[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 30, Number 36 (Monday, September 12, 1994)]
[Pages 1739-1740]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks to the 1994 Seeds of Peace Group

September 9, 1994

    The President. I want to welcome all of you here to the White House, 
young people from all across the Middle East. We have here Israeli, 
Palestinian, Egyptian, Moroccan, and Jordanian young people coming 
together to our country as ambassadors of peace for an entire 
generation.
    A year ago, almost to the day, we had the signing of the Israeli-PLO 
accord here. And there were young people from Seeds of Peace here. And 
when they were here, I saw them and asked that all present dedicate 
themselves to peace for the next generation. Since then we have seen an 
agreement between Israel and Jordan. We have seen further peace on the 
other Middle East fronts, further progress on the other Middle East 
peace fronts. And we have seen just last week Morocco and Israel take 
the first step toward establishing diplomatic relations.
    But ahead of all that is the simple magic of the person-to-person 
relationships that you are building and a future you are building for 
yourselves. I hope so much that by the time all of you are my age the 
problems of the Middle East will be a distant memory, and all of you 
will celebrate the unity and strength, the harmony and prosperity of a 
region of people working together just as you

[[Page 1740]]

have sung together today and come together in the United States.
    This is a time of peace as well as trouble in the world. We see 
progress in the Middle East. We see progress in Ireland. We see 
democracy taking root in Russia. There is a great deal to hope for and a 
great deal of work to do. I think it is fair to say that for me and for 
all of us who have seen you here in the United States, the image of your 
smiling together, of you singing together, of you being together will 
spur us on to try to make sure that the future that you share will be a 
future you share together.
    Thank you very much.

[At this point, John Wallach, president, Seeds of Peace, and Tamer Nagy 
Mohamed, an Egyptian participant in the program, made brief remarks and 
presented gifts to the President.]

    The President. Thank you. [Applause] That's terrific. Good luck to 
you. Thank you.
    Mr. Mohamed. Thank you very much.
    The President. Let's give him another hand. Didn't he do a good job? 
Thank you. Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 8 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White House 
prior to his departure for New Orleans, LA.