Jchoice.Org

Each year 15 to 18-year-old girls from the Palestinian Authority and Israel travel out of the violence and conflict of their communities into the safe New Mexico countryside for a three-week summer program.  Campers live together, engage in facilitated dialogue, participate in artmaking sessions led by professional art therapists, and share social time. They learn speaking and listening skills which promote the trust and compassion necessary for them to build lasting friendships and to carry on peace work in the Middle East.

Many girls come with stereotypical images of “the other,” radical political opinions, and a good deal of hostility. In dialogue, they share their grief and pain, heal their anger and grief, learn understanding and trust, and achieve reconciliation. The girls return home with greater self-confidence, lasting friendships, more openness to each other’s opinions, and a commitment to peacemaking.

The program continues year-round in the Middle East. Creativity for Peace has held 11 summer camps since 2003 with a total of 146 participants.

Our programs include 1) a summer peace camp in New Mexico focused on facilitated dialogue, artmaking, and social time that build friendships and understanding between traditional enemies; 2) year-round gatherings of former campers in the Middle East; 3) advanced leadership training for former campers; and 4) academic scholarships.

Goals

1. To create a safe environment where young women suffering from trauma caused by living in conflict and war can feel free to open up and express their thoughts and feelings without harm or judgment.

2. To teach compassionate listening, nonviolent communication, and other leadership and communication skills that can be used to further the cause of diplomacy.

3. To foster discovery of the common bonds between traditional “enemies.”

4. To encourage self-confidence, self-expression, and collaboration through dialogue, artmaking, and other programs and activities.

5. To prepare young women to live and teach what they have learned and prepare them for the resistance they are likely to encounter from friends and acquaintances back home.

6. To build a community of peacemakers and a network of support which participants can rely on in the future.

Creativity for Peace is the only program of its kind that exclusively targets girls’ reconciliation and leadership in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. Dialogue and training programs are deep and customized to the individual girl. Participants are supported in multiple aspects of their lives with ongoing gatherings, leadership training, emotional support, and academic scholarships.

The Middle East program is perhaps the most important and distinguishing aspect. Girls return home to derision and judgment. Creativity for Peace provides opportunities for being together, developing friendships, and participating in deep dialogue so that girls can continue their peacemaking work. One of the most obvious accomplishments is the high percentage of active girls in the program. Thirty young leaders who attend 3-4 trainings a year are the girls who have integrated peacemaking into their lives and the ones who are most likely to create change in their countries.

“Thanks to Creativity for Peace, I feel I belong in this world and that my voice can be heard and people know about me. Thanks to Creativity for Peace, I have begun to see that we are all equal and to see others as they really are. I have stopped asking people where they are from and instead, now ask who they are and what points of view they have. I have changed for the better. I have more confidence, in myself and in others. I have erased the expression, “the other side,” because we all share the same world.”  – Feiruz, Palestinian living in Israel

“Last week I was invited to speak to about 5,000 youth about the elections in my village.  I gave a 10-minute speech in which I invited them to vote according their own beliefs and not their parents’ beliefs. It was great!! Thinking back to that moment I can't imagine myself doing such a thing ever if it wasn't for Creativity for Peace. It gave me all the courage in the world to just stand up there and the willingness to change and speak up. That day made me believe even more in our cause and gave me even more hope that we really can make a change in our lives and the lives of the people around us!” –Baraa, Palestinian living in Israel 

“I am involved with Creativity for Peace because I want to know the real people and not the people as they are portrayed in the media. My life and my personality have changed since my involvement.  I am not who I used to be.” – Sivan, Jewish Israeli

“My attitude has changed a lot since I first participated in Creativity for Peace’s programs. Now I understand that the “other side” are human beings who suffer a lot from the conflict. I have learned how to treat people – to count on their personality not on their nationality. Now I have close friends from the other side. My mind is more open. I have gained the power to face other people and to tell them of my experience. I don’t know what to say besides that my life has changed for the better in many ways.” – Diana, Palestinian