Seeds of Peace

Yousef Bashir, 22, lives with a bullet lodged near his spine. “When I imagine myself without the bullet in my back I ask myself would I be the same?” he said. “That bullet talks to me and I talk to it everyday. It is a very personal thing that I go through,” he continued. “I know that it was put there to destroy my life. I look at it and I say I am not destroyed yet.”

Dear Friends, Over the past week, we asked you to vote for Seeds of Peace in the American Giving Awards on Facebook. Not only did you vote, but you shared stories about why you voted with your friends, family, colleagues, and even strangers on the street.

Twenty-year-old Mahmoud Jabari is a Palestinian photographer and journalist from the West Bank city of Hebron. He believes that youths will provide a way forward for the long-standing, seemingly perpetually stagnant conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Territories. His hopefulness is a small island in a sea of dubiousness, mistrust, and frustration [...]Seeds of Peace is an international summer camp in Maine that brings together youth and adult leaders from areas around the world marred by conflict to learn resolution skills and develop empathy for each other. Over the past 18 years, participants have come from Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Egypt, Cyprus, South Asia, and the Balkans.

 JERUSALEM | As diplomats debate Palestinian statehood and deadlocked Israeli-Palestinian negotiations at the United Nations, a new generation of leaders are engaging directly with each other, meeting face-to-face and strengthening the relationships and skills necessary for lasting peace. In a letter this week to the nearly 5,000 Seeds around the world, Seeds of Peace Executive Director Leslie Lewin reminded them that the organization was founded on the "belief that Israelis and Palestinians had the right to live independently and safely."

TweetNEW YORK | Seeds of Peace's director, Leslie Lewin, has been named a 3rd Annual CLASSY Awards Top 10 Finalist for Young Nonprofit Leader of the Year. The announcement was made by StayClassy, a leader in social fundraising for nonprofits. The CLASSY Awards is the largest philanthropic awards ceremony in the country, recognizing the most outstanding philanthropic achievements by charities, businesses and individuals nationwide. From July 25 to August 26, voting was opened to the public to determine the Top 10 Finalists.

OTISFIELD, MAINE | Charles Summers will meet with campers Thursday to discuss his role as secretary of state and the importance of civic duty. Now in its 19th year, Seeds of Peace is a lakeside camp in Otisfield that brings together teenagers from conflict zones around the world in hopes of helping them move beyond deep-rooted hatreds. Campers this season have included Israelis and Palestinians, as well as others from Egypt, Jordan, India, Pakistan and the U.S.

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NEW YORK | W. Thomas Spencer Jr., CLU, ChFC, from Sudbury, Mass., secured a $10,000 grant from the MDRT Foundation on behalf of Seeds of Peace. Spencer, of Spencer Financial LLC and a 31-year MDRT member, is an active supporter of Seeds of Peace and nominated and endorsed the grant application. Seeds of Peace is a nonprofit organization that empowers young people from regions of conflict with the leadership skills required to advance reconciliation and coexistence. The MDRT Foundation grant will support the organizationthe organization's programs.

TweetAlthough they live less than 40 miles from each other, May and Milena would probably not get to hang out together back at home. That's because 18-year-old May is an Israeli living near Tel Aviv, while Milena, who's 16, is a Palestinian from Arab East Jerusalem. Every day this month, however, they're going sailing together off the Maine coast, as a part of a newly-established peace camp for teenagers.

OTISFIELD | Eighteen-year-old Kamal was more than cooperative and apologetic. No, he said, he doesn't know much about America's NBA. He didn't recognize the names of the rookies who were just introduced Thursday to the Seeds of Peace campers. Brandon Knight, the point guard from Kentucky who was drafted by the Detroit Pistons, was a stranger to him. So were Trey Thompkins and Travis Leslie from Georgia and bound for the Los Angeles Clippers. Jordan Hamilton from Texas? Kyle Singler from Duke? Kamal's eyes said sorry and he shrugged his shoulders. He lives in Cairo and it is soccer, the world's game, that makes his heart beat faster.