Dear Zaytoun customers and supporters

For those of you who have been fasting, we wish you “Eid Mubarrak” and hope you enjoy a festive time with friends and family.

مبارك عيد

كل عام و انتم بخير

Sale offer on organic oil and dates

Special offer for October:

Organic Olive Oil: 30% off (this applies to Sindyanna and PARC organic oil)

Dates: 20% off

The sale is on stock BBE December 2008 only.

Harvest trips

The Zaytoun harvest team will be in Palestine from 17^th October to 2^nd November, providing accompaniment and witnesses to the farmers and their families who will be harvesting olives in the Salfit and Nablus districts. This year the team is big, around 24 people and as before, coordination and local liaison will be provided by the International Women’s Peace Service. We’ll post team members’ reports and pictures up on our website as soon as we get them.

The producer tour will be held from 9^th to 15^th November, visiting Bethlehem, Nablus and Jenin as well as the groves and presses in the rural regions and finishing off with a celebratory harvest gathering with traditional food and dance.

During this time we will be focusing on the harvest, so may not be able to answer your queries and respond to orders as quickly as we’d like. If you have any urgent orders coming up, please get them to us in good time so we can meet your deadlines.

FLO certification

We are keeping a close eye on the Fair Trade certification process that is currently happening for many of the Palestinian olive oil cooperatives with which we work. We are due to start work on our own licence as fair trade importers very soon, too. Fair Trade Foundation are working hard alongside our plans, to market this oil, and we’ll keep you up to date with the news on next year’s Fair Trade launch.

We’re hopeful that the Coop will take a quantity of the certified oil, having received samples and pricing. If you are a member of your local Coop board, or if you are a regular shopper in a Coop store, please do add your voice to others to express the demand for Fair Trade Palestinian olive oil to be stocked in every store!

Volunteer calls

Designer

Occasionally we have need to design a beautiful advert for a new publication. We usually manage this ourselves, using Word and saving to PDF. However, we’re not professionals, and we know how much difference can be made to our adverts by experienced designers who can add true pizzazz! If you have experience designing adverts for publication, and would like from time to time to jazz up our draft adverts, please let us know.

Event volunteers

Revert2Reality is a support network that seeks to bring about authentic understandings of Islam to others. They have organised a charity/fashion show event in Walthamstow, London on 12th October from 6-10pm, sponsored by Muslim Aid and Interpal. Zaytoun have been offered the chance to sell our products at this event, which includes a presentation, poetry and songs, a fashion show, 3 course meal and an auction. It is a women-only event, and no children over 5 years old are admitted.

If you could help us by running the stall here, please let us know on cathi@zaytoun.org or 0845 345 4887.

If you would like to reserve a ticket for this event please call their booking line on 07976 807 268. Tickets are available for £25 per person, and all proceeds raised go towards relieving the sufferings of Palestinians.

Tasting Session

We have been invited to do olive oil tasting in Budgens in Crouch End; a great opportunity to promote the oil and to encourage this retailer to stock Palestinian produce. If you live locally and would be interested in running a tasting session please contact heather@zaytoun.org for further details (we would provide oil and za’atar and cover travel costs, the tasting session are for 2 hours).

Events

Zayoun will have stall at the following events. If you would like to volunteer at any of the London stalls please contact heather@zaytoun.org or 0845 345 4887

Thursday 2 October, Kensington Town Hall, Hornton St, London W8 7NX

Admission £5. 10am – 5pm. The Gift of Sight Fair (in aid of St John’s eye hospital Jerusalem)

Tuesday 7 October is World Day for Decent Work. The TUC is organising a major event at Congress House in Central London. Civil society organisations are being invited to participate in or otherwise support the event. It promises to be the largest ever UK gathering on the Decent Work agenda of trade unions, development charities, campaigning NGOs and fair trade companies, development and gender centres of academic institutions, and think tanks. Activities will occur over the course of the day, commencing at 9.30am and finishing at 5pm, with a solidarity Rally and social afterwards in Congress Hall.

