WASHINGTON — John Wallach, 59, a former Washington-based foreign editor at the Hearst newspaper chain who started Seeds of Peace, a camp program that brings teenagers from conflict zones together to promote understanding and peace, died of lung cancer July 10, at a hospital in New York.
A profoundly gentle and caring man, Wallach said he wanted to provide hope as an alternative to terror in the Middle East. His solution was the Seeds of Peace program, a three-week summer camp in Maine, where children from the Middle East could meet in a safe environment and develop friendships through sports and camp activities. The Seeds of Peace program has over 1,600 graduates, and continues to welcome teenagers from the Middle East, the Far East, the Balkans and Cyprus.
Wallach said he was at a dinner party in the early 1990s with Egyptian, Palestinian and Israelis diplomats when he proposed his summer camp idea during his toast. “To be nice, they all accepted, probably thinking I wasn’t serious,” he later said.
But he was. The camp opened with 45 Palestinian, Egyptian and Israeli students. There are now 165 teenagers in each of the three summer sessions. Students that are accepted are the best and brightest of their class.
It was Wallach’s hope that the friendships forged at the camp would result in a lasting bonds of friendship, and that these young men and women would eventually become the ‘movers and shakers’ of their respective countries.
Wallach received the International First Freedom award in 2002, for his work with the program. He was also awarded the Legion of Honor by Jordan’s King Hussein and received a UNESCO award in 1996 from the United Nations.
