Visit State Department and White House/Tour Washington area as part of 1994 Seeds of Peace program
WASHINGTON, DC | For the first time in history, a group of more than 100 Israeli and Arab teenagers will usher in the Jewish New Year Rosh Hashanah—together—at Washington’s Adas Israel Congregation.
The following day, the same group of Egyptians, Israelis, Jordanians, Moroccans, and Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza Strip will visit the Islamic Center/Mosque and participate in a Muslim prayer service.
The youths are participants in Seeds of Peace, a unique summer camp for Arab and Israeli children created to promote peace in the Middle East.
The 12-14-year-old boys and girls arrived in the United States on August 17 and are currently at a summer camp in Maine in a two-week program designed for the youngsters to get to know one another in a relaxed and supportive environment. In addition to the sports and arts activities, daily coexistence sessions are held at the end of each day, conducted under the supervision of professional American and Middle Eastern facilitators.
During their stay in Washington through September 10, the delegations will tour the White House, Congress, Holocaust Museum; be honored at the State Department and National Press Club; be treated to an American barbecue in the parking lot of Bloomingdale’s at White Flint Mall; and spend the evenings at Marrakesh Restaurant, the Watergate Hotel, a McDonald’s Restaurant, the Kennedy Center and a Disney surprise event.
Inaugurated in 1993 by John Wallach—the Middle East expert, author and foreign editor of Hearst Newspapers—Seeds of Peace is guided by the belief that if peace is to become a reality in the Middle East, its foundation must be launched by the next generation. In May, President Clinton said that Seeds of Peace “is building peaceful coexistence one relationship at a time.” Last year’s Seeds of Peace delegates—46 Arab and Israeli boys—were guests of honor at the September 13 White House ceremony for the signing of the Middle East peace accord.