2009 Program Highlights | Middle East

December 2009 

Knesset Discussions | Jerusalem: On December 29, eight Israeli Seeds—six Jewish, two Arab—joined ten other peace and coexistence organizations for a full day of discussions at the Knesset about future relations between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East. Knesset Members (MKs) shared their views on the conflict, while Seeds of Peace and other organizations presented their work. Seeds later met with Lior Frenkel (Seed, 1995), an aide to Meretz MK Illan Gil’on.

Crop Planting | Umm Salmounah: On December 26, 40 Palestinian Seeds spent a day with villagers near Bethlehem helping them plant their crops. The event started with a visit to the local village council, followed by a tour led by the village head.

Holiday of Holidays | Haifa: On December 26, 90 Arab and Jewish Seeds from Israel participated in the annual Holiday of Holidays Festival in Haifa. The Seeds held activities for festival-goers, including face painting for children. They also created a giant Peace Board on which participants could write messages. Throughout the festival, Seeds held public information sessions about the work of Seeds of Peace. Haifa’s mayor and the Israeli minister for minorities met with the Seeds, who also spent time touring Haifa.

November 2009

Olive Harvest | Jerusalem: On November 6, Seeds from Jerusalem worked together to harvest olives at the Augusta Victoria Hospital on the Mount of Olives. The oil from the olives picked by the Seeds will be sold to benefit the hospital's programs.  

October 2009

Palestinian Uninationals: On October 30, forty Palestinian Seeds across the West Bank and Jerusalem attended a uninational event in Ramallah, convened to respond to growing tensions in Jerusalem. The full day program began with a dialogue session led by Palestinian graduate Seeds. A member of the Bereaved Families/Parents Circle  then spoke about his personal journey from an Israeli jail to non-violent activist, and applauded the work of Seeds of Peace. A representative from OneVoice also addressed to the group about current political events.

On October 8-9, 60 Palestinian Seeds from Camp 2009 met in Ramallah for a two-day seminar. The event introduced them to regional follow-up activities and helped them adjust to their new-found reality as Seeds.

Youth LEAD: Four Israeli Seeds along with Seeds Ambassador Dor Kaidar join young Palestinians and Jordanians for a two-and-a-half week program in Idaho to learn about human rights. The program, sponsored by the US Department of State and conducted by the Idaho Human Rights Education Center, includes homestays, visits to local high schools, and a trip to the State Department and Capital Hill in Washington, D.C.

Gesher Program: On October 7, 15 Israeli Seeds met with 10 non-Seeds in a Suka in Rehovot. The Gesher ("Bridge") meeting was designed to bridge the gaps between the non-religious and religious teenagers.

Israeli Programming Kickoff: On October 10, 115 Jewish and Arab Israeli Seeds met at a park in Tel-Aviv to kick off programs for the academic year.

September 2009

Olive Branch Magazine: The Fall 2009 edition of The Olive Branch [14], the Youth Magazine of Seeds of Peace, is published along with the Fall and Winter 2009 Olive Branch Teacher's Guides [15]. The Olive Branch, created for and by Seeds, is again edited by one Palestinian and one Israeli Graduate Seed.

Service Projects: Seeds of all ages led service projects in their home communities throughout the month of September. To recognize the holidays of Ramadan, Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, young Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian and Palestinian Seeds seized upon the theme of service to others as a way to build compassion and mutual understanding. Seeds volunteered with programs and schools that work primarily with disadvantaged youth. Their efforts resulted in meaningful experiences for both the young people being served as well as the Seeds themselves, who were able to exercise the communication and team-building skills first learned at Camp and deepened by follow-up programming in the Middle East.

Seeds have been working exceptionally hard in Egypt throughout the month volunteering at the Ebtesama Charity daily iftars at Sakia.

Wanting to volunteer with other young people, a group of Israeli Seeds took the initiative to reach out to current patients at Schneider Children's Medical Center in Petach Tikva and help them prepare for the new year by providing an afternoon of fun and meaningful activities in the spirit of peace. In coordination with hospital management, Seeds spent the afternoon rotating through the various departments of the hospital hosting activities for the patients, showing videos about respect and understanding, and sharing personal stories of their experiences at Seeds of Peace. It was a rewarding day for all involved and a welcome distraction for the children of the hospital.

