H. Con. Res. 337 Agreed to June 18, 2008 

One Hundred Tenth Congress 

of the 

United States of America 

AT THE SECOND SESSION 

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Thursday, 

the third day of January, two thousand and eight 

Concurrent Resolution 

Whereas Seeds of Peace, founded by the late John Wallach, is 

a program that brings together young people and educators from 

regions of conflict to study and learn about coexistence and conflict resolution; 

Whereas these young people study and learn primarily at an international conflict resolution summer camp operated by Seeds of 

Peace in Otisfield, Maine, and also through its regional programs 

such as the facilitation training course in the Middle East, the 

homestay programs in South Asia, and international regional 

conferences; 

Whereas the first international conflict resolution camp welcomed 

Israeli, Palestinian, Jordanian, and Egyptian youths in the 

summer of 1993, and has since expanded to involve youths from 

other regions of conflict, including from Greece, Turkey and 

divided Cyprus, the Balkans, India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; 

Whereas Seeds of Peace utilizes the summer camp to initiate dialogue between the youths of the United States and the youths 

from various conflict regions to dispel hatred and create religious 

and cultural understanding; 

Whereas Seeds of Peace regional programs have trained hundreds 

of educators to teach peaceful conflict resolutions techniques in 

their classrooms, positively influencing thousands of students; 

Whereas Seeds of Peace works to dispel fear, mistrust, and prejudice, which among others are root causes of violence and conflict, 

and to build a new generation of leaders who are committed 

to achieving peace; 

Whereas Seeds of Peace reveals the human face of those whom 

youth may have been taught to hate, by engaging campers in 

both guided coexistence sessions and ordinary summer camp 

activities such as living together in cabins, sharing meals, 

canoeing, swimming, playing sports, and creative exploration 

through the arts and computers; 

Whereas long-term peace between Arabs and Israelis, Indians and 

Pakistanis, and Afghans and Pakistanis can only be achieved 

with the emergence of a new generation of leaders who will 

choose dialogue, friendship, and openness over violence and 

hatred; 

Whereas Seeds of Peace provides year-round opportunities via 

regional programming and innovative technology to enable former 

participants to build on the relationships forged at camp, so 
H. Con. Res. 337—2 

that the learning processes begun at camp may continue subsequently in the participants’ home countries; 

Whereas youth graduates of the camp, known as Seeds, currently 

number over 4,000, with an additional 567 adult delegation 

leaders also having completed Seeds of Peace training; 

Whereas this graduate network receives continued support from 

Seeds of Peace in promoting professional cooperation; 

Whereas Seeds of Peace is strongly supported by participating 

governments and many world leaders; and 

Whereas continued partial Federal funding for Seeds of Peace demonstrates its recognized importance in promoting peaceful resolution of conflicts as a primary goal of United States policy: Now, 

therefore, be it 

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring), That Congress— 

(1) reaffirms that youth should be involved in long-term, 

visionary solutions to violent conflicts; 

(2) honors the accomplishments of Seeds of Peace in its 

15 years of promoting understanding, reconciliation, acceptance, 

coexistence, and peace among youth from the Middle East 

and other regions of conflict around the world; and 

(3) views Seeds of Peace as a highly creative and successful 

effort to achieve reconciliation among peoples from areas of 

conflict, which inspires great hope that nations in conflict ultimately can learn to live together in peace, cooperation, and 

security. 

Attest: 

Clerk of the House of Representatives. 

Attest: 

Secretary of the Senate.