Why Peace Oil is not such a Good Gift
Mark Tran reports on a charity under fire for marketing an Israeli olive oil at the expense of Palestinian products
The oil is one of the products promoted in the Good Gifts catalogue, run by the Charities Advisory Trust (CAT), an organisation founded by Hilary Blume and widely respected for advising charities on ethical ways of generating funds.
The blurb on the Peace Oil website claims the product encourages cooperation between communities. By helping to market the olive oil, CAT hopes to bring economic prosperity to such enterprises, thereby encouraging others.
Despite its laudable intentions, however, CAT has come under fire from those who claim it is undermining products made by Palestinians and brought into Britain by cooperatives such as Zaytoun.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Jews for Justice for Palestinians, the UK branch of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions and the Inter-Faith Group for Morally Responsible Investment, have written to church and charity groups urging them to promote Palestinian olive oil rather than Peace Oil.
Continue reading for the true story of Peace oil.
6 comments:
Yeah. It is a typical ruining tactic of some Israeli groups to insist that peace means that you must treat Israeli groups/organisations in exactly the same way as Palestinian.
Hence some of the twinning initiatives have floundered as people have insisted that an Israeli town/university should also be involved.
The truth is that whatever merits there may be in engaging with an Israeli company/town/university, they already have free access to the international community. Palestinians do not.
I have no issue with people choosing to support Israelis - if they chose to - but my support of Palestinians does not depend on Israel or Israelis. I don't feel that they need any help, fullstop.
I don't think I'd go as far as to say that Israelis don't need any help.
For a start Israelis come in different shapes and flavours. Many ICAHD members are Israeli and I would be happy to help them. There are many other good Israelis who would benefit from my support in their struggles to work for true justice and peace for all the people of the Holy Land.
I think it's also worth considering that peace does not flourish when people feel fearful, isolated or resentful etc.
However, I wholeheartedly agree that Palestinians need economic support and they need us to make more widely known the deprivations and injustice they suffer.
I agree, I was referring to Israeli towns, universities etc.
Hi Karin,
When someone types “Peace Oil” into Google they first see peaceoil.ORG and then peaceoil.NET. They then see your blog comment concerning peaceoil.ORG.
My problem is that the .NET website has nothing to do with the .ORG website, except superficially. We both are selling Palestinian olive oil and calling it “Peace Oil.” While the .Org version is the subject of controversy due to misleading statements, the .Net version is a true collaboration between Israelis and Palestinians.
Peaceoil.net is based in Seattle, Washington and the other one in the UK and is a project of Charities Advisory Trust (CAT) as you mention. My name is David Sokal and I started my business, Olive Branch Enterprises, in 2006. The company mission is to provide an incentive for Israelis and Palestinians to work together as equals for the sake of mutual prosperity.
I found two Israeli fair trade groups, Sindyanna of Galilee and Green Action Israel, which already were doing this type of cooperation. Both groups work vigorously to end the occupation and discrimination against Palestinians within the green line.
I also source Palestinian olive oil from a large Palestinian group based in Jenin called Canaan Fair Trade (CFT). As a matter of fact, CFT is one of Zaytoun’s suppliers. I made this decision to work with CFT from the get go, quite the opposite of Charities Advisory Trust which refuses to acknowledge the profound mistake it has made by alienating Palestinians and their supporters in the UK, ironically with a product supposedly intended to build bridges between the conflicting parties. Note that 70% of my Peace Oil mixture is CFT olive oil.
I wrote a long letter to Hilary Blume, director of CAT, and told her how frustrated I was by her unwillingness to recognize the mistake she made and the ill will she caused. She never responded.
If you or any of the readers of the Living Faith blog are interested in learning more about Peace Oil, one that is actually made of Palestinian olive oil, grown by Palestinian farmers, exported by two Israeli groups that are fully committed to a just society that recognizes everyone’s human rights, as well as by a Palestinian group that is working to build a vibrant and prosperous economy in Palestine based on traditional agrarian Palestinian social customs, then I invite you to visit www.peaceoil.NET or feel free to contact me with questions at info at peaceoil.net.
Thank you for your interest in this topic.
David Sokal
Thank you for your comments, David. I'm glad to hear that people in the United States can also buy Fair Trade Palestinian olive oil.
Since I wrote the above Zaytoun olive oil has become more widely available and is now sold through Traidcraft as well as a number of shops and private individuals.
The Co-op supermarkets now stock Equal Exchange Fairtrade Palestinian Extra Virgin Olive Oil and I've heard that Sainsbury's supermarkets have plans to stock Palestinian olive oil soon.
... and for those that wish to provide support to Israelis working from within Israeli society to bring about the necessary change that will lead to an end to occupation and discrimination, Peace Oil is an excellent option as well. It is available at www.peaceoil.net. Thanks Karin!
David
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