Spring 2013 Newsletter

Dear Friends,

You have placed your name in our email address list indicating your interest in hearing more about Daoud Nassar and his peace project in the West Bank – Tent of Nations.  Thank you so much for attending his presentation and bearing witness to his story of struggle and faith in the face of adversity.  I am sending you a copy of our latest Newsletter, and I hope you can share it with your friends so that they, too, can become more aware of the reality on the ground for so many Palestinians, as well as for Israelis, who are seeking peace with justice in their land.  We rely on your ‘word of mouth’ to spread the story of Daoud and his family.

The Peace we seek can become a reality with your support.

With gratitude – Kay Plitt – on behalf of Friends of Tent of Nations, North America (FOTONNA)

It has been a while since you received our last update about the Tent of Nations and our struggle to keep the farm from the danger of confiscation. We would like to share with you the latest news from the Tent of Nations, the situation on the ground, our concerns, but also our hope and how the project is moving forward.

Political Situation

The political situation is getting more difficult; settle-ments in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are on a daily expansion.  Every day, more land is being confiscated for new settlements or expanding the existing ones.  Land is being taken for security purposes, for settler’s roads and, of course, for the wall.

Land Process

Through our lawyer, we appealed to the high court to rescind the 13 outstanding demolishing orders for some of our structures.  In December 2012, the high court rejected our appeal; they said that we have to apply for building permits again according to the new rules (meaning we would have to agree to pay for the demolition ourselves if the permits were not granted). Before applying, the land had to be surveyed again in two different types of surveys.  Our Lawyer did the paper work, and we started a new process in the Israeli courts to protect our structures.  It is a frustrating situation for us, but we still believe in justice and one day justice will prevail.  We are willing to go all the way to the Israeli Supreme Court if needed.

(We will keep you updated regarding any urgent development, and, if needed, we will ask you to take actions.  Please be prepared for that in the form of a petition letter and sample letters to send to your contacts in our government and to newspapers.)

Agricultural Development

During the winter months, we managed to collect water in our cisterns to be used in the dry summer.  We managed, also, to plant a variety of trees (1,253).  With this investment in agriculture, our aim is to make the farm self-sufficient.  Now there are thousands of trees growing on the farm.  We are continuing to cultivate land towards the valley, planting it with more trees and making it green.  We are watering the trees from the rain water collected in our cisterns during the rainy season.  Special thanks for all people who sponsored trees, and for all who planted those trees.

Infrastructure

Energy:
With the solar power system that produces 4.5 KW of electricity, we managed to solve many problems. The plan for this year is to add more panels and two small wind turbines in order to make the Tent of Nations totally independent in terms of energy.

Water:
Each year we have been increasing our rain water collection capacity in order to have sufficient supplies of water and to be able to develop agriculture to support activities and programs on the farm.   We installed a filtration system to filter the rain water for drinking.

Recycling Grey and Sewage Water and Bio-gas:
We built four new showers for our guests and volunteers. The shower water is being collected and reused again for watering the new planted trees.  We already started to recycle the sewage water.  We are hoping by this summer to use the recycled water for irrigation.  Special thanks for all who helped in supporting this project financially, also.  We are also hoping by the end of this year to develop a way to get bio-gas from human and animal manure for cooking, saving us from buying expensive cooking gas.

Bent Al Reef Women’s Project

The Bent Al Reef Women’s Week took place from the 11th until the 16th of March.  This year the theme was “recycling.”  We wanted to raise more awareness about environmental issues as well as to encourage those women to be active in taking better care of our country’s environment.  The English, computer and agricultural training, as well as some art workshops, will continue until the beginning of June.

Guest Groups and Volunteers

There are currently three long-term volunteers from Germany staying at the Tent of Nations.  Others will soon arrive and will serve for 1-3 months. Volunteers can apply through our website by filling out a form.  Since January to April 2013, we had 1,592 visitors who came to visit the Tent of Nations from different countries.

Finally, we would like to thank you for all your prayers, for your continuous support, and for your solidarity.

