By Janis Siegel, JTNews Correspondent
Like many other day camps, kids spend their days making art and music. At Seattle’s Middle East Peace Camp, however, some of the children had just arrived in the United States. Others were first-generation Arab-Americans or Palestinian-Americans. Some were Jewish. But for five summer days in August, they were just kids who played and laughed together.
In the intimate backyard setting of Seattle philanthropist and peace activist Kay Bullitt’s home, 45 campers, ranging in ages from 6–12 years old, made tie-dyed T-shirts, origami peace doves, ceramic art, and theater and documentary pieces, among other projects. In between these activities, the children also listened to presentations from rabbis, sheiks, ministers, and other local peace activists about what their religions and groups are doing to foster peace.
“Peace in the Middle East is one of our founding principles,” said Susan Davis,
executive director of Kadima, a progressive Jewish community in Seattle and one of the organizers of the camp along with the Arab Center of Washington, Beyond Borders and Kay Bullitt. “We’ve already raised a generation of children who believe in this idea.”
Molecular biologist and mother Maha Gebara left war-torn Lebanon in 1996. Gebara worked closely with Davis and others to make this second year of the summer camp happen.
“The only way towards peace is working with the Jewish community and working with kids,” said Gebara, who started a Lebanese dance group called the Arab Children’s Dabke Group. Gebara says the dabke is a traditional Lebanese dance that is similar to the Jewish hora.
Davis, Gebara and Bullitt met during their involvement with a community effort called the Middle East Dialogue. That’s when they decided to work together in a project that focused on the children.
“Kay has been having children’s camps here for 10 years, and she has been allowing the Arab Festival to happen in her back yard,” said Davis. “All of us have had experience with children. When Kay said, ‘You can have my back yard,’ it seemed like a natural place to have Arabs and Jews to come together.”
Bullitt has a long history of working with peace projects. During World War II, she worked with an educational childcare group in Germany. Later, she was also involved in an interracial farm project in the South.
Bullitt began her involvement with Middle East issues during the Persian Gulf War, when she began participating in the Middle East Dialogue. After the Sept. 11 attacks, she decided to turn her attention toward the Middle East conflict. For the last 10 years, Bullitt has hosted a camp at her home that integrated children of different backgrounds. The long-time Seattle resident knew she wanted to do something that involved children. Meeting the other women was perfect timing.
“I said we should do something with [Arab] and Jewish kids,” said Bullitt, while relaxing on cushioned floor mats and surrounded by brass teapots and drums in the hospitality tent on the camp’s lawn. A necklace with the words Salaam and Shalom, the Arabic and Jewish words for peace hangs around her neck.
“If you can bring the people with the heritage together in a day camp setting, it’s not difficult,” she explained. “And you can be so much more successful with children. They asked me if I would talk about peace and justice and the things you can do to make peace. So, I’ll be involved. I feel that this is the sort of thing that people anywhere can do.”
In between the games and activities, the older children were exposed to programs about conflict resolution, differing cultural perspectives, Hebrew and Arabic art, human rights and even a program on cells and DNA showing kids how much all humans actually have in common biologically. The last day of the camp was Middle East Day and Game Day, ending with a program and potluck in the evening for parents and other interested family members.
The camp was open to all children who wanted to attend, but Davis wanted parents to understand that it is a place for those families who have already decided that co-existence between Palestinians and Arabs is the path to the future. This is not a setting, said Davis, where there is debate about the issue or a question about who is right or wrong. It is a place to establish friendships and cross-cultural and religious understanding.
“Last year at the very end,” said Davis, “there were two Arab girls standing by some coins and I asked them whose money it was. Neither of them claimed it so I said I would give it to tzedakah [charity]. That’s when she said, ‘Hey, we have a word just like that!’”
Gebara shares the same sense of satisfaction.
“One of the other things we saw last year were budding friendships,” added Gebara. “The young ones have no idea about Arabs and Jews. And most children who come already have taken that first step because their parents. You see these hugs sometimes. I just love that.”