| NEWSLETTER
MAY 2008 THE OLIVE ON THE SEDER
PLATE
Byron Simmonds Writes: This piece has been
adapted from a Haggadah supplement, prepared by Elliott batTzedek and Hannah
Schwarzschild, of the Philadelphia chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace at www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org
 This year, our
seder plate has a new symbol – an olive. Why an olive?
As long as there are Palestinians living under Israeli
occupation, not knowing if they will ever be able to provide for themselves and their
children, we as a people Am Israel cannot ourselves be truly free.
Since October 2000, some half a million olive and fruit
trees on the occupied West Bank have been destroyed or stolen, uprooted and sold. Every
such tree is income taken from future generations of Palestinian farmers, denying them of
security, creating and extending poverty, and pushing back the hopes of real peace and
reconciliation.
When olive groves are destroyed, the past and the future
are also destroyed.
And so, at this time of Passover, as we remember our
liberation from oppression, we should spare a thought for what it means for Palestinians
each time an olive tree is destroyed. Without the taste of olives, there will be no taste
of freedom for Jews or Palestinians.
Barukh atah adonay elohéynu mélekh
ha-olam, borey p’ri ha-eyts
We praise you Eternal One our God,
Sovereign of the universe, who creates the fruit of the tree.
PLANTING TREES IN PALESTINE
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Olive Co-operative's Trees For
Life — Planting Peace in Palestine programme, in partnership with the Palestine Fair
Trade Association and Zaytoun, offers the opportunity to sponsor the planting of olive
trees in Palestine. The new trees will offset the
destruction wrought in Palestinian olive groves by the Israeli army and settlers.
According to the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem. over 500.000 olive trees have been
destroyed since 2000. Each new tree sponsored represents a long-term source of income for
Palestinian families, who have been harvesting olive oil, fruit and wood for generations.
The trees will be distributed in Palestine by the PFTA to
farmers who follow fair trade guidelines and who will benefit from future purchases of
Palestinian olive oil.
£20 will sponsor five trees. Sponsorship online and by
phone is available from Olive Co-operative, www.olivecoop.com or tel 0161 273 1970. |
THE NORFOLK JEWISH PEACE GROUP
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The Norfolk Jewish Peace Group
meets regularly to share information and support projects that promote peace in the Middle
East. It is primarily concerned with human rights and international law insofar as these
impact upon the situation in Israel-Palestine, and is particularly keen to foster links
between Jews and Muslims in the local community. Further details from Jean Davis mailto:jean.davis@talk21.com
or Byron Simmonds mailto:bsimmonds@clara.co.u |
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"One
who destroys a single life it is as if one has destroyed an entire world. One who saves a
single life it is as if one has saved an entire world." (Mishna Sanhedrin) |
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