The event is free to attend, but registration in advance for individual attendees is essential. http://www.tuc.org.uk/wddw

Saturday 11 October 2008 – Day for Palestine. Doors open 1.30pm at Friends Meeting House, Ordnance Rd, Southampton. Seeking Justice for Palestinians after 60 Years films; live music, speakers, dance, food & stalls

Contact for more information - Jon : Tel. 023 80 220 273 Email pscsouthampton@googlemail.com

Satrurday 18 October Zaytoun and Palcrafts stall at Guildford Cathedral Fair, held in the Cathedral nave from 11.00 until 3.00pm.

Saturday and Sunday 25 & 26 October The Global Peace and Unity event is the largest multicultural gathering in Europe - expected to attract more than 60,000 people over two days in October at Excel in London.

www.theglobalunity.com

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.

Latest products and prices…

www.zaytoun.org/products

New product – 500ml extra virgin olive oil with za’atar sachet around neck – now in stock.

Zaytoun will have a stall at this event, please come along:

The global trade union movement is holding a World Day for Decent Work on Tuesday 7 October. To mark the event in the UK, and in support of the Decent Work, Decent Life Campaign, the TUC is organising a day of activities at Congress House, London, focusing on rights at work and ending inequality in the workplace.

The event promises to be the largest ever gathering of international development and labour-related organisations in the UK concerned with the Decent Work agenda.

Over the course of the day there will be over 50 workshops, films, exhibitions and stalls from UK development charities, trade unions, organisations concerned with fair and ethical trade, and academic institutions focusing on the development and gender dimensions of livelihood and income generation issues.

The event is free to attend, but registration in advance is essential. You can register your details online

Zaytoun products will be on sale at this event…

12noon-9pm
Sunday September 21st 2008
Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square. London WC1R 4RL
Free
Everybody welcome.

CAMDEN PEACE FAIR
12-5pm

• Louis Vause
• Iguana Nights
• Upbeat Voices
• Al Zaytouna
• DD Jensen
• & other special guests

Supported by London Borough of Camden

The annual West Bank olive harvest holds special significance for Palestinians. Read recipes and stories about some of the traditional dishes enjoyed in conjunction with the olive oil season. Click to read.

We’d like to wish all our supporters and customers a joyful Ramadan!

And if you don’t already - why not consider breaking your fasts with our delicious Palestinian dates. Here are some pictures of our dates from Jericho, for more information about the farmers and the obstacles to trade that face them, please see our latest newsletter (available on request from contact@zaytoun.org).

SOAP SPECIAL!!! SOAP SPECIAL!!! SOAP SPECIAL!!! SOAP SPECIAL!!!

For hundreds of years the second largest city in the West Bank, Nablus, has been famous for its soap making. With more than 28 factories Nablus’ traditional hand made olive oil soap could be found in almost every household across the Middle East. But that number drastically decreased at the onset of the current intifada which began in 2001. Now there are only 3 functioning factories in the Nablus area.

To read more about where we source our soap and see some picture please see click here

Nablus Soap Factory – our next soap order has left the West Bank and should be with us soon!

Bella Freud writes about her favourite soap

The Sunday Telegraph’s magazine ‘Stella’ recently included a short piece by Bella Freud on her favourite soap from Nablus. Bella writes: “The ancient and beautiful Palestinian city of Nablus, which I have visited, has been producing soap since the 13th century…” Read on here…

www.zaytoun.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/nablus-soap-pdf2.pdf

Orders

You can buy our different soaps from us directly if buying in bulk, or for smaller orders please contact the distributors below.

www.emara.com/oilshop

http://www.olivecoop.com/catalog/index.php?cPath=28

http://www.amnestyshop.org.uk/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=583

http://www.hadeel.org/OTHER%20ITEMS%201%20other4.htm#Miscellaneous

UK soap makers

Zaytoun’s Palestinian olive oil is used across the UK by a variety of businesses as a key ingredient in their products. The companies below tell us why they use our extra virgin olive oil.

