See complete stories at: IFPB.org. – Nov. 2017 Why Are You Here? | Amirah Abu Lughod – Stony Point, New York Over the mountains, over the sea and through Israeli security… “Are you with this group? Please go to the waiting area miss, we need to do another check on your passport. “Why are you […]
Sahar _____, 35 Where I Am From… I am a girl of the mountains, A girl of Palestine, A girl of hope… From my beautiful childhood and successful life From something that is not something, Whenever there is a window that is closed, God opens another window in the sky, From where am I…? From […]
Except for the COVID-19 pandemic time since March 2020, volunteers have always been needed for to help out on the Nassar family farm. As soon as travel is possible again, post-pandemic, international volunteers will be needed and welcomed again. Stay tuned for announcements when travel re-opens! In addition to supporting the actual work carried out […]
Tent of Nations People Building Bridges Summer/Fall 2017 Newsletter Dear Friends, Greetings from the Tent of Nations (TON). It is been a while since you heard from us. We would like to share with you the latest news from the Tent of Nations, the situation on the ground, our concerns, but also to share […]
Tent of Nations People Building Bridges June 22, 2017 – Spring/Summer Newsletter We haven’t been in touch for some time, and I apologize for that. Daoud has been extra busy over the last several months with both travel and many work projects on the farm. He also organized (along with Meta Floor) a Celebration 101 in […]
Fall 2016 Newsletter This will be a short update from FOTONNA since Daoud has provided a very thorough one for Tent of Nations in the next section of this newsletter. From the Director’s Corner: A highlight for me this summer, in serving as an Elder Commissioner to the Presbyterian denomination’s 2016 General Assembly in […]
I returned home Sunday night, May 21, after what I feel will be my last trip to Bethlehem); even with the wonderful hospitality of friends there. But still, my time there, amongst the people on the land, was truly the best ever. Why so? The experience can be captured in two events. One was at […]
Daoud and the Nassar family are still waiting for the July 21 deadline for the Military Courts to provide a rationale to the Israeli Supreme Court for two items: 1) the Military Court’s refusal to grant recently filed building permits; and, 2) its refusal to put a stop to the demolition orders already issued. Daoud was […]
The Tent of Nations centenary: “We refuse to be enemies” by the EAPPI Bethlehem team. On the 12th of May 2016, the Nassar family supported by visitors from around the Globe, congregated on a scenic hilltop farm on the outskirts of Nahlin village to celebrate their family’s connection to the land which stretches back in […]
March 14, 2016 – Spring Newsletter 100-Year Anniversary! From May 9-12, 2016, Tent of Nations has plans underway for a four-day celebration of its 100-year anniversary (100 years of the existence of Daher’s Vineyard). Over 50 individuals from around the world have registered to attend the events at one level or another; many have […]
Objectives of the Olive Oil Ministry The objectives of the Olive Oil Ministry are to support the Palestinian people in their search for justice, for economic prosperity and defense of their rights, to help bring about a just peace between Palestinians and Israelis, and to raise awareness about the realities on the ground in the […]
June 16, 2016 Dear Friends, As you know, during the week of May 9-20, 2016, there was an international Centennial Celebration of the purchase of Daher’s Vineyard in 1916; I was fortunate to be able to participate in this joyful event at Tent of Nations. While we celebrated and planted trees on the farm, members […]
St. Mark’s Episcopal Cathedral in Seattle, Washington planted an olive tree in its Urban Garden on May 22nd in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of Daher’s Vineyard. Thanks for the idea in your last newsletter! And yes, there are hearty species of olive trees that survive our Pacific Northwest climate. The garden provides fruits and […]
It’s been four days since I returned home from the centennial celebration of the purchase of Daher’s Orchard, now the home of Tent of Nations, and the Nassar family farm. You can read more about the events of the four-day gathering of 60+volunteers from 8 countries on our website blog here. For me the week’s […]
Dear Friends of Tent of Nations UK, I’m greeting you a week after having returned from Daher’s Vineyard as friends from around the world joined the Nassar family to mark 100 years of existence on that land that is so dear to them and to which they belong. Around 60 people from the Netherlands, the […]
The 4 days of volunteer activities at the Nassar Farm were busy and took on a regular rhythm, starting with early rising and breakfast, then our 9:00 morning gathering of 60-70 volunteers with songs, poems, prayers, and meditation on the daily themes: “Come and See,” “Come and Tell,” “Come and Act,” and “We Refuse to […]
I have been thinking quite a bit about what it means for there to be an international presence at Tent of Nations and in occupied Palestine, and to imaginatively use having visitors here at the farm on a continual basis. Daood Nassar told us that since 2002, when a good number of internationals began showing […]
