Lets face it - most powerful men in politics suck at backing down, at thinking before acting, at listening calmly, and at putting Peace ahead of Posturing.
Whether this is an occupational hazard of the process by which one becomes powerful in politics is a conversation for another diary. This dairy is about how to deal with the reality we face - which is that if we want peace in this world we're going to have to, somehow, put women and children in charge.
I can't do much about the women, but I teach aikido (a martial art that wields harmony to eliminate conflict) to kids and help run a summer camp, so I CAN do something about the children.
And you can help me help them become the peacemakers the world needs them to be.
how after the break
Peace in the Middle East - 20 kids at a time.
The PeaceCamp Initiative seeks to bring deserving Israeli and Palestinian kids, chosen in part for their leadership potential, to one of America's oldest summer camps (Camp Susquehannock, about 3 hours west of NYC in the Endless Mountains of NE Pennsylvania), where they would (perhaps for the first time) get a chance to be regular kids - on a soccer field, on a tennis court, at the table, in the cabin, etc. - and learn to respect each other as teammates, cabin mates, and friends. Returning home, these kids would then spread, like ripples from a pebble cast into a pond, the possibility of respect and tolerance amongst their peers. The plan for 2007 is a small scale trial of 4 kids, and the full program for 2008 and beyond is envisioned as taking on 20 kids (10 Israeli and 10 Palestinian) at a time.
Why Kids?
because the old men are too bitter, the conflict too deep in their bones, and they've given up hope of ever trusting anyone on the other side of the Israeli/Palestinian divide.
Why Camp?
If you grew up going to summer camp, you already know the answer - because the friendships you make there are forever, because trust is forged on the playing field and in the cabin in ways you can never recreate in a conference room, and because there is laughter and joy at camp - and only with laughter and joy can there ever be hope.
In addition - camp takes kids out of their homes, to a place of new possibility, and surrounds them with counselors - adults who don't expect them to be one way or another (as parents sometimes tend to do), but fundamentally support them becoming who they really are.
I crafted one of those "This I Believe" essays for NPR last fall, and this part captures my point:
I believe that kids need someone in their lives besides their parents, someone who doesn’t have to care about them, but does anyway. Someone who can accept them as they are, and convince them that they are already worthy of respect, affection, and dignity. Someone who, while accepting their present, inspires their future.
I believe that the incandescent joy of a happy child transcends every ethnic and economic distinction humankind has invented to keep us apart.
I believe that every prejudice, every oppression, every resentment, and every misunderstanding can be cured more quickly by mixing everyone’s children together, making two teams, and letting them play than by any form of conflict resolution, court intercession, or legislation we’ve come up with so far.
Here's the deal:
The PeaceCamp Initiative starts now. A healthy trial edition for this summer would be four kids. Generating long term support from foundations and philanthropists starts in earnest this fall - as there simply isn't time to jump thru all their hoops fast enough to get money for this summer's trial. The first kids (I have secured the funding for one, and am hoping for three more) get on a plane in about a month, and airfare's cheaper if I can buy it three weeks ahead.
How you can help
1] recommend this diary, comment early and often, send the link to anyone you can think might be interested.
2] if you're in a position to donate - The PeaceCamp Initiative page has a secure Paypal/Credit Card donation link (or you can send a check of course)
background on how this came together
PeaceCamp Initiative Flyer
Any questions? I'll be interacting with the comment thread this afternoon, and then again this evening (I teach a class 3-6 west coast time), and you can always ask me directly: rk - at - aikidokids.com.
If you've read this far, even if you do nothing else, thank you.