Our April SASO will support Seeds of Peace, an organization that hosts Israeli and Palestinian teens for a conflict resolution summer camps in an effort to change the future of the region by teaching the processes of peace.
Seeds of Peace, founded in 1993, is a leadership development organization committed to transforming legacies of conflict into courage to lead change. The organization equips new generations of leaders with the tools to transform conflict. Seeds of Peace develops courageous leaders who work in solidarity across differences to create more just and inclusive societies. Seeds of Peace has programs in the US, Middle East, and South Asia.
Change begins at the Seeds of Peace Camp. Each summer, hundreds of young people attend Peace camp in the U.S. to engage with each other across lines of conflict and difference—sharing meals, living spaces, and learning experiences in a traditional summer camp program. It’s here that personal and interpersonal change begins, as perceptions and attitudes shift in the face of a new reality they create at Camp. As participants find their own voices, form relationships, and gain insights into the root issues that divide them, they build greater levels of confidence, trust, respect, and empathy, which inspire their commitment to work for change at home.
Campers engage each other directly in small-group dialogue sessions exploring and unpacking issues around identity, power, privilege, and community, and they share with a supportive group the many complex perspectives and identities that make up their different lived experiences. Youth are the experts on their own experiences, and they, as a group, lead the content of the conversation as they share their personal stories.
“At Camp, I learned to listen to people, even if I don’t agree with what they say. I learned how to understand other opinions, respect them, and became more open-minded.” — Shai (Israeli)
An understanding of how Seeds of Peace aligns with UU values is best articulated in the article, “Prophetic Nonviolence,“ by Paul Rasor printed in UU World, Spring, 2008. His words are as relevant today as they were then:
“Unitarian Universalists have always affirmed peace as among our most basic values. We have always worked to create the kinds of just communities out of which peace emerges, and we have long supported the use of nonviolent methods of conflict resolution.”
Seeds of Peace is aligned with UU perspectives on Unity, Love, Inherent Worth, Freedom (and War as a Choice that we can choose not to make), as well as, just actions and speaking out and acting to prevent unjust actions, and exercising Power for Good.
To learn more about Seeds of Peace visit: www.seedsofpeace.org