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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview With Hazim Zanoun, Karen Karniol-Tambour
Aired June 21, 2003 - 09:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The group Seeds of Peace brings teenagers from both sides of world conflicts together, hoping they will help their people learn to get along.
From Boston, we have two guests this morning who have gone through that program and are going to tell us more about it, an Israeli, Karen Karniol-Tambour, and a Palestinian, Hazim Zanoun.
Thank you both so much for being here. Very interested to learn more about Seeds of Peace.
Karen, why don't you go ahead and start for us? What is the actual goal of this organization?
KAREN KARNIOL-TAMBOUR, FORMER PARTICIPANT, SEEDS OF PEACE: Well, Seeds of Peace is a fantastic program that decided it was a great idea to bring together Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians. They see that teenagers of all these countries that are going through this Israeli-Palestinian conflict and hope that by having the teenagers get to know each other and get along and become friends, we are bringing the possibility of peace much closer.
So the program brings us all together to a camp in Maine, where, at the same time, we have camp activities, and, you know, swim and play sports and stuff.
At the same time, once a day we have these co-existence sessions, where we sit and talk about our problems and talk about the conflict and talk about everything on our minds, so we can get to know each other and let all our anger out and really start understanding that, you know, we are two peoples that have the same needs and same wants, and both just want to live together without having all this death around us and without being scared to leave our own homes.
And I guess the hope is that by bringing us together, by making us understand each other, we bring peace a lot closer.
COLLINS: And Hazim, I'm wondering, also, if the goal would have to be that as the youth of these two countries -- obviously there are other countries and other conflicts -- but in particular, the conflict that affects the both of you, the Israeli-Palestinian situation -- we hear so much about it every day now.
What do you think is going to happen, let's say within the next 10 years? We have people like you going through programs like this with the hope of bringing about peace. What are other children your age, or young men and women your age, talking about in that regard?
HAZIM ZANOUN, FORMER PARTICIPANT, SEEDS OF PEACE: OK, just another thing, I wanted to mention that Seeds of Peace teaches us the skills to overcome cultural differences and to actually listen, take turns in listening and talking, hoping that the teenagers that actually join this program will go back home and in 10 years, hopefully they will become adults who not only want to actually spread peace in the Middle East, but also will have the skills to talk about such a thing and to actually achieve such a thing.
COLLINS: Have you talked with any of the leaders, or maybe I should say adults, in these -- in your own home countries, about, Hey, you know, we are children, we are trying to get through to a different level for the future of these two countries? What is the feeling on that? Are they impressed by you wanting to do that?
ZANOUN: Most of the adults are actually impressed that some people from both sides, actually Palestinians and Israelis, dare to break the old myth that we actually started contacts between us. However, some adults will be, like, held back by the idea, and actually do not support us, that they say that we are not allowed to conduct such an activity, and we're not actually allowed to reach to the other side.
KARNIOL-TAMBOUR: I feel like adults have come to kind of understand that it's very difficult for the societies, you know, the Israelis or the Palestinians, to make a educated decision on what's a good peace agreement, what's a good way to solve the conflict, having really never met anyone from the other side of the conflict.
So I think once they realize we really have a broader perspective on things, when I think about a peace agreement, I not only think about how it will affect me, but how it will affect Hazim, because Hazim's my friend, and, you know, I want him to live peacefully just like I want me to live peacefully.
They realize that it's an important goal. It's very difficult after, you know, a whole lifetime of hatred, to get over that and really start meeting each other. And that's why Seeds of Peace gets us at that critical age where we can really open our hearts to this.
COLLINS: Well, you both certainly have a very unique and rare perspective, getting to know each other and the background of each other's countries. We certainly appreciate your insight today on Seeds of Peace. Karen Karniol-Tambour, coming to us from the Israeli point of view, and Hazim Zanoun, coming to us from the Palestinian point of view. Thanks so much, guys. Great work.
KARNIOL-TAMBOUR: Thank you.
