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UNDERSTANDING THE OTHER

The Enemy Has a Face: The Seeds of Peace Experience
by John Wallach (Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 2000)

Introduction

In enduring conflicts, the youth are taught to hate and fear the opposing side. This teaching of hatred happens in Israel and Palestine, in Kosovo, Albania, Croatia, Serbia, Cyprus, in South Africa, Sudan, and many other countries around the world where ethnic, racial, or religious hostilities simmer.

To combat this education of hatred in the Middle East, John Wallach created the Seeds of Peace program in 1993. Wallach is a seasoned journalist who had spent decades covering conflict in the Middle East. He was eager to see some hope of peace in the region. He created the Seeds of Peace Camp for youngsters in conflict areas to spend time in a neutral territory and hear and present both sides of opinions expressed in the conflict. The first camp united youth from Egypt, Israel, and Palestine. Although Seeds of Peace was created to address the Arab-Israeli conflict, separate programs have been created for youth from Cyprus, the Balkans and southern Europe.

The camp isn’t just about having a fun American camp experience filled with swimming, canoeing and such. The focus is on understanding the enemy, and to do so, campers spend time in daily sessions expressing their view of history, their feelings, their hopes and fears, and in return hear these same things from the “enemy.”

Excerpt from pages 66-67

Laith and Yoyo were two youngsters from the original camp in 1993. Both big kids and stuck in the same facilitation session, they took to arguing with each other right away. Laith had arrived consumed with anger, demanding that the Jews go back from where they came—to Europe. It was only after camp, recalled Yoyo, that Laith agreed that “we, the twenty Israelis who had taken part in camp, could remain in the country—under a Palestinian government.” The story of their relationship parallels the journey of each of our youngsters.

The turning point in Laith’s development occurred during his first summer. The Holocaust was raised during an early coexistence session. Laith said that he was taught that he was taught that only twenty thousand Jews had been killed. “I did not know it was a genocide.” He told the Israelis in the workshop that even if it was a genocide, “it does not justify taking my land, taking my home, taking my shelter, and throwing me in a refugee camp.” Elad, an Israeli, started to sob when he spoke of his grandparents who had perished in the Holocaust. “You weren’t even born when they died,” retorted Laith. “How can you cry for someone you didn’t even know? You should cry for me. I am the one who is suffering right now, not your grandfather. I am the one who sees people getting shot. I am the one who sees refugee camps.” When the argument turned to the number of victims, Laith declared, “I don’t think six million were killed.” The workshop broke up in hysterics. Tears cascaded down the cheeks of Israelis while prideful Palestinians sat in disgust. Both delegations stormed out.

Later that day David Allyn, a facilitator, brought Laith a copy of Night, Elie Wiesel’s account of his life in a concentration camp. “David started talking to me,” Laith recalled. “The first thing he said was just listen, you don’t have to be convinced, just try to understand the other side’s point of view.” During rest hour, Laith read a few pages of Night. He started to cry. When Elad emerged from the infirmary the next day (he had developed a fever), Laith spotted him. He walked up to Elad, raised up his right hand, and gave him a high five. Only much later did we discover that Elad Wiesel was a cousin of Elie Wiesel.

A week later the Israeli delegation left for home. The Palestinians and other Arab delegations had seen them off at the Washington, D.c., National Airport and were traveling back into the District of Columbia. The chartered bus crossed the 14th Street Bridge and was passing the Holocaust Museum. Barbara Gottschalk pointed it out to Laith, who said he would like to tour the museum. It surprised everyone. “All the guys wanted to go shopping but I had heard about the Holocaust Museum,” he said. “It’s like the best Holocaust museum in the world. You can get lots of information there.” So, accompanied by two other Arab teenagers, Laith took a guided tour. Reflecting on his experience, Laith said later: “I think everyone must go to the Holocaust Museum. I mean I think I learned something. I enjoyed it. It’s not like going to a movie but I liked going there to get information. We should learn that what happened should not happen again to any people. Even to the Israelis. If we [the Palestinians] have the power now to do things like that, I would never do it. I would just go and shake hands with them.”

After that, Laith and Yoyo became fast friends . . . Laith’s step led Yoyo to take similar risks in their relationship. He often invited Laith to go horseback riding with him and to have dinner at his Jerusalem home even though he knew his father, a wounded Israeli war hero, would retreat to the basement whenever the Palestinian came to visit. After Jericho was “liberated” from Israeli rule, Laith invited his Israeli friend to tour the West Bank town. It was illegal for Israelis to go to Jericho without special permission. But Laith’s father promised him they would be safe. As they went through the checkpoint, leaving Israeli-controlled territory, the car was stopped. “Don’t worry,” Laith’s father told the soldiers. “I’m just showing Jericho to my two sons.” Following his return home, says Yoyo, Laith amended his earlier proviso that only the Israeli campers who had been at Seeds of Peace could remain in Palestine. He agreed that “our families could also remain here.” Now, says Yoyo, “he believes in a solution comprising two states—Israeli and Palestinian.”

Questions and Discussion

This story is about a Palestinian teen-ager who slowly comes to understand Israelis and their historical views and fears. Because of this understanding, he alters his view on the future of Israel and Palestinian. There are many other stories featured in the book that show the evolution of thought of Israelis, Egyptians, and Palestinians.

Certain people among the Palestinian authorities fear this kind of summer camp because they fear that the young Palestinians that attend will give up the fight for freedom and justice for the people of Palestine. Is there a danger of this? Will there be true peace if the Palestinians give up, and allow themselves to be interned in refugee camps and a fragmented and isolated state for ever?

What were the steps in Laith’s transformation?

Yoyo also had to transform. His story isn’t included here, but what could some of the immediate and long term repercussions be for befriending a Palestinian?