Seeds of Peace

• Job: Department Director | Peres Center for Peace
• Regional Programming: School presentations, Conflict Resolution and Mediation Course, Yahel camp, Leader of the Arab-Jewish Puppet Show, Facilitation Course, and Co-leader of the Seeds of Peace Drama Group
• Years at Camp: 1997, 1998, 1999; Dialogue Group Facilitator: 2006
• Israeli Delegation
• Age: 26

How does your work or education relate to building a more peaceful world? 
I completed my BA in International Relations at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem because I wanted to gain a wider perspective on the world, its economic and political problems, and its success stories. I have also taken facilitation courses in order to enhance my understanding of group dynamics and be able to lead Israeli-Palestinian discussions more professionally. I have a vested interest in improving Israel's situation because Israel is where I intend to build my future. Therefore, I have worked as a Parliamentary Assistant and a Program Manager at Peace Now, and I am currently working as Department Director at the Peres Center for Peace—with the aims of bringing people together through capacity-building projects and impacting public opinion in Israel to support the two state solution.

How has Seeds of Peace impacted your career decisions?
If it wasn't for Seeds of Peace, I would have probably never become the person I am today and never dreamed I could do the things I intend to do. Seeds of Peace not only gave me the opportunity to form a real and long-lasting friendship with Bushra, whom I would otherwise only know as the "Other," through the media and stereotypes that I am surrounded by. Seeds of Peace also made me practice being a leader, an entrepreneur, a pragmatic dreamer.

I am not sure I would have decided to pursue the path of peacebuilding as a profession had I not been convinced, through my Seeds of Peace experience at Camp and back home in the region, that there IS a partner on the other side, not only in my friends, but in the wider circles of other Seeds of Peace friends in Palestine and their families and their families' friends, who share my hope for a peaceful solution and joint future in this region. I am not sure I would have become fluent in Arabic (a factor that has enabled me to lead dialogue sessions and manage programs that bridge the gap between Israeli and Palestinian young politicians) if it hadn't been for my friends at Seeds of Peace whose families I yearned to communicate with.