Olive Oil Without Borders has a recipe for Middle East peace

The olive branch as a symbol of peace is rooted in ancient Greek culture, but the link between the fruit tree and conflict resolution continues today; especially clear in a beautiful little project called Olive Oil without Borders (OOWB) just re-launched in its second edition at a conference held last month in Kufr Rai, in the West Bank.

Subtitled ‘Building Economic Cooperation Among Palestinians and Israelis’, the project began in 2005 to encourage Israeli and Palestinian farmers to share technical experiences about olive cultivation, oil production and quality control.  It’s a multiyear initiative to foster cross-border, grassroots economic cooperation and build relationships based on mutual trust, understanding, and shared financial interest among Palestinians and Israelis in the olive oil industry.

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“There is no real border between Israel and Palestine,” Muhammad Hamudi, an olive farmer and oil producer from Asira al-Shamaliya, near the West Bank city of Nablus, told online magazine GOOD.  He has worked with OOWB since its start in 2011.  “Today the border is here, tomorrow it will be there. The olive oil market has no borders as well. The bridge to the global market is the same bridge for everyone.”

Supported by the NGO Near East Foundation (NEF),  the project earned a second round of funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) in the amount of $1.2 million, which will benefit 3,000 Palestinians and Israelis working in the business over the next three years.  Additional donors include Human Concern International, the United Nations Development Program, and the World Food Program.

Olive oil production and trade have underpinned rural economies in Palestine and Israel for generations; olive trees are woven into the fabric of these societies, with meaning far beyond economic value. Through industry cooperation, OOWB seeks to grow tolerance, indeed friendship, and mutual monetary benefits for the sector.

Original article by Laurie Balbo

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