On September 14, 30 Jordanian Seeds and about 15 Delegation Leaders and educators held a community service project followed by a Ramadan iftar meal to break the fast. Both were held at the Theodor Schneller School and Orphanage just outside Amman with about 75 kids from the school, ages 12 to 17. Seeds organized games and participated in a meal with the orphans and Schneller School staff. Afterwards, Seeds joined the kids for a comedy show. The evening concluded with two original Jordanian folksongs performed by singer/oudist/composer Nayef Al Zoubi and with distribution of presents to each of the orphans. This event was almost entirely funded by money raised by the Seeds and by contributions from the Delegation Leaders and educators.

Ramadan iftar meals were held for Palestinian Seeds in Hebron, Jenin and Jericho. Each dinner was preceded by a community service event. On September 4th, 24 Seeds visited a special needs home and distributed candy and organized activities for the children. They then had an iftar at a restaurant in Hebron. Afterwards, the Seeds played the traditional post-meal quiz game with books as prizes. Twenty Palestinian Seeds from Jerusalem were joined by another 20 from Ramallah and Jericho for an iftar meal in Jericho on September 6th. Before eating, Seeds helped paint walls and plant trees at a girls school in the city. The meal itself was held at a restaurant at the top of the lowest cable car run in the world. In Jenin, 20 Seeds from Nablus, Tulkarem, and Jenin held an iftar. The dinner was preceded by a service activity during which the Seeds painted walls and planted trees at Boys Refugee School in Jenin.

August 2009

Seeds Café | Mental and Psychological Impacts of the Conflict: On August 18, Dr. Sami Owaida, a Gazan pediatrics psychologist, and Arnona Zahavi, from the Israeli organization PsychoActive, spoke about the effects of the conflict on Palestinian and Israeli society. 

Field Seminar: On August 14-17, 90 Palestinian & Israeli Seeds participated in a field seminar as a part of the Language Enrichment Program funded by a Safra Foundation grant. Seeds of Peace-trained facilitators worked with counterparts from the Givat Haviva organization to lead the group in dialogue sessions during the first three days. When the Seeds were not in dialogue, they were coached by eight older Seeds in a two-day Color Games competition. 

The Field Seminar moved to the Jordan River Park for the final days of the event. On the first day, Seeds worked in four teams to build usable rafts to sail down the river. On the final day of the Seminar, after spending the evening in tents, the Seeds participated in a large-scale group challenge event, which incorporated high ropes elements and other team-building activities.

During the Seminar, a group of Seeds called Program Leaders was created and recognized. The staff and facilitators worked with the group closely throughout the four days to encourage, empower and train these young leaders. The group had the chance to also plan small follow-up activities that will serve as community outreach as well as continue to expand their leadership skills.

Seeds Café | Combatants for Peace: On August 6, Combatants for Peace members Haim Wais and Wael Salame spoke about their organization which brings together a group of Israelis and Palestinians who were actively involved in the cycle of violence in the region. The Israelis served as combat soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces and the Palestinians were involved in acts of violence as part of the struggle for Palestinian liberation. Today they no longer believe that the conflict can be resolved through violence.

July 2009

Seeds Café | Documentary Filmmaking: On July 20, Arab filmmaker Amber Fares and Israeli filmmaker Avi Goldstein screened their documentary about the Shu'afat Refugee Camp, Ghetto Town, which premiered at the 2009 Jerusalem Film Festival. Afterwards, they led a discussion on documentary filmmaking in the context of the conflict.

Shu'afat Refugee Camp day camp: On July 18 to July 22, Jerusalem Seeds organized a 5-day camp for kids from the Shu'afat Refugee Camp. This annual community service event has a long history of service in the area.

Gazans Visit West Bank: On July 9, five young Gazans arrived in Jerusalem, and were given a tour of the city by Jerusalem Seeds. For most of the Gazans, this was their first time in Jerusalem. For the next two weeks, the Gazans visited West Bank cities—including Nablus, Ramallah, Hebron and Bethlehem—and met with Palestinian Seeds, city officials, and members of other organizations. At the end of their visit, three of the Gazans flew to Maine to participate in the Seeds of Peace International Camp.

City Tour | Qalqilia: On July 7, 30 Palestinan Seeds visited Qalqilia to strengthen the relationship with different organizations from the city.

June 2009

Delegation Leaders and Parents:  On June 4-7, Seeds of Peace held a workshop in Tiberius for Israeli & Palestinian Delegation Leaders. Participants engaged in a rare, in-depth and much needed discussion about how to work together to support the mission of Seeds of Peace.

