The NBA stars will be welcomed at Seeds of Peace by 160 Israeli, Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian and American youth participating in the camp's second session. Despite the violence and uncertainties in the Middle East, Seeds of Peace worked with regional leaders to ensure full participation this summer, ensuring that another group of youth are given the skills required for peacemaking and reconciliation.
Play for Peace was organized by Arn Tellem, President, Wasserman Media Group Management, agent for the players, and Seeds of Peace board member. "At these challenging times in the Middle East, it's important that the players do their part to advance understanding and coexistence," commented Tellem. "Every year, this visit becomes an experience as much for the players as it is for the camp participants."
NBA stars include Brian Scalabrine and Ryan Gomes (Boston Celtics), Jordan Farmar (L.A. Lakers), Etan Thomas (Washington Wizards), Josh McRoberts (Portland Trailblazers), former Bulls-great B.J. Armstrong, and WNBA's Andrea Stinson (Detroit Shock). The players will work with the campers on basketball fundamentals and teamwork drills that will help the Middle East teens understand the value of cooperation, as enemies become teammates on the basketball court.
"Sports, and in particular, basketball, is a very important part of the camp experience," said Leslie Adelson, Camp Director at Seeds of Peace. "Cooperation and communication on the basketball court can pave the way to breakthroughs off the court. The visit of the NBA players helps teach the importance of cooperation and trust, and helps draw attention to the courageous efforts of these teens."
Since 1993, Seeds of Peace has graduated over 3,500 teenagers from four conflict regions from its internationally recognized leadership program. Through its International Camp, its regional follow-up programs, youth conferences, educational and professional opportunities, and adult educator programs, participants develop empathy and respect, as well as leadership and negotiation skills – all critical components that will ensure peaceful coexistence for the next generation.
The Seeds of Peace International Camp is located at 183 Powhatan Road in Otisfield, Maine. For more information, please contact Jeremy Goldberg at 646.228.5338 or Jeremy@jeremysgoldberg.com.
Here's what some of the participants had to say...
I've been a part of this camp for the last few years and I am continually amazed each year by these kids. Because it was NBA Day, we did some camps with the kids in the morning that included a lot of basketball and physical activity. But the highlight of the day certainly revolves around the group dialogues where the kids come in and discuss the world from their perspective and have an opportunity to share their thoughts, their ideas, their views, and how they came to have such strong opinions of one another and their respective countries. It is a very intense part of the day for the young people from these conflicting countries. For me it has always been very, very interesting to hear this and to see people try to openly discuss their differences.
Things Aren't Always What They Seem
Many of the kids expressed the fact that their view of what they think is going on is different from what really is occurring, which is something that I continue to marvel at every year. As they talk, they come to realize that the kids from Israel are the same as they are, and they like to play the same games they like to play. They remark how they like the same music. Unfortunately they have grown up thinking in an entirely different way. Every year they say, Well I'm confused because now I don't know who to trust, now I don't know who to believe. The media has been telling me one thing my entire life and all of a sudden I am seeing here, that well, they can get along, they're living together, they're working together, they're solving problems together, they're sharing laughs together, they're dancing together, they're eating together. But they've learned to hate and be prejudiced against another group of people. Here they're getting an opportunity to see for themselves.
So many of the kids here were saying they have so many decisions to make because what they've heard, what they've been told is just not true about the people they've been taught to hate. I have really come to respect them. Many of these kids are independent thinkers. These are people who are now questioning things. You hear them saying, you know what, I can entertain their idea, I can respect their views, but I don't have to dislike them. Every year I see it, I marvel at it because people begin to question the system, and question how we live and question how we actually solve problems, whether it's through war, terrorism or other methods. These young people here are open to the idea of cooperation.
They Know About The ‘90s Bulls!
These kids know you and everything about you in addition to everything that is going on in the NBA. They have embraced the sport of basketball and it is something that they all have in common and that they all share, which is amazing. With all the things happening in the world, somehow, someway, they have found a way to follow NBA basketball. I can't explain that one. So two things that I always remark about when I leave the camp is how they know basketball – the players, the teams and all that is going on – and how they all love and share the same music. In particular, they put on a rap song here and they are all singing it. I am going, wait a minute, how do they know that song? So music and sports somehow has been able to transcend the barriers of religion, politics, and personal beliefs and really bring about a common denominator. Those two things every year, it's almost like a small miracle, seeing the kids singing the same song, and then sitting around talking about basketball. They even bring up the championship Bulls. How they know that I don't know. These kids are so young, that was like 15 years ago, but somehow they know it.
