Tsp Ouvp Bnaxcu The Olive Branch is a quarterly youth magazine written and edited by youth from Albania, Bosnia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, FYROM, Greece, India, Israel, Jordan, Kosovo, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority, Pakistan, Qatar, Romania, Tunisia, Turkey, Yemen, Yugoslavia and the United States, rvho are part of the Seeds of Peace program. Tun Olrvo BnaNcH Staff Ned Lazarus. Editor-in-Chief Jen Marlowe, Jethro Berkman, Michael Wallach, Assistant Editors Contributing Writers & Artists Balkans: Artin Piliboysian, Bojan Sesoski, Florian Rexhepi, Sneska Vasevska. Cyprus, Greece, Turkey: Arda Kuran, Charis Achilleos, Christi Polychroni, Constantina Pilioura, Halide Tuna, Ilke Dagli, Loizos Kapsalis, Mehmet Ratip, Marina Ignatiou, Niki Miliotou, Nisan Gigrsel,Panayiota Georgiou, Rina Onur, Stephanos Nicolaou. Middle East: Amir Haddad, Amram Mitzna, Asad Hassouneh, Elad Shaffer, Hend Medhat, Ibrahim Khader, Irena Steinfeldt, Ismail Mukbil, Kareem Farid, Liav Harel, Mai Abuemara, Majeda Shehadeh, Nadav Greenberg, Netta Conen, Nofar Harel, Rasha Mukbil, Rita Konaev, Rona Harari, Sara Khatib, Shadi Rohana, Tarek Arow, Uri Rachmani. India/Pakistan: Amal Suleman, Aneeta Nagi, Bilal Khan, Kunal Sahasrabuddhe, Rabia Cheema, Sahar Bandial, Sarah Sham, Sasha Mansukhani, Sherry Ali, Shyam Kapadia, Spenta Kutar. USA: Chelsey Berlin, Lindsay Cope, Liz Carlin, Mahmud Riffat, Rachel Rush, Tom MacMillan. Special thanks to: Adi, Adina, Alan Ginsburg, the Asleh family, Christine, Cynthia, Dar Al-Jundi, Dany Neuman, Dena, Fish, Fullbright Cyprus, Haifa Foundation, Issa, John Hatch, Julie, Larry Yalla, Ladel, Mandy, Marieke, Mayor Mitzna,Mer, Michelle, Moshe Vidan, Rami, Reuven, Rona, Samera, Sly Sharone, Suzanne. All submissions are property of Seeds of Peace, and may be edited for length, content or style. Send conespondence to: Tsn Olrvo Bnlncn c/o Seeds of Peace Center for Coexistence P.O. Box 25045, Jerusalem 97300 T el. 97 2-2-582-0222 F ax. 972-2-582-2221 Email: olivebranch@seedsofpeace,org Tus Or-rvn BneNcu is printed by Ma'ariv; Adi Saranga, graphic designer. Seeds of Peace John Wallach, Founder and President Bobbie Gottschalk, E-recutive Vice President Tim Wilson, Vice President and Camp Director Barbara Zasloff, Vice President Christine Covey, Vice President Lindsay Miller, Vice President Dena Fisher, Executit,e Dire(tor Center for Coexistence Staff, Jerusalem Adam Shapiro, Jethro Berkman, Jen Marlorve, Michael Wallach, Ned Lazarus, Sami A1-Jundi Seeds of Peace is a non-profit, non-political organization that helps teenagers from regions of conflict learn the skills of making peace. Set at our own camp in Maine, a safe environment is created lvhere youngsters can air their viervs and learn the leadership and conflict resolution tanhninrrpc ra^,,irall tn onrl thc .-'^1." ^f."q" t-retLefsI -^,+1 Open House at the Seeds Center in f erusalem: A Cultural Meeting I had tried Arab food before, but lvhen my son Yair told me about the Open House Cultural Cook-Off at the Seeds of Peace Center in Jerusalem, I knew it would be different. The first thing I noticed when I anived was the warm atmosphere in the room. Almost everyone was there already. I had seen it before in different Seeds gatherings, from random street meetings to the larger group meetings, the -.Fffi" love and closeness between the boys and girls, Arabs and Jews. The hugs, the close embrace, Seeds of P eace 2001 campers meet with 43 rd US President Geor ge W. Buslt on the South Lawn ite House the being together that came naturally; true feelings and emotions, genuine trust, a feeling of being able to identify with a each other and The White House close, honest friendship. The food, while extremely delicious, was "If we are to build a brighter future for the young people of this world, then we must secondary. For me it was an excuse, a bridge, a replace hatred and intolerance with compassion and understanding. Seeds of Peace common denominator to bring us under one offers hope in this vital mission. The organization brings tommoffow's leaders together roof. It bothered me that there were only a to accomplish changing minds and heafis one person at a time." handful of parents. President Bush Last night I saw on TV the parents of two George W. Jer,vish Israeli kidnapped soldiers comforting the parents of the Arab soldier who r,vas kidnapped with them by Hizbullah. The parents hugged each other and held hands, and you remarkable ability to face the issue of death, conversation r'vas in my coexistence group. My could feel the strong emotion, the closeness and like no teenagers I ever met. coexistence group was comprised of Jewish unconditionai friendship that r'vas born a