d.c. summer interns from

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USA TODAY  WEDNESDAY, JULY 27, 2011 WASHINGTON 9A

Rotem Gabay,bornand raisedin Israel, says she’d never met aPalestinianbefore this summer.

Samer Anabtawi, a Palestin-ian, says that while he had metan Israeli before, he has neverspent somuch timewithone.

Gabay, 26, and Anabtawi, 21,are two of 10 students takingpart this summer in New StoryLeadership fortheMiddleEast, anon-profit internship programbasedin Washington, D.C.

The two are interning in theWashington office of Rep. JaredPolis,D-Colo.

Founded in 2010 by Aus-tralian writer and educator PaulCostello, the program brings Is-raeli and Palestinian students to

the nation’s capital to live andwork alongside one another forthe summer.

Costello says the programforcesthem to createnew expe-riences andproves that they candisagree without losing respectforone another.

“We’ve been laughed at, beentold we are naive and it’s notgoing to work,” says Costello,who has also helped build pro-

grams for Protestant and Catho-

lic Irish youths and white andblack South Africans. “But wejust need to create one contra-diction in the old story that willprove that people from bothsidescan worktogether.”

Gabay, a graduate studentwho hopes tobe a diplomatoneday, says it’s “a hugechallenge.”

“I was raised in a very pro-Israeli home,”she says.

“It’s not about loving one an-other . . . it’s about learning tolive with each other,” Anabtawiadds.

Polis says having the two inhis office has been “an eye-openingexperience.”

“They will bewhatshowspol-iticians that peace between Is-raelis and Palestinians is pos-sible,”he says.

Anabtawi admits he facedskepticism from some in hiscommunity,butsaysthathe andGabayhave becomefriends.

“There were some peoplewhothoughtthis idea wasridic-ulousand made funof mefor it,”Anabtawi says. “But I really be-lievein what we’redoing.”

“Wewill alwaysbe discussingIsrael and Palestine,” Gabaysays. “But I know that after this

summer, Samer and I will be

smarter thanwe werebefore.”Other programs have similar

goals. In Rensselaer, N.Y., for ex-ample, the Doane Stuart Schoolhosts oneCatholicand oneProt-estant Irish student from Belfasteach year as part of its Irish andAmerican Exchange programwhich started in 2004, saysRichard Enemark, the prepara-toryschool’s headmaster.

Michael McPhearson, spokes-man for United for Peace and Justice, a network of peace andjustice organizations aroundworld, says any program thatbrings groups together to learnisgoodfor theworld.

“Organizations like these go alongway indismantlingthe ideathat we’re all so alien to oneanother,” McPhearson says. “It

helps them to see where theotherperson is comingfrom.”

Declan Heery, 31, a 2002graduate of Costello’s Irish pro-gram, says he remains closefriends with his Northern Irishcounterpart.

“Exposing yourself to a pro-gram like this really makes yourealize that, across cultures andboundaries,we trulyare a globalfamily,” he says.

ByJackGruber,USATODAY 

Life lessons: Rep. JaredPolis,D-Colo., says it’san “eye-openingexperience” to havesummer internsIsraeliRotemGabay,right,andSamerAnabtawi, a Palestinian, working inhis officeforthe summer.

D.C. summer interns fromMideast bridge differencesBy LukeKerr-Dineen

USA TODAY

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