Next goal for Seeds of Peace: Putting campers to work

Seeds of Peace, a US-based organization with over two decades of experience in the Middle East, is expanding to include a wider spectrum of actors.

DEAD SEA, JORDAN — This may not seem like a propitious time for peace in the Middle East.

But Seeds of Peace, which has become one of the region’s most recognized peace-building initiatives since hosting its first summer camp for Israeli and Palestinian teens in 1993, is seeking to expand its reach.

While the organization has yet to witness the spread of peaceful relations and treaties across the Middle East, it sees the maturing graduates of its camp

program – more than 5,000 individuals – as an important resource to be tapped as it refines its goals. More than half of these graduates are moving into

leadership roles in their respective fields. The organization now hopes to empower them to transform a wide variety of sectors in conflict areas – from

women’s rights to technological innovation. Such progress, say Seeds of Peace officials, is a crucial prerequisite to any comprehensive, sustainable peace.