Karen, a teacher from Tulkarem, said the following about the Tiberius workshop, "After a very disheartening period in the conflict, the Tiberius cross-border seminar refreshed my spirit and renewed my commitment toward improving cross-border understanding and communication. To finally experience a face to face meeting with people whom I share similar thoughts, concerns and interests with gave me the fortitude to carry-on with my work. Moreover, these similarities made me feel welcomed, appreciated and empowered in this gathering." 

17 Palestinian & Israeli Facilitators Graduate: Seventeen young adults completed the 15-month-long Seeds of Peace Facilitation Training Course on June 5th. They now join the pool of dedicated, highly-skilled professinals equipped with the tools to run dialogue sessions with Seeds at Camp or in the region.

Summer camp | Jenin: From June 9-12, 14 Palestinian Seeds ran a summer camp in Jenin for young people from the city, as well as children from Qalkiliya.

May 2009

City Tour | Jaffa: On May 9, 50 Israeli and Palestinian Seeds from the 2006-08 Camp years spent the day learning about the history, culture and economy of the city of Jaffa.  As part of the Safra-Grant-funded Language Enrichment Program, this was one of five cultural/historical tours scheduled to explore communities in Israel where Jews and Arabs live in close proximity.

Twenty-five Seeds from all over Israel and 25 from throughout the West Bank were given a guided tour by two Tel-Aviv University historians (one Jewish and one Arab). One of the oldest cities in the world, Jaffa has seen a succession of rulers over more than three millennium of conquest, destruction and development. Today, the predominately Arab population is being displaced by rising real estate prices and faces economic hardship and the social problems of an inner-city neighborhood. The two historians presented the differing narratives of the development of the city and also led a discussion for the Seeds about the impressions they had gathered during the day and of the differences that emerge in historical accounts depending on who does the telling.

Seeds Café | Chefs for Peace: On May 26, six Israeli and Palestinian members of Chefs For Peace discussed the work of their organization. Founded in 2001, Chefs For Peace now numbers 25 Arabs and Jews who share a love not only for food, but people of all faiths and nationalities, as well as the conviction that good food and love go a long way in healing wounded hearts and relationships.

Regional Meeting | Jerusalem:  On May 21, the anniversary of the conquest of Jerusalem by the Israeli army in 1967, 30 Israeli Seeds from southern Israel met in Jerusalem. The Seeds read and discussed essays on Jerusalem from different political perspectives, many of which touched on the divide between East & West Jerusalem and the sensitivity of city in the context of the conflict.

April 2009

Spring Seminar | Netanya: For the first time since the war in Gaza, Israeli and Palestinian Seeds gathered for dialogue and team building challenges. After extensive preparation and several uni-national meetings, 43 Palestinian Seeds and 62 Jewish and Arab Israeli Seeds from the 2006-2008 Camp years met at a school on the Mediterranean for 36 hours of intense interaction. The Spring Seminar provided Seeds with a unique opportunity to exchange their experiences of the War, work through some of their anger and disappointment arising from the conflict, and ultimately renew their connections with each other and their commitment to a peaceful solution to the conflict.

Fourteen Israeli and Palestinian facilitators led the dialogue sessions, which Seeds of Peace veterans described as among the most profound and constructive in memory. In an inspirational talk, Advisor and Director of Alumni Relations Tim Wilson reminded the Seeds of Camp’s transformational effect, and encouraged Seeds, staff and volunteers to make the most of the opportunity provided by the seminar. Between dialogue sessions, staff, volunteers, and former delegation leaders led team-building exercises, field sports like “Steal the Bacon,” and a lively talent show of Seed-produced skits and music.

Women’s Leadership Workshop | Amman, Jordan: Fifteen older Seeds from Egypt, Israel, Jordan & Palestine participated in the Women's Leadership Workshop in Jordan from April 19 to 25. Participants debated the merits of individual theories of women’s empowerment and heard from Hala Lattouf, Jordan’s Minister of Social Development, about women’s issues in Jordan. Seeds engaged in a variety of exercises, and discussed achievements and setbacks in the empowerment of Palestinian, Israeli, Egyptian, and Jordanian women. The program was organized and led by the Center for Development and Population Activities, a non-profit organization committed to improving the lives of women and girls in developing nations, and funded by ExxonMobil.

Seeds Café | Media During the Gaza War: On April 26, Yizhar Be’er spoke about the role of Israeli media during the Gaza War. Be’er, a former Ha'aretz correspondent and past director of the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, is the Executive Director of Keshev: The Center for the Protection of Democracy in Israel, an independent, apolitical, non-profit association that safeguards and promotes democratic values in Israel. Be'er emphasized the influence the media has in shaping public opinion and affecting the thoughts of the policy-makers in Israel.

