Ultimate Peace cont'd

Simply put, this event was great.

Read an article about it by Al-Jazeera here- it gives a good summary of the project and it's goals, etc.

Read about the "spirit of the game" and what makes ultimate super-awesome here

I volunteered with Ultimate Peace on Thursday, which is when 140 Palestinian and Israeli kids, through the Peres Peace Center, came to Tel Aviv to learn how to play Ultimate. Previous to this day, the group of about 20 American ultimate coaches who came with Ultimate Peace visited villages in Israel and the West Bank, introducing the sport to the kids in their home towns. Then they hosted a workshop on Wednesday for Israeli and int'l ultimate players to work on their frisbee skills. The idea was to teach kids the sport, and then work on the older players' skills as well, all to help frisbee take hold in the country.

On Thursday, the kids seemed to have a blast learning the game. A full day in the sun running around can be a little tough on anyone, and these kids were fantastic the whole time, with high spirits. I worked with the younger girls, aged about 9-11 I think, and they had such enthusiasm! While my group was great, I did here from one coach that there were a few Israeli kids in his group who simply refused to play with their Palestinian team mates, saying that they were "stupid." It was upsetting to hear about, but frankly I'm surprised that this was the only incident, and consider it a success nonetheless. If being part of this program allowed even some of them to forget their differences and what separates them from the other, even if it was for an hour, or 10 minutes of the day, then that's something. It's worth it.

The last two days of the event was a big hat tournament for all of the Israeli and int'l ultimate players. There is some serious talent in this country for ultimate, and it would be great to see them bring some tough competition to the world championships.

My reflection on the event so far is that while there is an urgent need to end the occupation and avoid "normalizing" the issue, but there is also a need to help make any change sustainable. Even if the occupation ended tomorrow, that doesn't change the fact that both sides have stopped seeing the other as human. It's projects like this that help to change that. Plus, ultimate is the best :)

(The girls taking a rest after a frisbee relay race)