—Boston, New York, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Chicago—from which to select the Americans. The cities were selected primarily with respect to geographic diversity.
Delegation Leaders The 23 adults, or Delegation Leaders (DLs), were an extraordinary group of educators—including curriculum developers, ministry officials, principals, teachers—in positions to significantly impact their societies. The DLs spent most of their time engaged in dialogue—within the first few days of the program SOP had to restructure their schedule in order to meet their demand for additional dialogue time—in addition to serving as escorts and resources for the youth. The Delegation Leaders are active supporters of Seeds of Peace and will be critical to the success of programs on the ground.
In the United States … Seeds of Peace Camp, August 14-30, 2004
Beyond Borders followed the traditional Seeds of Peace model that combines a total living and recreation environment with daily dialogue sessions. The Seeds formed close relationships in the bunks and tackled tough political issues in dialogue sessions—the war in Iraq, US foreign policy, terrorism, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, media biases, and treatment of women and minorities, to name a few—while also deepening understanding of their respective cultures. The goal of the Camp program was to build trust and relationships, create the space for participants to learn from each other directly, and to expose them to life in the US. Dialogue sessions revealed, as anticipated, that direct communication is the key to eliminating misinformation and misconceptions that exist on both sides.
In the Middle East … Jordan, March 12-19, 2005
The Jordan session will more closely resemble a mini-conference than Camp, as the group reconvenes to more deeply examine the core issues between Arabs and Americans. Expert speakers from the US and Middle East will add depth and context to their discussions, as will visits to sites around Jordan. Given their firsthand experiences in both the US and the Middle East, the foundation laid at camp can now be brought to a more sophisticated level.
And Beyond … City to City Program
At Camp, each Arab delegation was paired with an American delegation to continue efforts between and beyond the Maine and Jordan sessions. These smaller groups jointly designed and implemented projects that developed leadership skills while contributing to their communities and to the larger goal of increasing understanding between Arabs and Americans. The pairings are: Dallas-Baghdad, Cairo-New York, Jeddah-Los Angeles, Sanaa-Atlanta, Chicago-Kuwait, and Boston-Amman. They have a daily listserv to continue their debates and stay connected, and an email listserv connecting them to their sister city.
Funding Seeds of Peace received both Arab and American support for Beyond Borders, demonstrating the shared investment and commitment from both communities.
Impact Although the program is now only half complete, already we have seen the transformative effects that are typical of Seeds of Peace programs. As always, impact is perhaps best reflected in the words of the Seeds themselves:
“Before I came to Camp, I thought that I knew a lot about things … but I was really wrong. I always saw the bad images associated with the word Arab, especially after 9/11. Now I’m really passionate about the conflict in class. It puts a face to the issues now … If I didn’t come to Camp, then I would still be thinking the same things. I’m just so thankful for the opportunity. I am a completely different person now and I’m making it my duty to get the word out there and to share my experience with as many people as I can.” — American delegate
“The first day I was here I learned how deeply suspicious and fearful some Americans seem to be of all Arabs and all Muslims. An American girl I got to know told me very bluntly that she thought all Arabs hated Americans and hated Christians and supported terrorism. But within a week of living and playing and talking together we came to know and understand and trust one another. At the end of two weeks she told me that she had changed her feelings about Arabs and Muslims. We all have grown and changed.” — Egyptian delegate
“I’d like to thank all the people in the camp and its been a great pleasure and excellent experience for me to come to this camp. I consider it a turning point in my life. I learned a lot about myself and about people.” —Saudi Delegation Leader