June, 2009

"The situation for our Palestinian friends in the West Bank and Gaza just seems to get worse and worse and there seems so little that I can do to change anything".

"In the supermarkets I refuse to buy herbs, vegetables and fruit which are the 'product of Israel', grown on land stolen by Jewish settlers from Palestinian farmers.

I try to get out to Bethlehem in October every other year to join a group of 'internationals' to help with the olive harvest in orchards close to the Wall and Jewish settlements where Palestinians have difficulties of access and face harassment". "But there is one very practical way in which we can all make a fundamental and physical difference to the situation on the ground. This is by joining the campaign of "Keep Hope Alive" in Palestine. This campaign raises money to purchase and plant new olive trees. In this way we can give practical support and assistance to our brothers and sisters in Palestine". "So I wrote an article for our parish magazine about purchasing olive trees, and news of this was circulated to other churches. Many people sent me donations because they too wanted to help Palestinians in a practical way. Since 2003 our efforts locally have raised sufficient money to purchase 807 olive trees".

"We can make a difference? "Yes we can", as some famous person said repeatedly recently".