Blessings and Salaam,
Daoud Nassar,
Tent of Nations – People Building Bridges

Message from FOTONNA:

Thanks to your generous and kind support, we were able to meet the financial needs expressed by Daoud in 2012 with no problem.  We hope you can continue to be as hopeful and as helpful in 2013, showing faith in action!

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We have a final schedule of events for Daoud’s Spring 2013 Tour.  If you live anywhere near one of these venues, we would love to invite you to attend and bring a friend or two.  At most places, Daoud will be accompanied by his wife, Jihan, and their three wonderful children:  Shadin, Nardine and Bishara.  And, even if you have heard Daoud’s story before, there are new events unfolding every day that you need to be aware of in order to help us keep up pressure on the Israeli authorities and our own government so we can, together, preserve this unique and wonderful Peace Project.  When and if we have to take direct action, we will be in touch with you as soon as we get word from Daoud.

And, the opportunity to meet and greet this incredibly talented and gifted family will be a real treat.  If you think Daoud is wonderful, wait until you meet all of the Nassar family; they might even play a piano piece or two for you!

From the Other Side of the Wall

New York City – June 2-6, 2013
– Sunday, June 2, 2013 – 10:45 a.m. – Riverside Church – 490 Riverside Drive @ 120th Street
– Sunday, June 2, 2013 – 3 p.m. – Holy Apostles Church – 296 9th Avenue @ 28th Street
– Tuesday, June 4, 2013 – 6:30 p.m. – All Souls Church – 1157 Lexington Avenue @ 79th Street
– Wednesday, June 5, 2013 -7 p.m. – Church of the Holy Trinity – 316 E. 88th Street between 1st and 2nd
– Thursday, June 6, 2013 – 7 p.m. – Trinity Grace Church – 21 W. 38th Street – Second Floor

Metro Washington, D.C. – June 9, 2013
– Sunday, June 9, 2013 – 10 a.m. Worship – Lunch at 1:00 p.m. – Cedar Lane UUC
     9601 Cedar Lane – Bethesda, Maryland  20814 – (301) 320-6932 or (301) 588-1488

Ohio and Michigan – June 13-16, 2013
– Thursday, June 13, 2013 – 7 p.m. – Corpus Christi/Pax Christi –
2955 Dorr Street – Toledo, Ohio  43607 – (419) 885-4181
– Friday, June 14, 2013 – 7 p.m. – Hope Lutheran Church
151 W. Center – Fostoria, Ohio  44830 – (419) 306-0658
– Saturday, June 15, 2013 – 10 a.m. – Zion Lutheran Church
1501 W. Liberty – Ann Arbor, Michigan  48103
– Saturday, June 15, 2013 – 7:30 p.m. – Zoar Lutheran Church
314 E. Indiana – Perrysburg, Ohio  43551 – (419) 874-4346
– Sunday, June 16, 2013 – 1 p.m. – Luncheon – West Shore UUC
20401 Hilliard Road – Rocky River, Ohio  44116 – (440) 333-2255
– Thursday, June 20, 2013 – TBD
Chicago

Metro Washington, D.C. and Richmond, Virginia – June 23-25, 2013

– Sunday, June 23, 2013 – 9 a.m. and 11:15 a.m. -Trinity Presbyterian Church
5533 N. 16th Street – Arlington, Virginia  22205 – (703) 536-5600
– Tuesday, June 25, 2013 – 7:00 p.m. – Christ the King Lutheran Church
9800 West Huguenot Road – Richmond, Virginia  23235 – (804) 965-6214

Many thanks to all who helped with this tour; your enthusiasm is contagious!!
And, a new shipment of Daoud’s book is available – just $15.00!!  Please see our website:
www.fotonna.org.

Daoud Nassar
Director

Tent of Nations
-People Building Bridges-
P.O.Box 28, Bethlehem
Palestine
Tel: +972 (0)2 274 30 71
Fax: +972 (0)2 276 74 46
Mobile: +972 (0)522 975 985
E-mail: dnassar@tentofnations.org
E-mail: info@tentofnations.org
www.tentofnations.org