Lakers' Jordan Farmar to go on peace mission to Middle East

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-spw-farmar16-2008jul16,0,2734003.story

From the Los Angeles Times
PRO BASKETBALL
Lakers' Jordan Farmar to go on peace mission to Middle East
Lakers guard, who is Jewish, will travel to Israel in August to run
basketball camps for Israeli and Palestinian children, with the goal of
giving them a lasting foundation of friendship and goodwill.
By Chris Hine
Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

9:15 PM PDT, July 15, 2008

Like other NBA players, Jordan Farmar will head overseas this summer, only
with a different mission -- to facilitate peace in the Middle East.

The Lakers' guard, who is Jewish, will travel to Israel to run basketball
camps for Israeli and Palestinian children in association with the Peres
Peace Center. The goal of the camps, which take place Aug. 4 to 11, is to
bring Israeli and Palestinian children together through basketball and
create a foundation for peaceful relations between them in years to come.

"If you can have a good time with someone you're supposed to be enemies
with, and you guys can work together, things can be better for your future,"
Farmar said.

Farmar, who averaged 9.1 points and 2.7 assists in his second season with
the Lakers, also participated in the NBA's fifth-annual "Play for Peace"
clinic in 2006, a little more than a month after he was drafted out of UCLA.

"Sports can be a ground where everyone has fun and when you're out there
having a good time; you don't really think about everything else that's
going on," Farmar said.

The Peres Peace Center was founded by Israeli President Shimon Peres with
the goal of fostering peace in the Middle East through social programs,
cooperation and interaction between Israelis and Palestinians. Farmar said
programs such as the camp are important for promoting peace, because the NBA
is popular in both countries.

"For us to come, we're icons in both communities and we're taking time out
to go out and show there's something important that needs to be changed,"
Farmar said.

chris.hine RemoveThis @latimes.com