MY TRIP TO SEEDS OF PEACE INT'L CAMP IN MAINE.

This is from a very beautiful rumi poem. Earlier this week I flew to Maine to present for my job at Seeds of Peace International camp. Seeds of Peace is a large non-profit that brings together kids from Palestine, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, Pakistan, India, Iraq and the United States to a camp in Maine to become friends and dialogue with one another about conflict. I was lucky enough to attend the reunion leadership summit of the original seeds from many years ago as a presenter. What ensued was extremely profound. It was incredible to learn about what everyday life is like for people in these areas. Some of the most interesting stories I heard were about trying to have a social life and have fun since the intifada began and through the present; how some people living in those circumstances still need to have fun and a social life to feel human; how sometimes you just have to live your life in the face of danger and adversity. One young woman told me about one of the best times her life recently, when her door was knocked in by Israeli soldiers and she tried hide her daughter behind her. Her daughter jumped out to say hi, not realizing the danger and in a moment of kindness the soldiers chose to leave them alone. A bunch of kids told me about trying to work in Palestine and how hard it is because you get stopped for indefinite periods of time at checkpoints and you might miss work or exams. I mean, just imagine if you had to get held at terrifying and annoying checkpoints every time you wanted to travel. Going up to seeds camp really reminded me of something i believe in very strongly. I think that the only way people allow themselves to hurt, oppress or be violent toward others is through denying their humanity in some way. By that I mean refusing to acknowledge the humanity (what makes you human) you see in yourself in another person. I wrote my thesis in college on the way colonial administrators argued and condoned their actions--to do this I went to the British Library and looked at the documents of colonial administrators to find their arguments for imperialism. At the most distilled level (and this can be seen through enlightenment political theory--but that's a much longer argument) they described the colonial subjects (the "other") as subhuman and that enabled their violence. Otherwise they wouldn't have been able to do what they did. I think all acts of violence carry that essential enabling kernel, the aggressor needs to dehumanize the one they do violence to in order to hurt them. Meeting people face to face and empathizing with their reality causes you not to want to contribute to their pain. When I was in Ohio working on the election I met lots of Republican kids who clearly had no idea what suffering and injustice Bush's policies were wreaking on the world. It makes perfect sense that they would gravitate toward a message of safety and patriotism, as it fit them socially and aesthetically. I think the great challenge for people wishing to end injustice in the world is in first exposing it and then finding ways to end it.The few days I spent in Maine, during the Gaza withdrawal, with kids from areas of intense conflict was amazing and rekindled the inspiration to do what I can to help in conflict prevention. Here are some pictures of the trip. (I've left out most of the pictures showing the faces of the kids.) It was the most fun I've had in a long time, not to mention that on Wednesday I woke up at 6am, waterskiied, then went on the ropes course and climbing wall below, did a bunch of interviews and went sailing all before 5pm. It was a great time. Here's some more info about the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. unrelated: sorry about not being better with events listsings. scroll down for some stuff. tonight is the gotham girls roller derby, tmw is the magmo opening and a bunch of house parties, sunday is the hisham/scott mou/mark borthwick bbq and show.