peacecamp 2011

This was peace camp 2011. for me,

peace camp 2011 was the most amazing experience I ever had.
before i arrived there, i thought we will meet some new friends and we will have fun. i was sure that we will fight the Arab delegation all the time. i couldn't imagine how hard it will be to say good bye to all of my friends, including and specially the Arabs. i learned in this few days so many things, i heard so many different opinions, i met so many amazing people. i will never forget it. of course, we didn't make peace between the folks, but we did a small peace, peace between us.
but the camp was not only about the israeli-arab conflict. personally, i can say that i learned about my self. i got to know new sides in me that i didn't know. For example the yoga, the dancing and the singing. i would never guess that i will have so much good time.
of course it would never happen without Evelyn. This is the project of her life, and she does it so well. You can see that the project is very important for her, and each one of us is important for her too. She was like our mother for 10 days. She was laughing with us, crying with us and helped us with a lot of care.

Aviv gur

Peace Camp for me- Noam Shachar

Peace camp was one of the most meaningful experiences I had in my entire life.
Starting with meeting friends from different places in the world, listening to other views, learning about different cultures, laughing and having fun together.
Experiences that were mostly significant:
- Morning meditation- that brought us to the day with calmness and good mood, along with bringing us together as a group.
- Cultural evenings- that taught us every time anew about the different cultures, language, food, traditions, and made us more familiar with each other.
- Discussions in the large group- that brought us to the goal of finding ways to peace and dialogue in the conflict. I felt very connected to the pain of the Palestinians, still understanding better why I live in this country.

Before camp I was afraid I won't be able to connect to the place and the content. Once we arrived it all disappeared, With the Arab group we got connected along the flight, and the Austrian and Hungarian groups met us at the airport with an open heart.
Few weeks after camp I feel that I have strong connections with most of the participants, with the Arab friends we create possibilities to meet, and I hope we will have future opportunities to meet with the friends from Europe as swell.
I feel lucky for the experience. I feel I've changed and I'm not the same person that I was before, I am more open to people and have a stronger faith that there is a way for peace.
I am grateful for this precious week in Peace Camp, for the hard and sad moments, but mostly for the happy ones.

Noam Shachar

When I first heard of the Peace Camp, I was very enthusiastic about the idea of going to a camp and meeting people I didn't know. I had no idea that in 10 days, I'd have so much fun and would be able to promote peace.
In the Peace Camp, I learned the values of listening to others, of helping others and of accepting opinions different than mine.
In the Large Group sessions I learned about the feelings of others.
During the Work Shops, I learned all those values through art.
The Camp gave me the best experience – fun and learning combined. I feel I've gained a lot from my time in the Camp.
I didn't want the Camp to be over, I wanted to stay there with the other kids and continue to promote peace.
Like it says in the Diploma I received, I feel like an Ambassador of Peace. I think that the Camp should continue to operate. It contributes to its campers and it is most crucial and necessary.

For me the Peace Camp was an unforgettable experience that I would like to keep in my memories for long time. In the Peace Camp I met new friends, different cultures and I learned about people from my country that without the Peace Camp I don’t think that I like them. I expected that in the Peace Camp it will be less sympathy for the Arab delegation from my side, but very quickly I have notice that this is not true. The most important thing at the Peace Camp was that I understood the Arabs opinion and I think that I've made my opinion clearly. The Peace Camp contributed a lot to my way of thinking and judge people and of course it also improved my English. I would like to add that I really had a lot of fun and I'm really happy that I took a part at the Peace Camp.

B. K.

This was peacecamp 2011
I’m Zsóka Szabó from Hungary. I went to the Peace Camp to meet new people, new cultures and to learn English. I have to admit, before the camp I wasn’t so excited about it, especially when I heard more about the conflicts between the Arabs and the Jews. At that time I didn’t know what Peace Camp means, how much I can get by participating in it. After a few hours I already knew I won’t regret it. During the camp I realized that it’s something extremely special.
It’s really hard to put my thoughts into words. I don’t think that someone who has never been in the Peace Camp can understand what it’s like. It’s definitely an experience what everybody must live through. I’ve got so much from the others; I learnt a lot of things. This experience was really special, it changed my way of thinking and I have new dreams now. I met wonderful people and I got to know new cultures.
During the camp I heard a lot about what happened and what’s happening in Israel. I’m sure I still don’t know enough to understand everything. Even so I realized some really important things. Both sides have losses and grievances. It’s important to talk about the problems, but at some point we should get over the past and focus on the future. Otherwise we’ll stick and the fighting, the war never ends; there won’t be peace for anybody.
We might have had some prejudices at the beginning, but I think everybody noticed that we are not that different as we thought at the first time. On Wednesday, in the afternoon we talked about our families. First I didn’t understand why it is so important but at the end of the program I found an answer to my question. It was surprising that our families are not as different as I expected. We are all humans; we all want to find happiness, love and peace in our lives. And this is what really matters. Religions, countries or nations are not that important.
We got to know each other more than we expected. We became friends and I’m sure we will see each other again. We had amazing moments together filled with laughter and joy. We woke up, ate, sang, danced, played, meditated and even cried together; basically we lived together. I enjoyed every minute and I know I won’t forget any of it.
It was a pleasure and also an honour that I could be a part of this amazing experience. It was such a wonderful “period” of my life. I know it was only 11 days –unfortunately-, but it meant a lot to me. I’ve never had an experience like this. It would be such a big shame if the peace camp program couldn’t go on. It has to go on. It has to change other people’s lives too. It would be great if more people could get involved; more people could hear about the camp and got interested in it.

Zsóka Szabó
Hungarian delegation