‘Visionary Soap Company, founded in 2005, was established first and foremost as a fair trade company. We are proud to say that we have used Zaytoun’s Palestinian olive oil in our organic soaps and body care products from the very beginning. Zaytoun is our main fair trade supplier and with the growth of our company, we hope to be able to purchase an ever increasing quantity of olive oil. In addition, we are also stockists for various Zaytoun products, including soap from the Project Hope Soap Project in order to provide further support for these Palestinian producers. Visit us at: www.visionarysoap.co.uk ’

The Cornwall Soap Box uses Palestinian olive oil as wherever possible, we deal direct and favour fairly traded producers where the income from production provides a living wage and helps community schemes. All our soaps and skincare products are made by us at our workshop in Hayle. Every ingredient that we use is chosen with great care without using chemicals or preservatives. None of our products are tested on animals. As rated by the Ethical Consumer Magazine as one of the top 3 ethical producers in the UK. www.cornwallsoapbox.co.uk

‘Tosin Dosekun set up Scentolive after being inspired by her grandmother’s secret to youthful and healthy looking skin. The Extra Virgin Olive Oil is rich in Vitamin E and superior antioxidants. The 3 essential oils – Orange, Cinnamon and Rosemary­ boosts circulation, is anti-bacterial and can speed up cell renewal. This can be used to nourish dry and sensitive skin, restore damaged hair and strengthen nails. Scentolive is available at £7.95 per 60ml bottle from www.scentolive.com or from 0870 034 2019.’

Upcoming Events

Zaytoun is hoping to have a presence at many events over the summer, 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.

Regents Park Bazaar and Souk

August 23 - 24 11.30am - 7pm

Near the London Central Mosque

Urban Green Fair

August 31

Brockwell Park, Brixton

Powered by Solar and Wind Energy

Speciality & Fine Foods Fair (Stand 163)

September 7 - 9

Olympia, Hammersmith Road, London

www.specialityandfinefoodfairs.co.uk

London Vegan Fair

September 7 11am - 8pm

Kensington Town Hall, Hornton St, W8

£1 adults, under 16s free www.vegancampaigns.org.uk/festival

Soil Association Scotland’s Organic Food Festival 2008

September 20 - 21

Merchant City, Glasgow

If anyone is interested in volunteering to help out at the stalls at any of these events please do get in touch.

SPECIAL OFFER!!! SPECIAL OFFER!!! SPECIAL OFFER!!! SPECIAL OFFER!!!

Have you tried Zaytoun’s organic olive oil? With each order over £550 receive a complimentary case of organic certified olive oil (500ml*12) Order now – see our latest products and prices…

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

Thanks for your ongoing support,

ZAYTOUN CIC - fairly traded produce from Palestine

Zaytoun is a member of IFAT (International Fair Trade Association)

www.zaytoun.org

Order & general enquiries call

Phone: 0845 345 4887

Email: order@zaytoun.org

Registration number: 507 8436

The Olive Trees Of Palestine Weep

By Sonja Karkar

07 September, 2007
Women For Palestine

Universally regarded as the symbol of peace, the olive tree has become the object of violence. For more than forty years, Israel has uprooted over one million olive trees and hundreds of thousands of fruit trees in Palestine with terrible economic and ecological consequences for the Palestinian people. Their willful destruction has so threatened Palestinian culture, heritage and identity that the olive tree has now become the symbol of Palestinian steadfastness because of its own rootedness and ability to survive in a land where water is perennially scarce.

Throughout the centuries, Palestinian farmers have made their living from olive cultivation and olive oil production; 80 percent of cultivated land in the West Bank and Gaza is planted with olive trees. [1] In the West Bank alone, some 100,000 families are dependent on olive sales. [2] Today, the olive harvest provides Palestinian farmers with anywhere between 25 to 50 percent of their annual income, and as the economic crisis deepens, the harvest provides for many their basic means of survival. [3] But despite the hardships, it is the festivities and traditions that accompany the weeks of harvesting that have held Palestinian communities together and are, in fact, a demonstration of their ownership of the land that no occupation can extinguish except by the annihilation of Palestinian society itself.