What I Take From This Experience
What this has done for me is to certainly challenge myself to question the integrity of the source of information that I am getting and to not just believe it because I heard it on television or read it in the newspaper. I have really become aware of trying to hold myself up to a standard of excellence. If that is true with these kids, which I have seen over and over again, then it has to be true with me as well. It has really humbled me. I have to take responsibility and hold myself accountable for where I get my information from. Once I am comfortable with where I get my information from, I have to formulate my own ideas and be comfortable those ideas irregardless of what other people think. These kids have the courage to begin to question the media propaganda and their source of information and they're really taking the strides and taking the steps and saying, Before I form a real opinion, I am going to research this for myself.
How The Camp Has Evolved
You can definitely see things evolving from the first year that I took part in this tremendous experience. It's interesting to see some of the kids who were campers a few years ago becoming counselors. You can see the influence they have when they come back on the kids from their native countries. Where as before it would take a week or two for these kids to really open up, the process is beginning to happen sooner and sooner, to where now it is only two and three days before things get rolling. These kids then go back to their countries and make an impact there, not just when they come here for a few weeks.
This is my fifth year doing the camp and this is the best one in my opinion. The NBA has done a phenomenal job of marketing it, to the point where it is becoming a bigger and bigger deal. There is more media coverage and everything. Arn Tellum, Bob Meyers and the whole group that gets the players out here, it is better and better and they’re doing a great job. Personally I have become a lot more comfortable asking the kids questions. When I first got here I didn’t want to say the wrong thing. But now, the discussions they have are pretty heated and I don’t think I could possibly say the wrong thing where they would look at me the wrong way. If I am feeling something, I ask them and they have been real good and real responsive as to letting me know how the situation is and what their beliefs are and what they are learning.
What I Wanted To Know
A lot of these kids come back a few years later, so I want to know from the first time they were at the camp up until this year, what has been the difference in their life and what made them want to come back? Typically the responses I got were that this experience has been eye-opening for them and when they go back, they work and they do certain things to progress in that direction. Then a few years later they come back and they meet up with other kids who are invited back. It’s a pretty select group. Those are supposed to be the forward thinking people, the ones that can be solving the problems. So the counselors are the elite. They are really involved and want to try to help everything out.
When Enemies Become Friends
They grow up as enemies of each other, yet they come to camp and become friends. They still keep in touch with email and stuff which was so surprising to me. It shows that they can get over the fact they can have different political views and still maintain some type of friendship.
Form Your Own Opinions
Just talking to them and realizing that there are so many different people and so many different cultures has been eye-opening. You learn that a lot of people were brought up by their parents and they taught them to do a certain thing because maybe they weren’t as educated as these kids are or weren’t as forward thinking. Sometimes you have to go out there and learn for yourself. I would say the same thing about me. If someone says something bad about someone I don’t know, then I make it a point to get to know this guy before I can pass judgment on him.
I had no idea coming into the camp last year what Seeds of Peace was about. They told me a little bit of what it was about and they briefed us when we came in, but to actually sit in on the dialogues and hear these kids talk and be involved with them, it was amazing, which is why I decided to come back again this year.
...With Second Year Campers
One of the groups I sat in on was also filled with kids that were in their second year at the camp. They basically told us that in their first year here, you release stuff and cry and get emotional. Then the second year you kind of take the next step on being mentors for young kids, let them know what you went through your first year and basically just coach them along to try and get past that anger and things that they're fighting about. I heard from some of the second year campers that some of the first year kids are angrier, maybe because the fighting is more intense in some of the Eastern countries. From what the second year kids are saying, it's taking them longer to get past it and kind of bond together. But I think this is a camp that works. It has worked in the past, and these kids are willing to make a change.
If I Were In Their Shoes
I am sure that I would be emotional just like they are. They are emotional, but just to have them here to talk about it is great. Sitting in on the dialogue with these kids and them telling you how they feel and what they've been through and that now they are friends with each other and they keep in touch despite of some of their parents not agreeing with it, those are moments that you can never forget. What stands out is they are friends after they leave the camp. They are friends and they want to talk to them about other people. Some of these kids are being teased and picked on when they get back home because they have been to this camp and people know what the camp is about, but yet they are still standing strong on their views of the situation. Still, some of them will and some of them won't. It just depends. Some of the kids just can't get over their opinion. They share different views on situations and they just don't get over it. But if you reach at least 50 percent of them, then you're doing good.
Seeds Of Peace: A Model For Others
This type of camp is something that I would get others involved in. I would maybe get kids from different neighborhoods, put them together and start an organization like this. They could talk about different things, how one side lives this way and the other side lives that way, how some have money and some don't, how some have the best schools and some don't. I could see it that way. But what they have here is something that is totally different. This is something on a whole 'nother level. Something extraordinary.
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