After some hours of beating the branches, picking, gathering and filling buckets and sacks of green and black olives, we take a break enjoying soup and a rice dish. Summers have become drier, the fresh leaves a little more brittle and the olives less plump than in former times. No wells are permitted and water from tankers is very expensive.
Read MorePractically everywhere we traveled in the West Bank we heard about a water crisis that has forced farmers off their land. Farm land which has not been cultivated for three consecutive years is considered neglected and can be seized by Israel and turned into ‘State Land.’
Read MoreIt was nearly dark when we arrived for dinner in Battir, a village near Bethlehem. As we descended the stairs to the Terraces Cafe, we could dimly discern all around us the two thousand year old stone structures from which the Cafe took its name, and the imposing Roman-era pool at its edge. Battir is known for its beauty and its water.
Read MoreTo be honest, I thought that the Palestinian Heirloom Seed Library in Bethlehem would give me an opportunity to put down my notebook and rest my brain for a bit. I didn’t realize that urban gardening could be such a remarkable site of struggle.
Read MoreThe Palestinian Heirloom Seed Library is based on the property of a beautiful, recently restored Palestinian home just beyond the annexation/ expansion wall in Bethlehem. The beauty of the house, of the terraced gardens, and of the vision guiding this work stand in profound contrast to the slabs of cement, the barbed wire, and the violence of wall.
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