My heart cries while I'm reading this, for as many years as I can remember I have loved the olive tree, not for their beauty, as they don't have sweet smelling flowers of all the colours of the rainbow, but to me they are beautiful ❤️
When I was in Jordan 🇯🇴 staying with friends I asked if they would help me when my time comes, I asked if they could either bury my body in the shade of the olive trees in Palestine 🇵🇸
Or if I am cremated to scatter my ashes there, so that I can return to where my heart belongs...🧘🏻♀️🙏🫂💜🇯🇴🇵🇸🇱🇧🇸🇾🫂💜
This is a beautiful piece of writing, Sarah, thank you so much. Growing up in continental Croatia, olive oil has always been a luxury from the coast I was rarely able to use, but I understood the importance of the olive trees for many families on the coast.
And yet, that significance is nothing compared to what the olive trees mean for the Palestinian people. Their shared deep, hardy roots on wounded ground are awe-inspiring. I cried many times seeing footage of olive trees being burnt and uprooted. This genocide and ecocide are a heinous, monstrous attack on people, their land, and indeed our whole planet.
Thank you for writing this Sarah. So many activities this past year have been tinged with a heavy sadness over Gaza. I’ve taken to cooking Palestinian dishes and even that feels like an unearned luxury, to have their food. I do hope your olive harvest goes well this year 💖
My favorite and most used cookbook is Zaitoun. I think Palestinian and Levantine food is my favorite and actually on a food tour in Yeravan I learned how much the Levant influences Armenian cuisine.
Zaitoun is a nice cookbook by a visitor to Palestine, but there are also some very good Palestinian cookbooks by actual Palestinian authors. The Palestinian Table by Reem Kassis, Arabiyya by Reem Assil, and Dine in Palestine by Heifa Odeh are some I highly recommend!
Beautiful, beautiful post by the way. As a part-Palestinian living in diaspora, I've been resonating so much with the ancient wisdom of the olive trees and have also been meditating so much on the connection between the deliberate eco-cide of olive trees and the destruction of the buffalo to starve out native peoples. It's all connected.
Thank you so much for sharing how you relate to the olive trees and for these wonderful book recommendations. I'm currently enjoying Laila El-Haddad's "The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey."
I discovered it thanks to a local small business, they're an artisan bakery and caffe that's vocally pro-Palestine. They left copies of this cookbook on the tables for their guests to read (and also organised fundraisers and vigils). If only more businesses dared and cared to follow suit.
You won't regret it. I love how the book is far more than just a cookbook, it celebrates Palestinian traditions, it puts everything into a social context. It gives so much info about people's everyday life and struggles under occupation and blockade, such as many food items items and ingredients being banned from entering Gaza.
My heart cries while I'm reading this, for as many years as I can remember I have loved the olive tree, not for their beauty, as they don't have sweet smelling flowers of all the colours of the rainbow, but to me they are beautiful ❤️
When I was in Jordan 🇯🇴 staying with friends I asked if they would help me when my time comes, I asked if they could either bury my body in the shade of the olive trees in Palestine 🇵🇸
Or if I am cremated to scatter my ashes there, so that I can return to where my heart belongs...🧘🏻♀️🙏🫂💜🇯🇴🇵🇸🇱🇧🇸🇾🫂💜
I too share the desire to be put to rest under an olive tree. I think the olive tree is the most beautiful tree in the world, esp the ancient ones.
This is so beautiful, thank you for writing it. Free Palestine ❤️🇵🇸
Thank you for reading!!
A lovely tribute, thank you
This is a beautiful piece of writing, Sarah, thank you so much. Growing up in continental Croatia, olive oil has always been a luxury from the coast I was rarely able to use, but I understood the importance of the olive trees for many families on the coast.
And yet, that significance is nothing compared to what the olive trees mean for the Palestinian people. Their shared deep, hardy roots on wounded ground are awe-inspiring. I cried many times seeing footage of olive trees being burnt and uprooted. This genocide and ecocide are a heinous, monstrous attack on people, their land, and indeed our whole planet.
Thank you for writing this Sarah. So many activities this past year have been tinged with a heavy sadness over Gaza. I’ve taken to cooking Palestinian dishes and even that feels like an unearned luxury, to have their food. I do hope your olive harvest goes well this year 💖
My favorite and most used cookbook is Zaitoun. I think Palestinian and Levantine food is my favorite and actually on a food tour in Yeravan I learned how much the Levant influences Armenian cuisine.
Zaitoun is a nice cookbook by a visitor to Palestine, but there are also some very good Palestinian cookbooks by actual Palestinian authors. The Palestinian Table by Reem Kassis, Arabiyya by Reem Assil, and Dine in Palestine by Heifa Odeh are some I highly recommend!
Beautiful, beautiful post by the way. As a part-Palestinian living in diaspora, I've been resonating so much with the ancient wisdom of the olive trees and have also been meditating so much on the connection between the deliberate eco-cide of olive trees and the destruction of the buffalo to starve out native peoples. It's all connected.
I adore the Palestinian Table.
Thank you so much for sharing how you relate to the olive trees and for these wonderful book recommendations. I'm currently enjoying Laila El-Haddad's "The Gaza Kitchen: A Palestinian Culinary Journey."
I discovered it thanks to a local small business, they're an artisan bakery and caffe that's vocally pro-Palestine. They left copies of this cookbook on the tables for their guests to read (and also organised fundraisers and vigils). If only more businesses dared and cared to follow suit.
Oh I need to check this book out.
You won't regret it. I love how the book is far more than just a cookbook, it celebrates Palestinian traditions, it puts everything into a social context. It gives so much info about people's everyday life and struggles under occupation and blockade, such as many food items items and ingredients being banned from entering Gaza.
That’s beautiful.
What beautiful writing. Thank you. The olive tree is buried deep in my heart as a Palestinian. Sending love and gratitude.