Maine

Camp focused on Middle East peace shifts aim to divided US

Associated Press
Published | Updated

In this Aug. 4, 2016 photo, Tim Wilson, special advisor to the Seeds of Peace camp, is surrounded by second-year campers in Otisfield, Maine. The nation's divide has become bad enough that a camp created to help Arab and Israeli teens find common ground is putting an emphasis on hatred and violence in the U.S. Seeds of Peace, a lakeside camp in the woods of Maine, has embarked on a pilot program this summer with teenagers from Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (The Associated Press)

In this Aug. 4, 2016 photo, second-year camper, Ludya, hugs Tim Wilson, special advisor, to the Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield, Maine. The nation's divide has become bad enough that a camp created to help Arab and Israeli teens find common ground is putting an emphasis on hatred and violence in the U.S. Seeds of Peace, a lakeside camp in the woods of Maine, has embarked on a pilot program this summer with teenagers from Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (The Associated Press)

In this Aug. 4, 2016 photo, Somali-born Salat Ali pours water for his group of campers at the Seeds of Peace camp in Otisfield, Maine. Ali learned upon his arrival in Syracuse, N.Y. from a refugee camp at 11 that things weren't going to be perfect. He lived in a poor neighborhood, and others constantly picked fights with him. But he found his voice at Seeds of Peace, and he's returned as a counselor. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola) (The Associated Press)

The nation's divide has become bad enough that a camp created to help Arab and Israeli teens find common ground is putting an emphasis on hatred and violence in the U.S.

Seeds of Peace, a lakeside camp in the woods of Maine, has embarked on a pilot program this summer with teenagers from Los Angeles, Chicago and New York City.

Executive Director Leslie Lewin said the goal is to tackle deep-seated racism, anti-refugee and anti-Muslim sentiment, socio-economic issues, gender discrimination and LGBT issues.

That may sound like a tall order, but she says there's already a successful model that's been used by teenagers from the Middle East since 1993.