“Keep hope alive – Plant an olive tree!”
Dublin food Co-op
Saturday the 16th July at 1pm in the side room

Muhanad Qaisy co-ordinator of the Olive Tree Campaign and Ayman Abu Alzulof of the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG) will give a talk and presentation followed by Q&A at the Dublin Food Co-op on Saturday 15th July 2016 in the Side Room.

Olive trees in Palestine are a symbol of resistance and resilience. They are often the unfortunate casualties of the occupation, but have come to encapsulate the strength of the Palestinian spirit.

Muhanad Qaisy, the Palestinian coordinator of the JAI Olive Tree Campaign, is travelling from the West Bank to Dublin to give a voice to the often-unheard stories of Palestinian farmers, their experiences under the occupation, and the ongoing confiscation of their land. The JAI Olive Tree Campaign supports Palestinian farmers suffering from the various Israeli policies that place their land and property under the threat of confiscation. It also sponsors the planting of new olive trees compensating for those that were uprooted in confiscated lands. The campaign consists of education and lobbying to target the existing policies that adhere to the ongoing confiscation of Palestinian land.
“In spite of the destruction of the very foundations of their existence, and in spite of the ever-increasing violence in the Holy Land, Palestinian women, men and children are committed to rebuilding their society and its structures without the use of violence. They do need your support and involvement.”
Ayman Abu Alzulof works at the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG), a Palestinian NGO specialising in tours that present a critical look at the history, culture and politics of Palestine and its complex relationship with Israel. Located in Beit Sahour, the ATG was founded as a non-profit tourist agency in 1995, when many Palestinians felt that their contemporary culture and the political realities they were living did not find adequate expression in conventional pilgrim-oriented tourism – often organised by Israeli tour companies hostile to the Palestinian experience.

Organised by the Dublin Food Coop