On Radio 4’s ‘Excess Baggage’ on 22 November, Raja Shehadeh was interviewed about his book ‘Palestinian Walks. See below to download an MP3 of this interview
www.simulacrum.org.uk/Excess Baggage 2008-11-22 Raja Shehadeh - Palestinian Walks.mp3
A selection of photos from our 2008 harvest team, who were in villages in the Nablus and Salfit districts this year, can be found at www.simulacrum.org.uk/plogger/
This lovely song is on 2 CDs, as well as on Youtube in case any of you want to sing it! Liz Mansfield sings it on ‘Turning Silence into Song’ (Fuse Records CFCD 009) & Janet Russell sings it on ‘And They All Sang Rosselsongs’ (Fuse Records CFCD 012).
Many thanks to Leon for allowing us to post the lyrics here
SONG OF THE OLIVE TREE Leon Rosselson
My father’s father’s father planted here
In this now broken earth an olive tree
And as a child I sang to it my secrets
And as I grew I felt it part of me.
Its branches gave me shelter from the sun.
Its grey green leaves shaded my young dreams.
The fruit it bore was like a gift of hope
Of all the olive trees, I loved this one.
The settlers came, they beat us black and blue.
They said, Next time we shoot you. Understand?
But still we dared to come, we had no choice
We came at night like thieves to our own land.
Like ghosts we came, men women, young and old
To pick the crop as we have always done.
For centuries we harvested in peace
The oil we pressed was sweet, precious as gold.
Now look. This is a cemetery for trees.
Their great machines crushed hope into despair
They ripped the heart from every living tree
Except for one, my tree they chose to spare.
They dug it up, they smuggled it away
This ancient tree, they saw it as a prize
For some Israeli rich enough to pay
Five thousand dollars worth, that’s what they say.
Do you believe in ghosts? Last night I dreamed
My father’s father’s father came to me
He took my hand and held it in his own
And said, Take heart, here is my olive tree.
And when I woke it was a kind of birth
And in my hand I found an olive stone
And in the field where once my tree had been
A thousand shapes arose out of the earth.
I saw their faces, women, children, men
And each hand held a perfect olive stone
And each heart held a vision of to come
When all our olive trees will rise again.
November sale offer on organic oil and dates
Special offer for November:
Organic Olive Oil: 40% off (this applies to Sindyanna and PARC organic oil)
Dates: 30% off
The sale is on stock BBE December 2008 and only applies to orders over £550.
Product Feature: Zaytoun almonds
Zaytoun imports the finest kinds of almonds – Om Al-Fahem - harvested across 15 villages in the Jenin area of the West Bank.
Zabuba is one of many villages in the Jenin area which works closely with organisations such as the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committee (PARC) to produce almonds for international markets. To read more about Zaytoun almonds see the link below.
www.zaytoun.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/almonds.pdf
Featured Seller – Infused oils
Carl Harwood runs Grace’s Little Shop www.graceslittleshop.co.uk in Tamworth, Staffordshire. Carl has been stocking Zaytoun oils and soaps for some time now, and has innovated with his own infusions of garlic, rosemary, chilli and other delicious additions to the oil.
All of the herbs that are used in the infusions are grown by Carl and his family, using only their own kitchen scraps and garden waste as fertiliser. What started as an interest in providing good, healthy, well-sourced food for his own family, soon expanded and Carl started experimenting with adding his bumper herb harvest to our olive oils.
Carl delivers nationally and internationally with sales coming from right across the UK. You can place orders via his website, or send an email for further information to info@graceslittleshop.co.uk
Harvest trips
Zaytoun’s volunteer harvest team have spent their first week olive picking in the villages of Immatin, Marda and Kufr Qdum, all in the Salfit/Nablus districts. We’re waiting for further updates on their progress but have heard that there have been several minor incidents with settlers arriving in the groves, and the Israeli army telling the pickers they do not have permission to visit the groves the next day. We hope to get some more reports soon and will post them on the journal page.
In the meantime, please check our journal page for details of a recent UN report about attacks on Palestinian farmers, and also the Maan news agency.
www.maannews.net/en/index.php?opr=ShowDetails&ID=32281
FLO certification Update
Canaan Fair Trade in Jenin looks set to be the first organisation to receive the FLO Certification (Fairtrade Labelling Organisation is behind the recognised logo we see on UK fair-trade products www.fairtrade.net ). Not only will they be the first Palestinian organisation to carry this mark on their olive oil and olives, but it will also be the first time that FLO olive oil and olives are seen in the world market. This, we hope, will be a significant market boost for the Palestinian farmer cooperatives.
The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees have also applied for FLO certification for their olive oil and olives.
Upcoming Events
Zaytoun is planning to have a presence at many events this November, including those listed below.
If you are planning a stall to sell Zaytoun produce at an upcoming event be sure to email us on contact@zaytoun.org so we can include the event in our newsletter.
Upcoming events are:
20 November to Sunday November. Ethical Christmas Emporium at the Oxo Tower, South Bank
22 Nov 08 - Christmas Fair, Midhurst Methodist Church, Midhurst, West Sussex (10am to 12noon)
29 & 30 November – A Taste of Palestine – a 2 day event selling and showcasing products of Palestine. Maramia Café selling delicious Palestinian food will also be there. 11am-5pm, free entry, SOAS Main Building, Thornhaugh Street, Russell Square
London, WC1H 0XG (Volunteer help needed at this event, please contact heather@zaytoun.org )
29 Nov - Arundel Fairtrade Fair, Arundel Castle, Arundel, West Sussex (10am to 5pm)
6 Dec - Horsham Fairtrade Fair (10am to 5:30pm) see www.fairtradehorsham.org.uk
Latest products and prices
For our latest products and prices see www.zaytoun.org/products
Thanks for your ongoing support,
ZAYTOUN CIC - fairly traded produce from Palestine
Britain to crack down on exports from Israeli settlements