This is how olives could bring peace to the Middle East
SUMMARY
Israel.
Palestine.
The ongoing conflict between the citizens of these two nations has become, in our time, the textbook case of intractability in human coexistence, an example of the kind of horizonless mistrust that pits neighbor against neighbor in enmity over a mutually claimed homeland.
...in general, there is no meeting between them. It's not something normal between Israeli and Palestinian people. There is a fear, there is a stereotype...both sides lost their humanity in the other side's eyes. —Mohammed Judah, NEF Staff
How does one begin to help unbind this locked, loaded, boundary-straining situation? What universal balm exists to cool the friction between these factions?
Could it, perhaps, be food?
There is an organization — the Near East Foundation — that thinks so. And what's more, given the industrial preoccupation of this region of the world (read: petrolium), this organization is prepared to make its theory even more audacious. NEF thinks the answer could be found in oil: olive oil.
Meet Olive Oil Without Borders. At the epicenter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the West Bank, this USAID-funded project seeks to bring olive farmers from both sides together. Mutual economic benefit is the primary goal. NEF consultants teach best practices in cultivation, harvest, and olive oil production without regard for politics and for the good of the region as a whole.
And by coming together around a mutual interest, and perhaps sharing the fruits of their labors, Israelis and Palestinians may, slowly, gently, come to trust in each other's humanity.
In Part 1 of its two part finale, Meals Ready To Eat journeys to the Middle East to witness the struggle between divisive conflict and unifying food culture.
Watch as Dannehl extends many olive branches, in the video embedded at the top.
