Clockwise from top left:
Tarik Daoud of Bloomfield
Hills and Rami Nuseii; Seeds
of Peace outreach coordinator:
Jackie Layne of West
Bloomfield with Nazli Suter
of Bloomfield Hills.
Two "Seeds": Israeli Keren
Greenblatt and Egyptian
Mariam Bazeed blend their
voices in song.
Seeds of Peace founder
John Wallach.
Bittersweet Seeds
On the eve of attack, Detroiters hear a song of peace.
DIANA LIEBERMAN
Copy Editor
T
here are cynics all around who say there
will never be peace — but the young
people of Seeds of Peace show us other-
wise," said Joel Jacob of West Bloomfield,
a member of Seeds' national board.
"Despite daily threats to their lives, they still believe in
peace and co-existence."
Jacob was among 600 people Monday night, Sept.
10, at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Dearborn at a gala
supporting the organization. The event raised about
$500,000 for Seeds of Peace, which works with
young people from embattled areas of the world.
The event also brought together members of metro-
politan Detroit's Jewish and Arab communities, along
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2001
12
with business people of many races and religions.
"Barriers were broken, perceptions were broken,
new friendships were made," said Seeds'.national
board member Tim Attalla of Nothville. "People lin-
gered until 2:30 a.m."
On Tuesday morning, Sept.11, the euphoria of
Monday night was shattered along with the twin
towers of New York's World Trade Center.
But instead of giving way to desperation, Seeds
supporters expressed only stalwart resolve.
"What this means to me and to the other people
associated with Seeds is that we must continue our
work, that we must continue our mission," Attalla
said Tuesday afternoon. "We have the harder job —
working for peace is harder than making war."
Seeds of Peace began in 1993, the brainchild of
veteran newsman John Wallach.
Wallach was motivated by that year's bombing of the
World Trade Center in New York City to create a safe
haven where teens from embattled areas of the Middle
East could face their anger, fear and prejudice head-on.
He spoke of his motives at the Ritz-Carlton dinner.
"What do terrorists want more than anything else?
They want to spread terror, to frighten us into inac-
tion," he said.
In a tragic twist of fate, Tuesday's destruction of the
World Trade Center took place within 12 hours of his
speech.
"We need to reach out to each other, especially in a
time like this," said Lisa Lis, co-chair of Seeds' Detroit
Chapter, in response to the multiple terrorist strikes that
paralyzed the nation. "If we don't continue on as normal,
they're winning; they're succeeding in their terrorism."
SEEDS on page 14