Today was a great mixture of communal farm work, afternoon workshops, discussions, and optional activities, then a surprise party in the evening. I am getting to know the many different areas of the 100-acre Nassar Farm, which includes lots of interesting little nooks and crannies along the hilltop and in the fields of grapes, olive […]
Good morning dear friends. Here I am at the Tent of Nations with the Nassar family as we begin the celebration of the Centenial event recognizing 100 years since the farm was purchased by family and now enjoyed by many as the place of understanding. 60 people from 8 countries began the week together at […]
It has been a very full Day #1 here at Tent of Nations! First: how I got here, literally, in contrast to my previous journal entry that described how I found myself volunteering at ToN and being a part of its 100th anniversary party. Last evening I came by taxi from Bethlehem with two other […]
I am just waking up in the Bethlehem Hotel, after arriving here last evening from Ben Gurion Airport with 2 Dutch women who are also here for the 100 Year Celebration at Tent of Nations. A group of perhaps 25 of us “pilgrims” had a buffet dinner together at the hotel, with Meta introducing us […]
Daoud and members of the Fotonna team returned last week from the 18th U.S Spring tour where we focused on reaching out to university groups, local churches and with peace and justice groups primarily in the Austin, Texas area. Due to the commitment of the local organizers there for the Interfaith Community for Palestinian […]
Tent of Nations People Building Bridges Fall 2015 Newsletter – Number 20 —————————- UPDATE FROM DAOUD December 2015 Dear Friends, We would like to wish you a blessed Christmas and holiday season with your loved ones. In this deteriorating political situation in Palestine, we find comfort in thoughts of love, hope, faith, and justice. We […]
The excerpt below was extracted from one of three reviews with permission from the Editors of Presbyterian Outlook in its February 1, 2016 edition. There were three reviews of the book in the article. This review is a brief tasting of the one submitted by Bill Plitt, Executive Director/Co-founder of FOTONNA. “With great respect and deep appreciation […]
Dear Friends, Greetings from Bethlehem! It is something special to celebrate Christmas in the place where the word became flesh. More than two thousand years ago, the shepherds who were also living under occupation came to see the newborn King. Hopelessness, frustration, and fear didn’t stop them from making this risky trip to come and see. […]
Summer/Fall 2015 Newsletter September 14, 2015 – Summer/Fall Newsletter NOTE FROM DAOUD: Dear Friends, It has been a while since you’ve last heard from us, but we are still here working hard to achieve justice. We would like to share with you the latest news about the Tent of Nations farm, the legal situation, the challenges […]
Pardon my musings, but I wake some mornings with this awesome feeling, a spiritual call to speak. I share this with you because I feel some measure of selfishness that I get to experience the exhilarating moments of our work in the life of the project that reassures me that we are on the right […]
“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34) Having just returned from another amazing U.S tour with Daoud Nassar, a Palestinian farmer, I am inspired to write a piece that I think captures the many spiritual moments that occurred once again during the spaces of the featured events of the tour. […]
I was an Israel Defense Forces soldier in Gaza 27 years ago, during the first intifada. We patrolled the city and the villages and the refugee camps and encountered angry teenagers throwing stones at us. We responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Now those seem like the good old days. Since then, the conflict […]
By Steven Levitsky and Glen Weyl October 23 Washington Post Steven Levitsky is a professor of government at Harvard University. Glen Weyl is an assistant professor of economics and law at the University of Chicago. We are lifelong Zionists. Like other progressive Jews, our support for Israel has been founded on two convictions: first, that […]
2015 Tree of Life Conference How Can WE Be Agents of Change to Secure Human Rights for Palestinians and Israelis? In this conference, we will hear from Israeli, Palestinian and American voices of conscience who will help us understand that in the long struggle toward justice and peace in the Holy Land, the fulcrum of […]
By Jonathan Cook Global Research, September 08, 2015 Jonathan Cook: The View from Nazareth 8 September 2015 Nearly half a million Palestinian pupils go on strike in Israel as Netanyahu government digs in heels against independent church schools Thousands of Arab schools in Israel went on strike on Monday, their 450,000 pupils remaining at home, as the Israeli government geared […]
Spring 2015 Newsletter – Number 19 UPDATE FROM DAOUD – February 20, 2015 Dear Friends, Greetings from all of us at the Tent of Nations.Because of your support, it is always exciting for me to update you about the status of the farm and the work we are doing here. We started this year with new […]
