"Come, I'll tell you about Palestine"

I received a warm note concerning Growing Gardens for Palestine from someone who is one on of the email lists I am on. She gave me permission to publish her note in full:

RE: Growing Gardens for Palestine...
Dear Annie,

Thank you for this idea, it is really inspired! I will think of it when I order my seeds and imagine this year's gardens.

An old housemate of mine used to say: "in dark times, plant seeds," i.e., efforts in dark times germinate future happiness. My housemate was an Arabic Philologist from Belgium, and we were living in Egypt at the time, so I don't know the origins of her saying. However, I remember it both when things are looking grim and when I plant my little gardens in the dark, rainy uncertainty of Wisconsin's early spring.

I will be interested to see what further thoughts and actions arise from your great ideas!

Kate Zirbel

I do have a disclaimer- most of my ideas really are not all that original: I did not invent the idea of a garden- but I certainly do enjoy mine. And I like thinking positive thoughts about Palestine in hopes that might help shape a better way forward for everyone.

While nice notes from very nice people are bright stars that help guide the way, these really are dark times indeed- and very confusing. Who to trust ? Who to believe in? All I know is that I believe in Palestine- I mean the people of Palestine, not any particular politician! I believe in the children of historic Palestine- and basic human dignity- and love....

There are many maps remembering all the names of the Palestinian villages destroyed by Zionist terror : Map showing the massive destruction of Palestinian towns after al-Nakba in 1948 http://www.palestineremembered.com/Acre/Maps/Story572.html

There is even a map that can be overlaid on google earth to see what was once, not long ago- within living memory- Palestine's Districts Before Nakba-1948 (for the satellite version or the Google Earth version)

Palestine is a very special place in the hearts and minds of millions of Arab Palestinians who know with every breath they take that they have a very real legal and moral right to return to their original homes and lands. This is not about religion- this is about the rule of fair and just laws- and respecting basic human rights. The Palestinians know that they have a right to be free to live in peace and to prosper everywhere in what was once, not long ago- within living memory- historic Palestine.

Yesterday, out and about doing errands I chanced to see that our local stores are starting to stock items for spring gardening. It is still far too early to plant anything here where I live, but it is never to early to start dreaming about what our garden might be.

In the spirit of that I stood for a long long while admiring garden stones. Perfect for Palestine I thought- rocks with words- inspiring messages really... reminders to plant along the path, tucked in under some fragrant plant that pulls us in close as we grow our gardens for Palestine.

Silly me bought one. It's not even a real rock! But I wanted it to remind me of messages, things we need to know and remember. It was hard choosing the perfect one. I came close to taking the one that said "DREAM"... but ended up firmly deciding on the one that said "LOVE".

I brought it home and left it in the kitchen as I want to take my time figuring out where exactly in our real garden I might want to plant it.

My husband saw it half hidden in the pile of clutter in the kitchen and he laughed at me. Yes I suppose it really is very silly to spend money on a rock- but I like the message- and the reminder. I have to assume that it all becomes much more absurd to him because his gardening has always been a huge gift to me, all his hard work planting and weeding and tending a much more magnificent and significant message of LOVE than that silly little rock I just bought.

But I still like my rock saying LOVE.

And so in Growing Gardens for Palestine I think on a personal private level we can look for real rocks, small manageable ones and paint significant messages on them. A little bit like the pet rock craze but more homemade... There are many possibilities for what we can paint on the rocks. "LOVE" is good. And there is no reason to limit ourselves to words. Symbols can be cherished- keys- and of course Handala....


Painted or not, symbolic rocks we can put in our gardens or pass onto friends as gifts.

And yes- each rock simply by being a rock might be a reminder of all those small barefoot Palestinian boys valiantly pitching a stone towards an Israeli tank.

Yesterday in Growing Gardens for Palestine I managed to outline the front entrance for the public garden I am shaping in my mind. So far we have stepped through the key shaped entry .... and today I want to go straight to the gift shop. Yes I want it to have a gift shop even if it is only a little kiosk to the side. I want it to be place you can go not only to enjoy the beauty of the Garden for Palestine, but a place where you can find seeds and small gifts and postcards and some carefully chosen books and other such treasures. One of those treasures being Olive Oil from Palestine.

