WASHINGTON — The cycle of conflict and ceasefire repeats itself as Israel and Hamas struggle for an edge, but one American organization is using an unlikely sport to bring youths from all sides together. The non-profit Ultimate Peace is using flying discs to foster friendships among the various groups in Israel and the West Bank.
Ultimate Peace grew out of co-founder David Barkan’s experiences learning to embrace the core aspect of Ultimate, the Spirit of the Game. Barkan describes Spirit of the Game as “the values of sportsmanship and fair play that are really required at all levels of the sport” of Ultimate Frisbee.
After a trip to Israel with the Jewish all-star team the “Matza Balls,” Barkan said it was “like a lightning bolt.” He wanted to go back and do more with Ultimate. Working with Linda Sidorsky and Dori Yaniv, Ultimate Peace launched.
“Teach a cool sport that’s gonna, ideally, bring people from different cultures to have some fun together, play, compete and maybe even become friends,” Barkan said. “I had no idea…at the time how much it would catch fire.”
The program brings kids together from Israeli Jewish towns, Israeli Arab towns, as well as Palestinians from the West Bank. According to Barkan, Israeli Arabs are the easiest to recruit into the program. “They’re really good to go, they’re fired up…They have a lot of activities in their communities, but for some reason they’re just dying to get into the program.”
Barkan says there are logistical challenges in getting permission for Palestinian children to enter Israel for the program. Even so, Israeli Jews are the hardest group to recruit. “I think there’s a little more hesitancy to join a cross cultural program that uses a sport most parents don’t even know… but once they see it, they’re sold.”
While Barkan’s goals were that Jews and Arabs would become friends, Barkan describes the results so far as his “greatest dream on steroids.”
One of the program’s highlights is its summer camp.
“Over the span of one week, campers from different cultures make good friends,” says Max Zaslove, a coach at the camp in Ashkelon, Israel. Zaslove says participants “want to hang out with each other and offer to fill water and clear dinner plates of their new friends and teammates.”
One of the first things campers do is divide into teams and get their jerseys, says Nancy Melrose, Director of Educational Programs. Two to three people from a community are grouped on a team, but players quickly bond as they create a team name and flag.
As the recent conflict between Israel and Hamas continued, Barkan says a large group of Ultimate Peace participants, from across cultures, gathered in Haifa to spend time together. This wasn’t an event organized by Ultimate Peace, but a spontaneous event organized by the participants in early August.
“The ultimate impact for us is that these guys are facilitating their own connections because they care so much about each other,” Barkan said.
Ultimate Peace has around 400 participants in Israel and the West Bank in its year-round program. Participants come from Bethlehem, Jericho, Ein Rafa, Kiryat Ono, and other communities.
With its growth, and increasing numbers of friendships crossing the cultural divide, the goals of Ultimate Peace have evolved. Looking forward, Barkan says, “Many of these kids are going to go out and do huge things for the benefit of the Middle East.”