And that is precisely what Israel has been doing — through brute force and far more insidious ways. Under an old law from the Ottoman era, Israel claims as state property, land that has been “abandoned” and left uncultivated for a period of four years and this land is then usually allocated to Israeli settlers. Of course, the land has not been voluntarily abandoned. Because of Israel’s closure policy, which imposes the most draconian restrictions on movement, Palestinian farmers cannot reach their agricultural lands to tend and harvest their crops. Not only are permits required to move about in their own homeland, but farmers are forced to use alternative routes which must be negotiated on foot or by donkey because about 70 percent of these alternative routes — those connected to main or bypass roads — have been closed by the Israeli army with concrete blocks and ditches. And now a wall is being built for “security reasons” which will permanently separate Palestinian families from their farmlands, except for the gates that allow access at certain times, but more often than not, at the whim of Israeli soldiers who may not even turn up to open them. [4] This makes year-round maintenance of farmers’ crops extremely difficult if not impossible. Hence, the “abandonment” of land that Israel uses to justify its land theft.

Since 1967, the Israeli military and illegal settlers have destroyed more than one million olive trees claiming that stone throwers and gunmen hide behind them to attack the settlers. [5] This is a specious argument because these trees grow deep inside Palestinian territory where no Israeli settler or soldier should be in any case. But, Israel is intent on appropriating even the last vestiges of land left to the Palestinians and so turns a blind eye to any methods used by settlers and soldiers alike to terrorize the farmers away from their farms and crops, even if that means razing their land. Farmers are constantly under threat of being beaten and shot at, having their water supplies contaminated (already scarce because 85 percent of renewable water resources go to the settlers and Israel), their olive groves torched and their olive trees uprooted. [6]

On a larger scale, the Israeli military brings in the bulldozers to uproot trees in the way of the “security” wall’s route and where they impede the development of infrastructure necessary to service the illegal settlements. Some of these threatened trees are 700 to 1,000 years old and are still producing olives. [7] These precious trees are being replaced by roads, sewerage, electricity, running water and telecommunications networks, Israeli military barracks, training areas, industrial estates and factories leading to massive despoliation of the environment. If Israel has its way, neither the trees nor the Palestinians who have cared for them will survive the barbaric ethnic and environmental cleansing of Palestine.

The irony of it all is that Israel’s uprooting of olive trees is contrary to the Jewish halakhic principle whose origin is found in the Torah: “Even if you are at war with a city … you must not destroy its trees” (Deut 20:19). Under the pretext of “redeeming” the land the Jews claim God gave them and the trees they are supposed to preserve, Israel continues to violently expropriate Palestinian land. With each uprooted tree, another slab of concrete is put in place for the wall and the illegal Jewish settlements — the landscape sculpted and changed beyond all recognition and no longer the sacrosanct place that has long given Israel its spurious Biblical justification for dispossessing the Palestinians of the land they have nurtured since time immemorial.

The agonizing pain of loss felt by Palestinians for their ravaged land is not expressed in the statistics. Only those who have suffered the same cruel violations or those who seek to protect and preserve the delicate balance of the world’s environment can understand what it means for people of the land. International law, although on their side, remains ineffective as no world government, not even the United Nations, is prepared to pressure Israel to stop its illegal collective punishment of the entire Palestinian population. Today, there are campaigns all around the world to end the uprooting of trees in Palestine and to replant those which have already been uprooted. And each year, when the Palestinian olive harvest approaches, international volunteers join Palestinians to provide some human protection from the acts of violence visited on Palestinian farmers by Israeli settlers and soldiers who want to stop the harvesting of crops. These wonderful acts of solidarity help to heal the land, but they cannot heal the pain of those who have to watch the uprooting of age-old olive trees, the desecration of their land and their millennia-old heritage. Such heartbreaking reality has led the Palestinian poet, Mahmoud Darwish, to say, “If the olive trees knew the hands that planted them, their oil would have become tears …”

Endnotes

[1] UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affiars, “The Olive Harvest in the West Bank and Gaza,” October 2006.

[2] Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ), “Olive Harvest in Palestine. Another Season, Another Anguish,” November 2004.

[3] Canaan Fair Trade, www.olivecoop.com/Canaan.html.

[4] OXFAM, “Forgotten Villages: Struggling to survive under closure in the West Bank,” September 2002, p. 21.

[5] ARIJ, “Olive Harvest in Palestine. Another Season, Another Anguish,” November 2004.

[6] UN Report of the Special Committee to investigate Israeli Practices affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, No. 40, September 2005.