Blame it all on Mike that today I skipped right into the gift shop. Yesterday he posted one of his wonderful essays on Al-Awda's list- and the topic is perfect... he writes of Zaatar. He explains Zaatar much better than I can. Mike is one of my favorite Palestinian American writers. He brings so much alive with his wonderful warm essays and letters. And last night on seeing his essay pop up in my email I knew I was going to highlight it as soon as I could. I noticed that at the end of his essay (that can also be found on his web page along with many other inspiring essays, poems and pictures http://www.hanini.org/ ) he has added some links well worth exploring- organizations well worth supporting. I'll start with those first for they belong in the gift shop ... so browse through them if you want, but don't forget to read his enchanting essay... Of Olive Oil, Zaatar, and Mint Tea...By Mike Odetalla

from Mike:

PS…Now you can purchase authentic Palestinian cold pressed Extra Virgin Olive Oil and the best tasting Zaatar available, please visit the PCWF web site. There you can purchase Palestinian Oil and much more. By doing so help to support the Palestinian farmers and the children of Palestine!

Recent studies have shown that Extra Virgin Olive oil LOWERS your cholesterol and is good for your heart and so is helping the people of Palestine, which is also good for the SOUL!!!

http://www.zatoun.com/olive_stories.htm

http://www.zaytoun.org/index.php

www.beithanina.org

http://www.hanini.org/Al-Nakbagallery.html

Mike Odetalla..."A seed in the eternal fruit of Palestine"

"Come, I'll tell you about Palestine" www.Hanini.org

My Home Town: http://www.beithanina.org/
http://www.palestinecalendar.org/
http://www.palestineonlinestore.com/
http://www.alnakba.org/
http://www.nakbainhebrew.org/
http://www.palestineremembered.com
http://www.al-awda.org

http://www.pcwf.-org
The link to the website of Palestine Children's Welfare Fund ...Click to buy Palestinian embroidery online, sponsor a Palestinian child, buy a flag or a Kuffiya to feed one, or a donation of 25 dollars to plant an olive or orange tree in honor of some one you know or to commemorate a hero of yours .

“The ink of the scholar is holier more than the blood of the martyr"- Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him)

http://www.hanini.org/zataroliveoil.html

Of Olive Oil, Zaatar, and Mint Tea

By Mike Odetalla

www.hanini.org

I could not wait to get home yesterday. My wife had called me and told me that a package from Palestine had arrived. I relish these “care” packages from my mother and brother in Palestine. They usually send me, amongst other things, pure, cold pressed, virgin olive oil. It cannot be brought anywhere in the world. This special oil you see is by no means ordinary. It comes exclusively from my family’s ancient olive orchards. Some of these trees are hundreds of years old and were planted by my forefathers who had for many years before me, enjoyed their bounty. The reason I was excited was because I had also asked them to send me a couple packages of dried whole leaf Zaatar (wild thyme that grows in the hills of Palestine) and last, but not least, some of mothers famous cracked olives.

The cracked olives are also from our own trees. They were hand picked, cracked, and pickled by my mother’s own loving hands. My kids often tell me that no matter what their grandmother makes, it always taste better than anything they ever tasted. My eldest son attributes this to the “special grandma hands” that prepare these foods. Zaatar is a stable in the Palestinian diet. It is served on the side with meals and sometimes as a snack.

