Ultimate Peace

Natan and Khalif, at their prettiest

Ultimate Peace is a non profit organization working to promote peace through teaching the game of Ultimate Frisbee.

"Ultimate Peace aims to teach youth in conflict zones the sport and values of Ultimate . . . including physical fitness, character building and leadership development . . . with the hope of promoting a shared positive experience and deepening understanding of the other, while focusing on our five core principals: mutual respect, friendship, nonviolence, personal integrity, and fun. . . . One of the core aspects of Ultimate frisbee that sets it apart from other sports is that it is not presided over by referees or third party officials, but rather by the 'spirit of the game' - a self-governing system that places the responsibility of fair play on the player. Spirit of the game requires players to make their own calls. . . . It is a sport that requires players to embody the values of mutual respect, trust, integrity, and - let us not forget - fun. . . . Ultimate Peace does not attempt to facilitate dialogue programs that confront substantive political topics. Rather, we apply the sport of Ultimate as our peace-building tool. Ultimate has built-in principals and practices of communication that allow all players from opposing teams the opportunity to state their perspective on a disputed play and come to agreement. In that way, our program teaches our participants better communication skills such as listening, respecting different view points, negotiating common ground, and maintaining dignity."

Natan, Khalif and I arrived at Manof school in Acco on Sunday, then explored the old city of Acco with a couple of other junior coaches on Monday. On Tuesday the American coaches arrived, and on Wednesday the local coaches (both Jewish and Muslim Israelis, and Arabs from the West Bank) came. They received training in both "the spirit of the game" and techniques and strategies for Ultimate frisbee. When they first arrived, I couldn"t tell who was Jewish and who was Muslim, who was Israeli and who was Palestinian. And what was so cool about it was that it didn"t matter.

But the fun really started on Thursday, when the kids from the three communities: 1/3 Jewish, 1/3 Muslim Israelis, and 1/3 Palestinian.

Students arriving through the "spirit tunnel"

Spirit on the field

Having fun with the frisbee

Cool forehand

Learning to catch

Learning to throw

Chasing down the frisbee

Just having fun!

Meal time

I've really enjoyed the food (though a lot of people have been complaining) - we are served salad (tomatoes and cucumbers) every meal (it's not really safe to eat raw vegetables in India), even for breakfast (hence, the complaining), usually humus, always olives, pickles and peppers, and sometimes cabbage or beet salads.

There has been a lot of discussion about cultural sensitivity and trying to keep the politics out of the dialogue (even to the extent that we have been told a couple of times to not use names like Israel, West Bank, or Palestine, and refer to this area as the Middle East). But I am not good at this, and wanting to take advantage of every opportunity, I talked to an Arab Israeli about her life here. She told me the following, "It is confusing. Sometimes I don't know who I am: an Arab, and Israeli Arab, a Palestinian? When I go to Israel, some people, not all people, hate me because they think I am an Israeli Jew. Sometimes, here in Israel, some people, not all people, hate me because I am an Arab. I have many very close friends who are Jews. They are my best friends. I have some friends, too, who are Christians. I love them. When it comes down to it, we are all just human. What I have learned from this life - everything doesn't have to be political. We are just human. I just want to live a good life."