Glenview Organization Aims to Start Dialogue Between Teens from Middle East

Glenview mother Gretchen Grad started Hands of Peace, an interfaith organization, with the vision of giving teens from Israel and Palestine a safe place to talk while getting to know each other and this year will hold a summer camp from July 5 to 22, Chicago Tribune reported.

“The backbone of the program really is dialogue,” Grad told the newspaper. “It’s sharing very uncomfortable truths.” North Shore teenagers with Arab, Jewish and Christian backgrounds are also invited to participate in the program.

The organization aims to develop peace-building and leadership skills in Israeli, Palestinian and American teens through the power of dialogue and personal relationships, according to the organization’s website.

Some 260 high school students — 150 from the Middle East — have now gone through the two and a half week summer program Grad devised, with 54 repeating for a second year in a leadership role.

Hands of Peace participants and their parents invariably describe it as “life-changing” for everyone, including Glenview families who host Jewish-Israelis, Arab citizens of Israel and Palestinians.