June 11th--Junior year of college finally over. Am excited to begin work as a counselor at Give Peace A Chance Camp. This amazing initiative, founded by Mr. and Mrs. Saul Berkowitz, brings together Jewish teenagers along with their Palestinian, Egyptian, Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, and Saudi peers for a summer month of living and learning. Couldn't agree more with Mrs. B.: "Children are our future and their hearts are much less hardened than those of their elders." Am keen to make new international friends, spend time in rural New Jersey, and to possibly get a strong personal essay for law school out of this experience.
June 14th--Counselor orientation has been a blast. Learned tonight that there may be some flight delays from the Middle East (specifically, Royal Jordanian, Egyptair, and Syrianair). Can't wait to meet the kids.
June 15th--El Al flight arrives 25 minutes early at JFK. Israeli contingent has an impressive command of English. Other counselors note with concern that the group is choosing cabins that may be considered most desirable.
June 16th--Gang's all here (almost)! Evening Meet & Greet a great success. The Berkowitzes lay on quite a spread. I eat way too much falafel. Syrians arrive tomorrow.
June 17th--Team-building exercise doesn't go as planned. In an effort to shatter preconceptions, we encourage kids to cite stereotypes people harbor against Arabs and Jews. When Egyptian Na'ima Malouf offers, "Jews hog everything," Atir Brennerman responds, "Yeah, like Nobel Prizes." Na'ima counters with: "I was thinking of my great-grandfather's olive groves and your cabin facing the lake."
June 19th--I notice at breakfast that Israeli campers tend to take their meals in the center of the dining hall surrounded by Arab teens. I suggest re-arranging furniture in a more inclusive way. Head of food services loses patience: "There's only so much I can do with six tables and 48 chairs."
June 23rd--Have taken an ardent dislike to Atir Brennerman and believe he is somehow responsible for Egyptian students' decision to boycott today's tug-o'-war.
June 25th--Two Israeli girls join two Palestinian boys on a rowboat excursion, but when I attempt to videotape them, they flip me the bird and contort their faces. Still, trust is being forged between campers, if not between campers and staff.
June 28th--During sharing session, Na'ima asks if Jewish campers realize she and the other Arabs will be returning to bleak futures in dusty, backward towns while they return to Israeli prosperity. When I mention that Na'ima's father holds a high government post in Cairo and that she will be spending several weeks with her cousins in Newport Beach at the conclusion of camp, she calls me a Zionist and storms out.
June 30th--Reports of a scuffle in the Aikido studio. Atir again. I feel like knocking the crap out of that kid and the kibbutz he rode in on.
July 4th--Four Israeli kids announce they want to perform as a string quartet, claiming, "We're classically trained and we brought our instruments." Mr. B. does not think this a good idea and suggests, "Let's just celebrate Independence Day listening to CDs." During S'mores, Na'ima declares independence is an alien concept to most Arab campers and circulates flyers in support of Palestinian statehood.
July 7th--Am not taking a shine to Na'ima, who insists mattresses of Israelis are higher quality. Am tempted to push her in the lake. Or boiling oil.
July 9th--Those Lebanese sure can play wiffleball!
July 12th--The alteration on the dining-hall chalkboard at lunch ("Intifada Enchilada") seems to be the handiwork of Atir.
July 14th--Reports of stones thrown at Israeli cabins; outing to the Mall at Short Hills cancelled. A shame, as many of the campers were looking forward to getting their tongues pierced and I was hoping to pick up some jeans.
July 16th--At final sharing session, Sa'dun Assaf speaks for the first time. Says he resents the way morons (his word, not mine) Atir and Na'ima have held the rest of us hostage this summer by stirring up trouble while purporting (my word, not his) to speak for others. "Actually," he says coolly to them, "you speak for no one." Receives a standing ovation from all but two campers. A fantastic moment of catharsis for us all. I'm deeply indebted to Sa'dun for standing tall with bold defiance, for seizing on a vital truth that bedevilled his peers and elders, and for giving me the topic of my essay for law school.