Unfortunately, the Palestinian speaker, Khalil Assali (the Director of AlQuds AlTarbawi TV in Ramallah) was unable to attend.

Seeds Run Camp for Ethiopian Children:
For six days in April, 40 Israeli Seeds ran a camp for children of Ethiopian immigrants.

Documentary Filmmaking Workshop | Ramallah: From April 10-12, 25 older Seeds and Palestinian educators took part in a cinematography workshop under the tutelage of Egyptian and Indian film makers. Participants learned to make education videos for schools in the Peaceful Learning Environments Initiative and gained skills in teaching filmmaking to their students, presenting them with a new form of self-expression. Support from Seeds of Peace counselors and Internews, a USAID partner, made the project possible.

Workshop & Spring Camp | Jenin: From April 23-26, about 100 Palestinian members of the Seeds of Peace community—Delegation Leaders, new Seeds of Peace educators, Seeds, and young children met in Jenin for a workshop and camp.

The Jenin initiatives provided leadership opportunities for Seeds and for Seeds of Peace educators. The workshop provided tools for educators more than 30 Palestinian educators from across the West Bank. The camp, led by Seeds, hosted 50 small children from around the West Bank.

March 2009

City Tour | Taibe:  On March 12, 25 Seeds toured the Palestinian city of Taibe, in the north of Israel. The group visited the Taibe Museum, where the curator shared his philosophy with the Seeds: Don't hate; love. The group then went to the home of a Seed, where they heard from the head of the Taibe Education Department. Afterwards, the group enjoyed a home-cooked dinner made by the family of the host Seed.

Israeli Model School Initiative: From March 5 to 12, follow-up school visits and a four-day workshop were held for the Israeli Model School Initiative. The Initiative brings to educators ideas, tools and skills for cultivating an environment of tolerance, dialogue and civic engagement in schools. It also encourages a learning community of Israeli educators that challenges assumptions, widens perspectives and increases understanding. The program for Israeli educators, funded by USAID and Seeds of Peace, is a long term project that began in October 2008 with a seven-day workshop for Israeli teachers and was followed by the development of resource materials.

From March 5-6, Seeds of Peace staff and consultants visited four schools, two Israeli and two Bedouin, which had participated in the October workshop, to assess their progress. From March 9-12, Seeds of Peace conducted a four-day follow-up workshop for the same educators. The topics covered by the workshop, which took place in Jaffa, included dialogue, cross-cultural understanding, civic engagement and leadership.

Seeds Café | Heartbeat Band: On March 26, members of "Heartbeat: The Palestinian and Israeli Youth Music Project" performed at Seeds Café. Band founder and Seeds of Peace counselor Aaron Shneyer explained how the group grew out of his MTV-Fulbright award. He described the power of music to build trust and create change, and talked about the process the band has been going through over the last year as they combine rehearsal and dialogue sessions.

Leadership and Dialogue Seminar:
On March 13 and 14, Seeds of Peace held a leadership & dialogue seminar for 60 Jewish Israelis and 20 Arab Israelis in Shlomi (northern Israel). The group viewed the documentary In October the Earth Shook, which describes the events surrounding the 2000 killing of Seed Aseel Asleh by Israeli police in 2000. The screening was followed by an intense dialogue. The next day, the seminar focused on the wider Israeli-Palestinian conflict, beginning with a showing of the Encounter Point documentary, and followed by another dialogue session. Later, participants took part in a leadership activity. The event ended with a letter-writing session, where Seeds addressed their Palestinian counterparts.

Hebrew Classes for Jenin & Gaza Seeds: On March 8, 13 Gaza Seeds started Hebrew classes. The 60-hour course meets three times a week. The instructors anticipated that by its June 4 conclusion, the Palestinian Seeds would be able to converse in Hebrew in addition to English with their Israeli peers (many of whom are learning Arabic). 

On March 29, a group of Gazan Seeds in the Hebrew course attended a lecture called “Abraham, Our Father.” Mohammed Outhmany, a retired Hebrew instructor, presented the lecture. The Seeds were interested to meet and hear the perspectives of a Palestinian who had taught Hebrew for 20 years and who is familiar with Jewish and Israeli culture.

Hebrew classes also started in Jenin, where we are running two classes a week for eight participants, as well as Hebron, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Tulkarem and Nablus. In addition, two Seeds in Hebron have been attending classes there for the past two weeks.

