GPBF Board responds to recent USAID cuts, issues emergency relief grants
Seeds of Peace
began by bringing together 46 Palestinians, Israelis, and Egyptians in 1993.
Now, three decades later, over 3,000 young leaders and several hundred educators from the Middle East have graduated from the Seeds of Peace Camp, including delegates from Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Yemen.
Seeds of Peace now works primarily with young Egyptian, Israeli, Jordanian, and Palestinian leaders. The program begins at our Camp, where Middle East campers discuss core elements of the conflict, including the origins of the Zionist movement, the Holocaust, the Nakba, the Occupation, fear of violence, and fear of others, as well as terrorism, racism, and other drivers of oppression.
The immersive nature of Camp allows camper to develop authentic relationships with one another by living, eating, playing, and learning together. Dialogue is paired with recreational activities, a dynamic group challenge program that fosters team-building and communications skills, as well as interfaith and intercultural activities. In this way, campers get to live together in a co-created community that values trust, respect, and empathy, and that allows them to explore the fullest sense of their identities.
Our programs continue with year-round local activities focused on the capacities leaders need most to be effective changemakers.
The Jerusalem Youth Chorus
is a choral and dialogue program for Palestinian and Israeli youth in Jerusalem. Our mission is to provide a space for these young people from East and West Jerusalem to grow together in song and dialogue. Through the co-creation of music and the sharing of stories, we empower youth in Jerusalem with the responsibility to speak and sing their truths, as they become leaders in their communities and inspire singers and listeners around the world to work for peace, justice, inclusion, and equality.
PeacePlayers Middle East
engages over 500 Palestinian and Israeli youth each year, ages 6-25, in year-round and multi-year basketball training, conflict resolution education and leadership development activities in Israel, with its head office in Tel Aviv – Jaffa.
Programs are divided into five tiers:
PEACEPLAYERS BASKETBALL CLUBS
A network of joint basketball clubs that bring together children and youth, ages 6-14, for basketball and peace educational activities
PEACEPLAYERS ALL STARS
Fully integrated competitive teams, composed of Arab and Jewish young women, ages 10-25, who play in the official Israeli basketball league
LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
A leadership and capacity building program that grooms veteran participants into the coaches and leaders in the program and in their communities
RISING
STARS
A project that aims to scale PP-ME's programs by engaging promising leader-athletes from the wider community to create pipelines to untapped communities
ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT PROGRAM
An initiative that seeks to re-engage and re-connect PP-ME’s alumni, by supporting and inspiring them to further PP-ME’s mission
PeacePlayers International - Middle East, Seeds of Peace, and Jerusalem Youth Chorus each received special emergency grants to help cover the gap in funding caused by recent budget cuts to USAID.
The grant funds are being used to keep programming on pace to meet year-end goals, while each organization looks to strengthen existing funding and seek new sources of support.