ZANOUN: You're very welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired June 21, 2003 - 09:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: The group Seeds of Peace brings teenagers from both sides of world conflicts together, hoping they will help their people learn to get along.
From Boston, we have two guests this morning who have gone through that program and are going to tell us more about it, an Israeli, Karen Karniol-Tambour, and a Palestinian, Hazim Zanoun.
Thank you both so much for being here. Very interested to learn more about Seeds of Peace.
Karen, why don't you go ahead and start for us? What is the actual goal of this organization?
KAREN KARNIOL-TAMBOUR, FORMER PARTICIPANT, SEEDS OF PEACE: Well, Seeds of Peace is a fantastic program that decided it was a great idea to bring together Israelis, Palestinians, Egyptians, Jordanians. They see that teenagers of all these countries that are going through this Israeli-Palestinian conflict and hope that by having the teenagers get to know each other and get along and become friends, we are bringing the possibility of peace much closer.
So the program brings us all together to a camp in Maine, where, at the same time, we have camp activities, and, you know, swim and play sports and stuff.
At the same time, once a day we have these co-existence sessions, where we sit and talk about our problems and talk about the conflict and talk about everything on our minds, so we can get to know each other and let all our anger out and really start understanding that, you know, we are two peoples that have the same needs and same wants, and both just want to live together without having all this death around us and without being scared to leave our own homes.
And I guess the hope is that by bringing us together, by making us understand each other, we bring peace a lot closer.
COLLINS: And Hazim, I'm wondering, also, if the goal would have to be that as the youth of these two countries -- obviously there are other countries and other conflicts -- but in particular, the conflict that affects the both of you, the Israeli-Palestinian situation -- we hear so much about it every day now.
What do you think is going to happen, let's say within the next 10 years? We have people like you going through programs like this with the hope of bringing about peace. What are other children your age, or young men and women your age, talking about in that regard?
HAZIM ZANOUN, FORMER PARTICIPANT, SEEDS OF PEACE: OK, just another thing, I wanted to mention that Seeds of Peace teaches us the skills to overcome cultural differences and to actually listen, take turns in listening and talking, hoping that the teenagers that actually join this program will go back home and in 10 years, hopefully they will become adults who not only want to actually spread peace in the Middle East, but also will have the skills to talk about such a thing and to actually achieve such a thing.
COLLINS: Have you talked with any of the leaders, or maybe I should say adults, in these -- in your own home countries, about, Hey, you know, we are children, we are trying to get through to a different level for the future of these two countries? What is the feeling on that? Are they impressed by you wanting to do that?
ZANOUN: Most of the adults are actually impressed that some people from both sides, actually Palestinians and Israelis, dare to break the old myth that we actually started contacts between us. However, some adults will be, like, held back by the idea, and actually do not support us, that they say that we are not allowed to conduct such an activity, and we're not actually allowed to reach to the other side.
KARNIOL-TAMBOUR: I feel like adults have come to kind of understand that it's very difficult for the societies, you know, the Israelis or the Palestinians, to make a educated decision on what's a good peace agreement, what's a good way to solve the conflict, having really never met anyone from the other side of the conflict.
So I think once they realize we really have a broader perspective on things, when I think about a peace agreement, I not only think about how it will affect me, but how it will affect Hazim, because Hazim's my friend, and, you know, I want him to live peacefully just like I want me to live peacefully.
They realize that it's an important goal. It's very difficult after, you know, a whole lifetime of hatred, to get over that and really start meeting each other. And that's why Seeds of Peace gets us at that critical age where we can really open our hearts to this.
COLLINS: Well, you both certainly have a very unique and rare perspective, getting to know each other and the background of each other's countries. We certainly appreciate your insight today on Seeds of Peace. Karen Karniol-Tambour, coming to us from the Israeli point of view, and Hazim Zanoun, coming to us from the Palestinian point of view. Thanks so much, guys. Great work.
KARNIOL-TAMBOUR: Thank you.
ZANOUN: You're very welcome.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