The Zaatar is usually picked in spring time from the hills of Palestine. After drying, the Zaatar is then mixed with sumac and other spices, ground to a semi-powdery consistency, and the sesame seeds are then added. The ground mixture is then served with olive oil on the side. The proper way to eat it is to first dip a piece of bread in olive oil, and then dip it into the Zaatar. The oil makes the Zaatar stick to the bread adding to its delicious flavor. I cannot count how many breakfasts and midnight snacks in which I had eaten Zaatar. My children today in America eat the Zaatar that grows in the hills of the village of my birth, just as their forefathers had done hundreds of years earlier in Palestine. In fact the Zaatar and olive oil they eat today comes from Palestine exclusively. The hills and orchards of their ancestry still provide them with their favorite food. The thread continues…

Whole leaf Zatar is very hard to come by here in the US. I have tried many times the small packages of “organic wild thyme” that is sold at obscene prices here in the US, but to no avail. The taste does not even come close. The “zest” is missing. That is why I was so excited. My mom, who lives in Palestine, makes some of the most delicious salads out of Zaatar. The taste of her salad is beyond description. In fact, when I returned to Palestine last June with my wife and kids, the first thing that I asked my mother to make for me was breakfast that consisted of her famous Zaatar salad, cracked olives, and her home made cheese. This, along with a pot of the mint tea, was the dream meal for me. Zaatar salad is made by using fresh whole leaf Zaatar, olive oil, salt, and fresh squeezed lemon juice from the lemon trees that grow just outside our window.

When I went back home to Palestine in the spring of 2000, I could not contain my excitement. This was my first trip home to Palestine during the spring time. I had not experienced spring in Palestine since I left in 1969. The hills that surround my village were ablaze with greenery and color. I was nostalgic for the days of my youth in which I had spent endless days playing and exploring the hills of my village. I convinced my younger brother, my cousin (who was visiting from California), and a few friends of ours to meet us and head for the hills to pick wild Zaatar (the wild variety has a bit more zest and flavor than other varieties). We decided to make an afternoon of it. We packed home made goat cheese, fresh sliced tomatoes, some nuts and seeds, a few sprigs of mint, a tea pot, and a portable gas cook top so that we would be able to make mint tea on the hill top. Along the way to the hills, we stopped by my aunts home which is located midway up the face of the hill.

We were pleasantly surprised to find her baking fresh whole wheat bread in the taboon (a clay and earthen wood fired oven whereby bread is baked over small, round, and smooth stones just as it had been for hundreds of years in the villages of Palestine). She gave us a half dozen hot loaves of her famous bread (the likes of which I have yet to taste anywhere in the world). Armed with hot bread, we continued to the top of the hill. Once we reached our destination, we spread out in our hunt for the elusive Zaatar plants that grow only during the spring in the hills of Palestine. When we had gathered enough of these elusive plants, we spread out a blanket and our “picnic” started. The fresh Zaatar, hot fresh bread, and mint tea.

This was by far one of the highlights of my trip to Palestine. It conjured up many memories of olive harvests and the simple pleasures of life on one’s land that the Fellah of Palestine had enjoyed. It was not hard to imagine that this scene must have been played out countless times before by the people of Palestine. The attachment between the Palestinian people and their land is, in my mind, unparalleled.

As the sun began to set, bathing the entire village and the surrounding hills in its golden glow, I sat silent, sipping my tea. My mid drifted to the Palestinian refugees who were forced from their lands and can only dream of this scene as they suffer in the miserable, squalid, and cramped refugee camps. These scenes are now no more than distant memories, passed down from the elderly to the children, who listen in wide eyed wonder.

I also could not help but think of the Jewish settlements that seemed to dwarf and indeed dominate the village of my birth. It seems that every time that I see them, they look as if they have gotten bigger and moved closer to the village. Indeed these settlements do in fact keep getting bigger and swallow more Palestinian land. To my mind’s eye, they look like they are about to “pounce” on the villages below. Their domination of the Palestinian villages is a symbol of the occupation and what is seeks to accomplish in Palestine. The aim is to dominate and subjugate the Palestinian people and their lands. But as I look at the lone ancient olive tree that stands on the very top of the hill, as it has for hundreds of years more than Israel has been a state, I am heartened.

The tenacious windswept tree, which grows in the direction of the winds that have been buffeting it for hundreds of years, is still standing proud much like the people that planted it and many more trees like it in Palestine. It has survived and actually thrived in very harsh and inhospitable conditions. So too will the people of Palestine…We remain!