Some Jewish-Arab youth summer
experiences have not been sustained after everyone goes home from camp.
Not so in Seattle, Washington, wrote their youth camp
organizer, Arab Maha Gebara (Gebara@attglobal.net).
The week of August 12-16, 2002 saw children aged
6-to-12, and their teenage counselors, build bridges toward peace through
friendship and understanding. They called it The Middle East Peace Camp.
It was born from cooperative initiative between the
Arab Center of Washington, the Kadima Jewish community, and the new Beyond
Borders Arab-Jewish Dialogue in Seattle. The Dialogue is convened by
Yaffa Maritz (YaffaM@imvumbu.com).
Since summer, the children are being sure to continue
their relationships and outreach.
On Wednesday September 11th, 2002, they sang
"Give Peace a Chance" in Arabic, English and Hebrew for an interfaith
service.
Then, Saturday September 14, 2002, these dedicated
Arab and Jewish children performed "The Peace Tree Play," their
camp's original creation with music and dances from both cultures.
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At the same time in the San Francisco South Bay
community, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian children, with encouragement from
their parents, have sustained their activity as CHUMS -- Children United
Morally and Spiritually.
It began with three women -- Muslim, Christian, and Jew --
bringing together their families, including their eight children as an
interfaith youth group dedicated to the understanding and acceptance of the
world's faiths.
Katie Fackler, 13, expressed CHUMS' larger vision:
"If we understand each other, I think we will have a greater chance of
living in peace together."
Their local newspaper described their early work:
CHUMS reaches across religions with holiday cards to
work for peace
http://www.losaltosonline.com/latc/arch/2001/49/Spiritua/1chums/1chums.html
The CHUMS kids have designed beautiful GREETING AND
HOLIDAY CARDS for purchase. They have then given the proceeds of their
sales to charities and people in need, They began by helping the victims of
9/11.
This year 2002 they will contribute to the work of (1)
Seeds of Peace summer camp for Israeli, Palestinian (http://www.seedsofpeace.org),
and to Save The Children, dedicated to improving the lives of children through
emergency relief and practical projects worldwide.
You can see more about CHUMS and the beautiful cards
you can order, at:
To learn even more, contact:
Donna Peterson, 650-949-5453, DonnaBP@aol.com
Anees Siddiqee, 408-246-7702, AneesS@iname.com
Madeleine Fackler, 650-949-5725, MFackler@lfsus.jnj.com