Steve France – August 2015 In July, three of us stopped by Daoud Nassar’s hilltop farm, Tent of Nations, near Bethlehem. Daher Nassar, the eldest brother, found us picking our way through the boulders and broken rocks strewn on the road by the surrounding settlers to block access to the farm. Daher gladdened us with […]
JULY 2015 | IFPB NEWSLETTER […]
Congressional Briefing Packs the House! Watch the briefing here. On June 2, the No Way to Treat a Child Campaign held a Congressional Briefing in the North Congressional Meeting room at the Capitol Visitor’s Center. US Representative Keith Ellison provided the welcome to the standing-room-only event for 130 people, including staffers from over 30 Congressional […]
Reflections from Kay Israel/Palestine Trip May 17-21, 2015 Bill is light; I am dark. Bill is up; I am down. Guess which one of us is full of hope and which one is full of despair. This is how we see the world – through very different lenses – and this is why my reflections […]
Fall 2014 Newsletter Update from Daoud – October 20, 2014: (Here is a synopsis of what has been happening on the ground since the destruction of the trees on May 19, 2014.) Greetings – After we brought the case before the Israeli Supreme Court regarding the destruction of our trees on private land in May 2014, […]
Dear Justice Advocates, In Gaza, severe winter weather is worsening the deplorable living conditions as residents struggle to survive following the devastating summer war. UNRWA, the United Nations agency assigned to help Palestinian refugees, reported this month: “Already, the incredibly harsh winter in Gaza has claimed the lives of five babies….homeless refugees run the […]
Pro-Israeli, Pro-Palestinian, Pro-Jesus by Ryan Rodrick Beiler | March 2015 Evangelicals are no longer automatically taking a one-sided approach to conflict in the Middle East STUN GRENADES AND tear gas bombs exploded in the street outside of Bethlehem Bible College, forcing Rev. Alex Awad to end his class early. Down the block, youth threw stones at the Israeli […]
In February 2015, sixth, seventh and eighth grade Middle Schoolers from Oregon learned about the Tent of Nations Farm on a Lutheran Youth Overnight Retreat. Photos that were taken by the ELCA Oregon Synod trip delegates in May 2014 were shared. The photos showed the destruction that the delegates witnessed just a few days after […]
By STEVEN ERLANGERDEC. 15, 2014 LONDON — Secretary of State John Kerry, meeting in Rome on Monday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, was confronted with unexpected pressure from the Palestinian Authority, which announced that it would put forward a United Nations Security Council resolution this week demanding a complete Israeli withdrawal from the […]
Many of us are wondering how to respond at yet another point of descent into hopelessness in the Holy Land. Following are three recent pieces that help provide some sense of perspective along with an encouragement to “stay in the game.” In Stages of Grief in the Search for a Permanent Peace, Danny Seidemann argues for a diplomatic and political […]
How can a preventable war be justified? And how can one wrap oneself in its rightness in the presence of the horror-show images from Gaza? By Gideon Levy | Jul. 27, 2014 | 5:20 AM | 6 It began as a war of choice: A different Israeli policy in the last few months might have […]
By Ben White http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/how-many-nakbas/article6246079.ece More than ever, there is a need today to understand the Israel-Palestine conflict Gaza burns while the international community sits quietly, doing nothing about it. Israel has bombarded the territory for two weeks, killing more than 700 Palestinians and wounding well over 3,000. As I write this, I am aware that […]
Dear Friends, When we heard the news of the brutal murder of Rabbi Moshe Twersky, 59, Rabbi Aryeh Kupinsky, 43, Rabbi Avraham Shmuel Goldberg, 68, Rabbi Kalman Zeev Levine, 55, and Zidan Nahad Seif, 30, we felt deep horror and grief. We mourn and condemn the gruesome murders at the Har Nof synagogue. Our hearts […]
Please see Churches for Middle East Peace (CMEP) – www.cmep.org. – for updates on this situation and stay tuned for the latest breaking news on this movement.
Writing from the West Bank, Sarah Levy explains the source of spiraling violence in East Jerusalem–provocations and deadly assaults by Israeli soldiers and settlers alike. November 19, 2014 TENSIONS WERE already at the boiling point in Jerusalem after weeks of Israeli provocations when two Palestinian men attacked a synagogue on the morning of November 18, […]
BETHLEHEM Imagine coming to work only to find that the tools and services you use to perform your daily tasks have been taken away. As you look around, you see that your co-workers have everything they need to succeed. That’s how Daoud Nassar feels every day. Nassar is the director of Tent of Nations, a […]
Update from Daoud – October 20, 2014: (Here is a synopsis of what has been happening on the ground since the destruction of the trees on May 19, 2014.) Greetings – After we brought the case before the Israeli Supreme Court regarding the destruction of our trees on private land in May 2014, the Supreme Court […]