Seeds of Peace

Recent Conferences and Summits

• 2008
• 2007
  

Community Service Summit | Rabat, Morocco | October 23-26, 2008
Fifty graduate Seeds met in order further develop the Graduate Association and examine the role of community service in graduate-initiated actions. During the summit, the graduates from Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Palestine and the US, through intensive workshops, seminars, and discussions, adopted a mission statement and preamble for the Graduate Association. It states:

The Summit also served as a forum for staff and graduate Seeds to brainstorm ideas for a service projects for graduates to carry out either in their own communities, or in cooperation with Seeds from other countries. The participants paved the way for these discussions by compiling a directory of Seeds attending the Summit and their ideas for projects which was sent to the group prior to the meeting in Morocco. For many graduates new to the Association, this was also a time to meet their Country Seeds Ambassador and reconnect with members of their delegation as well as from neighboring countries.

One hundred percent of the respondents in the post-Summit evaluation answered that they are more likely to  participate in other Seed of Peace programming based on their experience in Morocco.

Alumni Seeds Summit in Aqaba | April 24-27, 2008
Forty-four graduate Seeds, spanning Camp years 1993-2000, from Israel, Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, and the US, attended the four-day Seeds of Peace summit in Aqaba in order to adopt a proposal for launching the Seeds of Peace Graduate Association. The Seeds also participated in workshops on community organizing, working with the media, and using business and entrepreneurship to build understanding.

The summit opened with presentations from representatives of the Jordanian government and the ambassadors to Jordan of Israel and Palestine on Jordan-Palestine-Israel regional cooperation. It also included a field trip to Petra and the desert wilderness of Wadi Rum.

Three invited speakers presented their assessments of Jordanian-Palestinian-Israeli regional cooperation. Dr. Bilal Bashir, Deputy Chief Commissioner of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, opened the session by welcoming the Seeds to Aqaba. Bashir, who is also the Commissioner for Environmental Regulations and Enforcement, spoke about plans to join the Red and Dead Seas by canal as a means of saving the Dead Sea, whose water levels have declined dramatically in recent years. Bashir outlined some of the environmental challenges this project poses for the region. Ambassador Jacob Rosen of Israel spoke about economic cooperation with Jordan and took a number of questions about visa issuance to Jordanians and Egyptians. Mr. Mohammed Abu Laban, Counselor of Embassy, represented Palestinian Ambassador to Jordan Attalah Khairy. Abu Laban spoke about the impediments that the Israeli military occupation places in the way of Palestine’s participation in regional cooperation projects.

Seeds panelists led three workshops that explored the possibilities open to Seeds alumni for building peace through business and entrepreneurship, by working with the media, and through community organizing. The Seed panelists introduced invited speakers, shared their own perceptions and guided the general discussion with Seeds and staff members. Mr. Baruch Spiegel and General Mansour Ar Rashed, both retired generals who had served, respectively, Israel and Jordan in the negotiations leading to the 1994 peace treaty, spoke about governmental efforts to stimulate cross-border economic cooperation among Israel, Palestine and Jordan and took questions from panelists and Seeds.

Graduate Seed panelist Adham Rishmawi shared his experience of the difficulties posed to Palestinian businessmen by the military occupation. Haaretz reporter Akiva Eldar and CNN producer Nidal Rafe shared their experience as professional journalists, addressing the question of how to interest the media in covering positive, peace-promoting events in the region. Graduate Seed panelists Liav Hertsman and Dalal Iriqat spoke from their experience as students and practitioners in the world of journalism. Finally, Hagai Agmon-Snir of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center and Khaled Salim of Ta'awon Youth Forum spoke about organizing community actions supportive of peace.

On the final day of the four-day summit, after intensive discussions among themselves and with staff, including Senior Advisor and Director of Alumni Relations Tim Wilson and Board Executive Committee Member Bobbie Gottschalk, the Seeds put forward a proposal for the association’s structure and its relationship with the larger Seeds of Peace organization. The proposal was adopted by an overwhelming majority of participants.

Green Desert Seminar | Negev/Naqab Desert | April 10-12, 2008
About 70 Palestinian and Israeli Seeds gathered in the Negev/Naqab Desert for an event focused on the shared environment of the Jordan Rift Valley, the situation of Bedouin living in "unrecognized" villages, and on facilitated dialogue about recent developments in the conflict. Seeds from the 2005-2007 Camp years spent the three days of the seminar enjoying an outdoor experience, touring the natural wonders of the Ramon Crater, sleeping in a giant Bedouin tent and reconnecting with fellow Seeds. The dialogue sessions were led by Seeds of Peace-trained facilitators, and there were presentations by the Israeli and Palestinian Societies for the Protection of Nature, the Arava Institute for Environmental Research, and by the village council of an "unrecognized" Bedouin village. 

Negotiation Summit | Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam | October 19-20, 2007
One hundred Israeli and Palestinian Seeds from the 2005-2007 Camp years gathered at Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam. The Seeds participated in a role-playing simulation that looked ahead to the international Middle East peace conference held in Annapolis. Dr. Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the PLO and a member of Seeds of Peace’s Advisory Board, opened the conference with a talk on the challenges of the current negotiations and a question and answer session with the Seeds. Graduate Seeds trained as facilitators conducted the Seeds’ discussions in six working groups on final status issues like borders, Jerusalem, refugees, and security. The object was to give the Seeds a feeling for negotiation dynamics and to provide a forum for them to discuss their hopes for Annapolis.

Peace-ing It Together | March 2007
Seeds of Peace convened a conference for 52 Israeli and Palestinian Seeds at the Tantur Institute in Jerusalem, where the Seeds analyzed the dynamics of national conflicts other than the Middle East conflict. The program, called “Peace-ing It Together: Approaches to Conflict Resolution," focused on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa as a means of building peace and repairing divisions among people once a treaty/agreement has been signed (a post-conflict method). The program also looked at the philosophy and strategy of dialogue and non-violence that Tibetans adopted in their struggle with China (an active conflict situation). The program combined serious discussion and dialogue sessions with presentations and activities that enabled the Seeds to think critically about their own narratives, identities, histories and truths by examining these other case studies.

In Your Shoes | February 2007
Twenty-two Israeli and Palestinian Seeds spent two days together outside Jerusalem in the Israeli-Palestinian mixed village of Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salam. "In Your Shoes" paired an Israeli and Palestinian Seed together to learn about one another and their respective community and culture through months of interactions and coordinated assignments. The Seeds explored a number of themes—including family history and traditions, life at school, ambitions, desired legacies, and envisioned peace—using a variety of techniques. In doing so, these Seeds worked together and shared their life experiences in an effort to build a more personal understanding of life on the other side of the conflict.