WASHINGTON, D.C. | The office of Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, has issued the following news release:
The United States Senate has passed a bipartisan resolution, authored by Senator Susan Collins, officially recognizing the 15th anniversary of the founding of the Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield. Senator Collins introduced the resolution with Senator Carl Levin (D-MI).
The Seeds of Peace Camp brings children from conflict areas of the world together for two weeks of camping and social activities to promote understanding, reconciliation, acceptance, and peace. The students, from differing factions, spend time taking part in activities with the hope that they will dispel the fear, mistrust, and prejudice that are learned during conflict.
“Seeds of Peace is able to bridge borders and foster peace in the midst of longstanding global conflicts,” noted Senator Collins. “Perhaps a decade from now, one of the thousands of Seeds of Peace alumni will be in a decision-making position in his or her home country and they will remember their time at a special summer camp in Maine, where the “seeds of peace” blossom every year.”
The resolution is as follows:
Resolution
Recognizing the 15th anniversary of the founding of Seeds of Peace, an organization promoting understanding, reconciliation, acceptance, coexistence, and peace in the Middle East, South Asia, and other regions of conflict.
Whereas Seeds of Peace, founded by John Wallach, organizes and operates a program that brings together young people and educators from regions of conflict to study and learn about coexistence and conflict resolution;
Whereas Seeds of Peace operates a summer camp in Otisfield, Maine, as well as regional programs around the world, such as the Facilitation Training Course in the Middle East, the Homestay Programs in South Asia, or the Inter-national Regional Conferences;
Whereas the first International Conflict Resolution Camp welcomed Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, and Egyptian youth the summer of 1993, and the camp has since expanded to involve youths from other regions of conflict, including Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, the Balkans, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan;
Whereas Seeds of Peace utilizes the summer camp to initiate dialogue between the youth of the United States and youth from various conflict regions to dispel hatred and create religious and cultural understanding;
Whereas hundreds of educators receive training through the regional operations of Seeds of Peace to support and teach peaceful conflict resolution techniques in their classrooms, ensuring that thousands of students around the world are exposed to those techniques;
Whereas Seeds of Peace works to dispel fear, mistrust, and prejudice, which are root causes of violence and con-flict, and to build a new generation of leaders who are committed to achieving peace;
Whereas Seeds of Peace reveals the human face of youth who are too often exposed to hatred, by engaging camp-ers in both guided coexistence sessions and ordinary summer camp activities, such as sharing meals, canoeing, swim-ming, playing sports, and exploring creativity through the arts and computers;
Whereas the Arab-Israeli conflict, as well as India-Pakistan and Afghanistan-Pakistan tensions, are currently at critical junctures, and progress toward peace will be enhanced by the emergence of a new generation of leaders who will choose dialogue, friendship, and openness over violence and hatred;
Whereas Seeds of Peace provides year-round opportunities, through regional programming and the innovative use of technology, to enable former participants to build on the relationships forged at camp, so that the learning processes begun at camp may continue in the participants’ home countries, where they are most needed;
Whereas youth graduates of the camp, known as ”Seeds”, currently number more than 4,000, with an additional 567 adult delegation leaders also having completed the camp programming;
Whereas this graduate network receives continued support in promoting professional cooperation;
Whereas Seeds of Peace is strongly supported by participating governments and many world leaders;
Whereas Federal funding for Seeds of Peace demonstrates the recognized importance of Seeds of Peace in pro-moting the foreign policy goals of the United States; and
Whereas it is especially important to reaffirm that youth must be involved in long-term, visionary solutions to con-flicts perpetuated by cycles of violence: Now, therefore, be it
Resolved, That the Senate:
(1) recognizes the 15th anniversary of the founding of Seeds of Peace;
(2) honors the accomplishments of Seeds of Peace in promoting understanding, reconciliation, acceptance, coexis-tence, and peace among youth from the Middle East and other regions of conflict around the world; and
(3) recognizes Seeds of Peace as a model of hope for living together in peace and security.
Read the resolution at the US Government Printing Office ››