Sport Israel Project #25794

Young Leaders of the Middle East On the Rise

by Ultimate Peace, INC.

Young Leaders of the Middle East On the Rise

Project Report | Nov 27, 2019
Final Report

By James Levine | Treasurer, Ultimate Peace

Ultimate Peace is continuing to do very well. The year round program has many communities that have been with us for many years, and in the past year we have added two new communities. Our Leaders in Training program remains successful, with 20 future leaders joining the program each year. And our summer camp in 2019 was very successful. We had two camps - one for less experienced players and training camp for more experienced players. Both camps achieved their goal of creating bridges of peace between campers and teaching them ultimate and spirit of the game. The five values of Ultimate Peace remain imbedded in everything that we do.

Graduates of the LIT program are now making their mark in the world outside of Ultimate Peace. Our current active project highlights one of those graduates.

This project is being deactivated so that we can move our donations to a new project.

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Oct 16, 2018
Camp 2018

By James Levine | UP Treasurer and Coach

Singing in the Cafeteria - UP Camp 2018

This summer was a busy one at Camp UP, our “Oasis of Peace” that takes place every summer in Ashkelon. This summer featured two intensive back-to-back camp sessions. Training Camp hosted youth with deeper experience in the year-round UP programs. It was calm, intimate, and wonderful; our Leaders in Training participated as campers and added a dimension to camp that brought the best out of campers and staff alike.

Summer camp came next, and could not have been more different. Because of high numbers, this camp session is broken down by age into two large separate camps. With over two hundred youth from Muslim, Jewish, and Christian communities, every day was full of excitement and intensity in our 24/7 action-packed overnight camp. Throw in a geographically diverse group of coaches from Poland, Germany, Canada, Spain, Australia, Russia, the US, Israel, Palestine, and Singapore, and you have one dynamic global community!

Unfortunately, Summer camp finished with drama as tensions escalated between Hamas and the IDF at the Gaza border. Only 8 miles away, there were attacks going both ways and explosions through out the day were heard. Fortunately, no rockets landed close to our camp, but a siren (our first ever at camp) caused the entire community to take shelter. Though very upsetting, the outbreak further reminded us of our purpose We observed campers were drawn even closer together by the threat to their collective safety. They comforted each other. In essence, the conflict was reframed for all to see. Not between countries or religions or even peoples, this conflict was between war and peace, violence and nonviolence, anger and understanding.

Witness the photo, taken just moments after the sirens rang throughout the area. Back in the dining room, campers joined arms and broke into a community song whose words shook the building: Peace will come to us, and to everyone. Salaam, on us, and on all the world. Where else does this happen?

If you have not seen it, we were featured in an Op-ed in the New York Times. Here’s a link to the article - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/22/opinion/israel-palestine-ultimate-frisbee-peace.html

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May 21, 2018
Preparing for Camp

By Jim Levine | UP Treasurer and Coach

UP Hands

There's lots excitement brewing for Camp 2018, as this year we will have two camps, which we have not done since moving to our current location in Ashkelon. At the beginning of July we will have a "Training Camp", which is designed for more experienced players. This will be followed by a "Summer Camp", which will be similar to past camps. Lots of work to do as we increase our camp population by about a third.

But as we get ready for this year's camps we are always mindful of external events that can influence our organization. Below are words that David Barkan, Ultimate Peace's Executive Director, sent to the organization to reflect on the current situation in the Middle East.

"Such horrible violence and tragic fatalities on the Gaza border. So hard to believe, to comprehend, that so many people are warring, fighting and dying like this in 2018. These are hard days to be peace-builders when so much seems out of our control. It’s during these terrible times that hope seems too easy to lose, because war appears so inevitable.

But human beings are inherently good, and war is not the preference of most. On all sides of this and every conflict, many people are mad. And afraid. But few are bad. Every person deserves to live a healthy, safe and secure life. It’s what every human being wants and should have. Waging peace is the answer, not war.

Today we ask questions like: "How can THEY do these horrible things?” or “What do THEY think they are accomplishing?”

How about a different question: Why? Why are WE so afraid of one another? Why is it so hard for US understand one another? Why do WE act as if other people’s lives matter less than our own?

Ultimate Peace has always been about understanding. During these times it is excruciatingly hard to do that, but what’s the alternative? Exactly what we are seeing today - anger, death, mourning, hatred, fear. It is not the world we want for each other, or for our children. Our hearts go out to all those suffering from these tragedies. We need to keep working on the things we can control and work closely, together. It’s a long road.”

As always, thanks for your continued support of Ultimate Peace.

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