Tu B'shvat is a Jewish holiday in celebration of fruiting trees and “Birthday of the Trees.” JVP-Detroit's Tu B'shvat Seder will support the nonviolent efforts of Palestinians to protect their olive trees, their land, and their economy, which depends on having access to their land, often blocked by the Occupation Wall.

Since Sept. 2000, the uprooting of more than one million olive trees by the State of Israel to make way for settlements and the Wall within the West Bank has wreaked incalculable damage on a primary source of food and income for thousands of Palestinian farmers. JPV-Detroit joins the Jewish tradition of redefining tradition by observing Tu B'Shvat as a festival of healing and reconciliation.

It is an opportunity to re-examine the history of Israel-Palestine and explore options for creating equal rights and social justice in the area. It is not possible to replace what is lost when people are displaced, land and a way of life is destroyed, 1,000-year-old olive trees uprooted. In Palestine, scores of 2,000-year-old cities and historical sites are buried under the Jewish National Fund (JNF) planted forests and parks.

But we can support the on-going struggle of Palestinians to rebuild by providing resources for villages to plant trees that are indigenous to Palestine's natural environment and agricultural life.

Rebuilding and replanting are acts of daily resistance in Palestine.
Please make a donation to plant trees in Palestine

 

Jewish Voice for Peace-Detroit is partnering with the Middle East Children's Alliance (MECA) for this project.  Each spring, MECA works with the Palestinian Farmers' Union to bring school children and other volunteers to plant trees in Palestinian villages. Your contribution is tax-deductible and will appear on your statement as Middle East Children's Alliance.  For more information, visit jewishvoiceforpeace.org and  MECAforPeace.org