Seeds of peace, horrors of war

Katona, a Jew from Los Angeles, and Dreidi, a Muslim from Ramallah in the West Bank, became fast friends. They both returned to the camp in 2005, as both headed into senior years of high school, and renewed their friendship.

A gifted soccer player, Dreidi dreamed of earning an athletic scholarship to a U.S. college, but his international status proved complicated. He eventually earned acceptance into Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana. But as a Division III school, it offered no athletic scholarships. Dreidi could not afford to go.

Katona, left, and Dreidi at Dreidi’s graduation from Earlham College in 2010. Katona, who raised funds for his friend’s tuition, received an honorary degree at the ceremony. (Contributed photo)

Katona, seeking to “create a future that otherwise would not have been possible,” vowed to find a way to pay his friend’s tuition.

And he did. He combined his own resources and funds raised from others who learned of his story. In 2010, Katona walked the Lawn at UVA, then attended Dreidi’s graduation from Earlham.

In the years since, the friends have built separate lives on different sides of the U.S. but remain close. (We caught up with Katona in 2017.)

Dreidi’s career as a sports agent took him to Los Angeles, where he lived for a while with Katona’s parents. He co-leads the new sports division of Stars Management, a Bay Area talent agency focusing on college and professional basketball players.

Katona remains in Washington, D.C., with his wife and three sons. He recently took a position leading global distribution and licensing for the TED organization. “I don’t believe in ‘dream jobs,’ but this is pretty close,” he said.

They exchange text messages often and see each other two or three times a year.

World events intercede

Dreidi was visiting his parents in Ramallah on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched cross-border raids from Gaza into Israel.

“It was a dark time, a really dark time,” Dreidi said. “I was stuck there for a bit.”

His family urged him to leave, but he felt an obligation to them and his community. The president of his agency allowed Dreidi to work from there until he felt safe to return.

“There was a lot of uncertainty then, too, about how Israel was going to react, and how extensive that was going to be,” Dreidi said.

Katona, left, now works for the TED organization in Washington, while Dreidi is a sports agent in Katona’s hometown of Los Angeles. (Contributed photos)

Though conflict spilled into the West Bank, Israel’s focus was on Gaza. “I had food on my table; there was a roof over my head,” Dreidi said. “My parents were OK, are OK. There were people who were going through a lot more difficult times.”

After about three weeks, he was able to slip across the border into Jordan and return to the U.S.

Katona felt the impact from afar. Besides his worry about Dreidi, he said he has “dozens of family and friends, probably in the hundreds” in Israel. 

Throughout the conflict, Katona and Dreidi kept talking and texting – sometimes swapping articles on the conflict, sometimes avoiding the subject. As might be expected from two kids who attended a peace camp, neither desired bloodshed.

Katona and Dreidi pose for a photo with two of Katona’s sons. The friends see each other “two or three times a year.” (Contributed photo)

“I just wanted the violence to end,” Katona said. “I didn’t like that there were Israeli hostages, and I didn’t like the viciousness of (Hamas), right? Then I didn’t like how Israel was treating folks, either. You know, I had issues both ways. Still do.”

Back in the States, Dreidi – while maintaining his advocacy for the Palestinian people – used his connections to start a group, Athletes for Ceasefire. “We know that bombing your way to peace is not the way,” he said.

Going forward

Both Dreidi and Katona acknowledge that the Gaza conflict, with its massive death toll and near-total destruction, will likely embitter another generation of Palestinians and Israelis toward one another.

“Will there be lasting peace in the Middle East? Not in our lifetime,” Katona said. “I hate to say that, but I just don’t see it.”

The war “made Seeds of Peace feel almost worthless,” he said. “The whole point of this was to raise a generation of people who thought differently. And the opposite is happening.”

Dreidi is more optimistic.

“We both come from families that love us, and my mom wants the same thing for me that Joey’s mom wants for him, you know?” he said. “We’ve just got to go back to the humanity of things, because I don’t see Joey as any different than me, and Joey does not see me any different from him. If we can live like that, there’s a better life to be had.”

Regardless of world politics, Katona said he will never regret the promise he made to a friend as a high school senior.

“I had a friend, I recognized my own privilege and access, and I said, ‘I can change this guy’s life,’” he said. “And I did, and I will always feel tremendous about that.

“There’s no such thing as fairy tales. But it’s pretty wonderful the way that it has worked out.”