year Before arriving at camp, the r'vord "death" r,vas Israelis, Arab Israelis, Jordanians, Egyptians, ago between them - Arabs and Jer'vs. not one that I r'vanted to confront head-on. My and Moroccans. One of our first discussions This unique relationship was formed under grandfather died trvo years ago and my rvas about the Holocaust. One of the Jewish traumatic and tragic circumstances, and I feel great-grandfather a fer,v years before that. Upon Israeli campers, Ayelet, described holv her that r,ve, as parents, must take that extra step and hearing the word death, I was forced to recall grandmother survived the death camps of the form a relationship no matter the circumstance. those painful memories, r,vhich resulted in my Holocaust. While it r,vas emotional for her to The idea of bringing together Arab and avoidance of the topic altogether. In retrospect, discuss, she spoke with no inhibitions about her Jer,vish parents was brilliant, and events like I was not emotionally mature enough to deal grandmother's horrific experiences and the this should be held more often. I was so glad to with the ramifications of death. Because all of deaths she witnessed. Once again, I found have met the families of my son's Arab the campers, excluding the Americans, came to myself surprised and awed by how someone friends, after I had spoken to them on the camp from troubled regions, death rvas a topic could talk about death so openly. phone many times. This short meeting brought that continuously r,veaved its way into the lives The camp was only for three weeks of my us all closer, more than any number of phone of these teenagers and their conversations. life. I will probably never see any of my calls ever could. I remember one of the first nights of camp, friends again. And I wiil only have my when I initially found out about the life of my yearbook, their charming emails and their Uri Rachnnni (Yair' s dad) (Jerusalem) Bosnian bunkmate, Meri. She told me that wonderful hand written letters to remember ivhile living in Bosnia during the war, she them by. I did not realize horv much they constantly feared for her life, never feeling taught me. Through the openness with which A Life Changing Lesson safe in any of her dr,vellings. She also told me my friends spoke of life's most trying battles, hor'v her uncle had died in the war. I was so I learned that death, or any other difficult topic We live and then rve die. That, in itself, could impressed by the frank nature with which for that matter, is not something to shun or be the puryose of life. Yet for most teens, Meri told me about her uncle's passing while evade. We must discuss our feelings and "death" is an unspoken rvord that stirs I still could not discuss my grandfather's convey our emotions. It was weird. In taiking indescribable sadness, an issue we do not want passing. In contrast, this girl r,vas able to about death, I learned more about life than I to confront. readily convey her feelings about death to had ever known before. Perhaps that is why I developed a special someone she just met. kinship to people I met at camp, who had the The next time that death weaved its r,vay into a Rachel Rush (Great Neck, NY) Statement from John Wallach' Founder and President 'r {*HT: €hm ffic$f€ffirs of Seeds of Peace year, lve are plagued by the loss We stluggled to cleate headlines and titles for this Olttrl BRANcS' As Seeds of Peace begins our tenth and l:raeli. American and Afghani- There are no rvords to encompass the horror of September I I ' The of innocent lives-Palestinian gone What can we do to stop this only rvay to express the feeling of rvatching thousands of innocent in a rvorld that seems to huve mad. it possible to hope anymore? people tlelibelately and simultaneously destroyed. is silence. The violence and send a message of hope? Is may no longer believe in coexistence. I don't devastation, to those rvho feel empathy for fellow humans, is beyond I am aware that many has been shattered by the events of last comprehension and beyond description. blame you. Everyone's faith the attacks of September 11. Holv can we Finciing u,ords is one of many aspects of life that are more difficult vear that culminated in lives lost? A friend said to me lecently, "Think of since that day. The basic confidence that one and one's family r'vill make sense of 6000 In the rvake of this tragedy, can survive the day is shaken by the sight of people killed suddenly, it as one life six thousand times over." naive and idealistic? randomly, in the middle of their daily routine. Trusting people of anyone be blamed for thinking our mission lvorid rvhere clitfelent identltities seems risky, after a group of terrorists Of course, we are idealistic.