February 2009

Seeds Café | Interfaith Dialogue: On February 18, Seeds Café speakers addressed inter-faith dialogue, emphasizing the importance of tolerance and communication between all human beings, regardless of their religion. The speakers stressed that they respect people from different religious background and expect others to do the same.

Jerusalem Seeds Meet to Discuss War and Elections: On February 10, Israeli Seeds from Jerusalem met to discuss the Gaza operation and Israeli elections. Seeds filled out an elections questionnaire about the upcoming elections and among the questions: Who would you vote for? Who is your favorite for prime-minister? If you could vote would you do it? Do you see yourself having a political career? (Most Seeds expressed interest in pursuing such a career.)

Israel-Middle East Model United Nations: From February 14 to 16, eight Israeli Seeds joined 35 other delegations at the 9th Israel Middle East Model United Nations simulation, at which the Seeds represented Libya & the UNHCR. Before attending, they wrote policy statements and draft resolutions. The event was hosted by the American International School, and opened with the attendance by the US ambassador to Israel.

Sesame Seeds: On February 23, Israeli Seeds met in Jerusalem to learn more about leading Sesame Seeds activities in elementary schools. The Sesame Seeds program is a unique collaboration between Seeds of Peace, Sesame Street, and the Israeli "Hope" channel. In its elementary school programming, Seeds of Peace uses special Sesame Street television episodes that deal with conflict resolution and mutual respect. For every episode, Seeds of Peace designs activities to tackle the values the episode illustrates.

Palestinian Seeds Discuss Gaza Violence: Throughout February, Palestinian Seeds met in Jerusalem, Nablus, Ramallah, Jenin, and Bethlehem/Hebron to discuss the Gaza War. Fifty Seeds were given the opportunity to express their feelings about the current situation, the effects of the War on them, and the challenges of being a Seed in light of the War. The meetings were facilitated by professional psycho-social workers.

Palestinian Model Schools Initiative Site Visits: From January 11-12, Seeds of Peace representatives visited schools participating in the Model Schools Initiative in Jenin, a village outside of Hebron, and Jerusalem, as well as an UNRWA school near Bethlehem.

In each school, Seeds of Peace representatives met with the principal, the teachers who participated in the Jenin workshop in June 2008, and new teachers. At the meetings, participants discussed implementation of techniques learned at the Jenin workshop, their progress with their action plans, their needs, and further steps they would like to take.

Workshop on Peaceful Learning Environments | Bethlehem: On February 12, Palestinian Delegation Leaders began a 3-day workshop in Bethlehem on creating peaceful learning environments for Palestinian educators.

January 2009

Facilitation Course | Jerusalem: On January 30, the Seeds of Peace Facilitation Course resumed in Jerusalem for all 17 Israeli and Palestinian course members. The course provides both older Seeds and non-Seeds to with the professional training to become dialogue facilitators. They are then able to lead dialogue sessions with groups of younger Israeli and Palestinian Seeds, either at the Camp in Maine, or back in the region. The 15-month course is once again being run by Danny Metzl and Farhat Agbariyah.

Gaza War Phone Tree: From January 12 to 22, a system was established to be able to continually keep track of the safety status of Gaza Seeds and allow Seeds of Peace staff to be more responsive to their needs and understand more fully the situation in Gaza. Daily calls to the Seeds were distributed to 12 Seed volunteers from all over the West Bank. Since then, some Seeds have continued their communications with their counterparts in Gaza on their own initiative.

“Encounter” at the Jewish Theological Seminary | Jerusalem: Two members of the Palestinian Seeds of Peace circle organized an encounter day with 16 Masters students in Jewish education from the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. This was not a dialogue session, but rather a chance for Jewish educators to listen to Palestinian perspectives.

Israeli Seeds Meet with Peers at a Jewish-Arab Community Center | Jaffa:
Since December 2008, eight Israeli Seeds have been meeting with peers at a Jewish-Arab community center. The purpose of these meetings is to transfer the message of listening and tolerance to other kids their age, and then to further promote this message to young children at a local hospital. During the first meeting, Seeds conducted “get to know you” games and spoke of their expectation. During the second meeting they ran more activities. Plans for the third meeting changed in the wake of the Gaza fighting, and the participants discussed the War instead.

Israeli Seeds Meeting | Sderot: On January 28, six Israeli Seeds from Ashkelon & Sderot met with the mayor of Sderot. The Seeds expressed their commitment to continuing dialogue, while the city officials expressed their support for the organization.