[7] Atyaf Alwazir, “Uprooting Olive trees in Palestine,” Inventory of Conflict and Environment (ICE), Case Number: 110, American University, November 2002.

http://marketplace.publicradio.org/middleeast/ss/eaton_olive_oil_peace/
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/middleeast/video/olive_oil.html

For the fifth season, the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the East Jerusalem YMCA and YWCA of Palestine (JAI) and the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) are organizing the annual Olive Picking Program in Palestine which will take place from the 25th of October to the 3rd of November 2008. This agricultural event is of special significance to the Palestinian economy when all energies and efforts are mobilized.

Since the beginning of the second Intifada in 2000, the olive harvest has been overshadowed by Israel’s policies of repression, such as closures, blockage of streets, confiscation of agricultural lands, as well as repeated attacks against Palestinian farmers by Israeli settlers. Now with the construction the Apartheid Wall at the expense of agricultural land, many farmers are separated from their olive trees.

Building on experience from previous years, JAI and ATG have planned a program for civil international solidarity with Palestinian people and farmers. The objective of this program is to mobilize international volunteers to assist in picking olive in fields that are situated in proximity of Israeli settlements and bypass roads. In these areas, an international presence is often needed in order to help Palestinian farmers to access their olive groves which are in danger of being confiscated.

Besides picking olives, the program will feature introductory presentations about the current situation in Palestine and the effect of the Apartheid Wall, tours in the Old City of Jerusalem, in Bethlehem and Hebron, in addition to cultural events and social gatherings.

We are looking forward to your participation!

Olive Picking 2008 proposed schedule*:

Day One: Saturday 25/10/2008: Arrival at the airport and transfer to Bethlehem to meet representatives from the organizing institutions for an overview and discussion of the program.

Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day Two Sunday 26/10/2008: Half day picking olives at a selected field.

After lunch, political tour and sightseeing in Bethlehem, including the visit of a refugee camp. Followed by the screening of a documentary at Jadal / Alternative Information Center (AIC).

Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day Three. Monday 27/10/2008: Half day picking olives at a selected field, followed by lunch.

Meeting at ARIJ (Applied Research Institute Jerusalem) for a presentation on the Apartheid Wall and land confiscation. Visiting an olive press.

Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day Four Tuesday 28/10/2008: Tour in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Welcome and lunch at the YWCA headquarters in Jerusalem followed by a settlement tour around Jerusalem with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD).

Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day Five Wednesday 29/10/2008: A tour in the old city of Hebron through the market and how it is affected by Israeli settlers. Meeting with the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee. Lunch followed by a half day picking olives at a selected field.

Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day Six Thursday 30/10/2008: Free Day (optional olive picking or tours)

Day Seven Friday 31/10/2008: Olive picking at a selected field with lunch.

Dinner and overnight in Bethlehem.

Day Eight Saturday 01/11/2008: Half day picking olives at a selected field.

Meeting with representatives from the Joint Advocacy Initiative of the East Jerusalem YMCA and YWCA of Palestine.

Dinner followed by an optional presentation on the refugee questions with BADIL Resource Center for Palestinian Residency and Refugees’ Rights

Overnight in Bethlehem.

Day Nine Sunday 02/11/2008: Half day picking olives at a field. Optional time for worship.

Evaluation meeting with institutions representatives followed by a musical evening and farewell dinner with staff members and volunteers.

Overnight in Bethlehem.

Day Ten Monday 03/11/2008: Transfer to the airport for departure.

* Proposed Schedule is subject to minor changes.

More Information:

· The cost of the 10 days program including accommodation, meals, and local transportation is 620 USD.

· Accommodation (in double rooms) will be arranged at a hotel or with a local family.

· A tour guide will be present with the group at all times for facilitation purposes.

· Travel from and to the airport is not included in the cost but can be arranged for groups.

For any other information, questions, concerns, or to request a registration form, please contact:

Baha Hilo, Joint Advocacy Initiative of the East Jerusalem YMCA and the YWCA of Palestine, campaigns officer, via email at: olivetree@jai-pal.org or by phone at (+970) 2 2774540.

Jawad Musleh, Alternative Tourism Group, program coordinator, via email at: jawad@atg.ps or by phone at (+970) 2 2772151.

Visit our websites: http://www.jai-pal.org and http://www.atg.ps.