ULTIMATE
PEACE
Elizabeth
Zelvin
my
granddaughter at seventeen
one
of a bunch of Jersey girls and boys
selected
for potential
spends
the summer on a rich kids' campus
all
hallowed halls and tennis courts
learning
how to think
she
writes a research paper
on
the other summer program on the site
children
making friends, as she is
playing
Ultimate Frisbee
the
only team sport without outside referees
on
each disputed play or call
the
players must resolve the conflict
exchange
opinions, listen, reach consensus
in
thirty seconds—so say the Rules
the
Spirit of the Game defines the game
what's
special about these kids
throwing
a frisbee around, eyes bright
flushed
and laughing as they run and leap
swipe
the disc out of midair and send it spinning?
they're
Israeli and Palestinian kids
segregated
from each other all their lives till now
coming
together, my granddaughter writes
before their innocence and
open-mindedness is tainted
she
describes these children swaying, singing
John
Lennon's Imagine, arms interlocked
uses
it as a metaphor for a developing mindset
a refusal to allow political groups,
public sentiment
and the media to corrupt their
perceptions of one another
then
she refutes charges that this beautiful
moment
is
naive, the song sentimental
pushing an artificial narrative of peace
and love
she says, progress cannot be achieved without
imagination
How can you expect a Palestinian child
in Gaza
to forget the screams? my granddaughter asks
How can you expect an Israeli child
at the Nova Music Festival to forget the
screams?
You cannot expect them to.
At
seventeen, was I so clear-eyed? So concerned
my
responses to the world might be
considered
naive and simplistic
so
articulate about why they were not?
Children's
sports programs like Ultimate Peace
offer a long-term process of healing and
understanding
that replaces lessons of being taught
how to hate
she
says. Not acting at all is much worse. As
the cycle
of resentment and hostility continues
younger generations need to be better
equipped
to overcome the fear and prejudice they
inherit.
every
grandmother is a fairy godmother
bestowing
three wishes at birth
only three? okay, so we cheat
mine
for this beloved girl are true at seventeen
health,
happiness, and a social conscience
a
happy childhood, a moral compass, and a capacity for joy
a
voice
of her own, an imagination, and the ability to think
