Assaf, a Jewish teenager, lost his father to a bomb planted by Palestinians in the heart of Jerusalem. Fadi, a Palestinian who lives in Jerusalem, has relatives in jail for protesting Israeli occupation of the West Bank.
But for three weeks in America, the two boys are among 46 Jews, Muslims and Christians getting together to sow the "seeds of peace."They arrived in New York last week for the Seeds of Peace program, which will also take them to a two-week summer camp in Maine and to Washington, D.C.
The program's founder, John Wallach, said he is "bringing the next generation together, before they have been poisoned by the hostility of their region."
But can a summer camp in America make a difference?
Fadi, 15, said he has demonstrated against Israeli occupation of Nablus in the West Bank.
Some of his relatives "got 100-year prison terms," he said in a quiet, resigned voice Saturday.
"We want our land," the tall, dark youth said firmly, adding that "Israel should leave Gaza and the West Bank," which have been occupied by the Jewish state since the 1967 Middle East war.
"But basically, I disagree with both sides doing the killing," he added.
Assaf's father was killed in the 1980s by a bomb planted by Palestinian guerrillas in Jerusalem, said Hadara Rosenblum, a counselor for the Israeli delegation who works for her country's Education Ministry.
"But he still wants to turn hatred into peace," Rosenblum said.
The boys' last names were not released. Program organizers said they want them to speak freely here, without facing anger when they go home.
Former hostage Terry Anderson told the youths at lunch Friday that as a result of the bonds forged here, the people their parents call enemies "will have a face."
"It's difficult to hate somebody you know," said Anderson, the former Middle East correspondent for The Associated Press who was held captive in Lebanon for seven years.
"There will be a lot of people pushing at you to continue the road of violence, bitterness, talking about revenge, talking about the wrongs your people have suffered," he warned the children. He urged them to "resist that pressure."
Twenty of the boys are Israelis, including four Arabs - a Druze and three Muslims. Eleven are Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, and 15 are from Egypt.