“Listen to me,” “Listen to me,” “Listen to me.” This plea—urgent in some cases, playful in others—bounces around the room in English, Arabic and Hebrew as groups of twelve-year-olds from around the world take turns actively ignoring each other.
This may seem like a counterintuitive way to encourage kids of different faiths (Christian, Muslim and Jewish) and nationalities (American, Canadian, Israeli and Palestinian) to communicate. But this session is not just about listening–it’s also about what we choose to listen to and what we choose to shut out.
As missiles and airstrikes, rage and tragedy fill this summer’s news out of Israel and Palestine, a group of 35 middle school age children have gathered south of Mt. Vernon at Camp Brotherhood. Most have traveled here from around Jerusalem, a few others from the greater Seattle area. All of are here, at a 10-day camp called Kids4Peace, with the desire to train as the next generation of peacemakers.
[For more of this story, written by Sarah Stuteville, go to http://www.seattleglobalist.co...ce-summer-camp/28469]
Comments (0)