Sindyanna of Galilee: Promoting Arab-Israeli peace through the olive oil business

By Munawwar Ahmed

Companies throughout the globe are constantly looking to redefine their role in creating peace through business by creating financial and social good within their local communities. One initiative, in particular, is seeking to promote peace and cultural understanding by literally extending an olive branch in the war-torn region of Galilee.

Sindayanna of Galilee, a  non-profit, fair trade organization for agricultural products in Tel Aviv, Israel, is working tirelessly since inception in 1996 to alleviate tensions between Arabs and Jews by sourcing local produce such as olive oil, za’atar, honey and baskets to clients worldwide and investing its profits back into the people of the region by promoting local, organic farming, educating women and fostering cultural conversation and collaboration.

By purchasing directly from family-based farmers and producers in Galilee and occupied territories, the synergy between commercial and communal activity generates a constant revenue stream to ensure livelihood in the region even in the face of faltering peace talks and uncertainty.

“We’re creating real economic opportunities for Arabs and Jews by uniting producers around a common goal: supporting their families and achieving positive transformation in the community,” said Hadas Lahav, chief executive of Sindyanna. “And in doing so, we’re showing international customers that the situation in the Middle East is not black and white. There is a will to create change.”

Promoting the fruits of the land

The non-profit organization shares its name with the Palestine Oak, a common tree in the Galilee region that, according to contemporary Palestinian folklore, “is blessed with endurance, stability and rootedness to the land.”

With its core business model focused on the restoration of the olive oil industry in Israel and to ensure fair returns for Arab farmers on a sustainable basis, Sindyanna has certainly come a long way from when they first started.

“In the 80’s I was involved in a project in Majdal Chrum, in which we taught Arab mothers how to help their children with homework. The aim was to improve schooling standards in the village. We noticed that although these village women were highly motivated, their ability to make a difference was limited. The reason was that they had never worked outside the home, didn’t have an income and thus lacked both independence and influence,” said Lahav. “Together with friends from the village, we decided to develop an economic initiative in order to give them work and financial independence. At first we thought about selling olives; later on we added olive oil and soaps, and today we also sell weaved baskets, carob syrup, honey, almonds, anything that can be got or produced in the village. All of our production and marketing is done according to Fair Trade principles.”

Currently with a notable 35-strong clientele including Europe’s largest alternative trading organization GEPA, Australian-based confederation Oxfam, handmade cosmetics company LUSH and artisan product company, Zaytoun, Sindyanna is certainly making headway in giving local farmers a voice on an international market level and promoting the fruit of the land.

“We don’t want people to buy our products out of pity, but because they are excellent products,” said Lahav. “These women want to work and support their families and it is our way of making their voices heard.”

In June 2005, the organization moved from its tiny room in the village of Majd al-Qrum to a larger, modern warehouse in Kufr Kana near Nazareth. Highlighting their commitment to the cause, they also bought a state-of-the-art, semi-automatic filling and capping machines that allowed them to boost production quantities for olive oil by 100%, soap bars by 40 times and resulted in a commendable turnover in excess of USD 600,000, all within the span of a few years.

Today, a member of the International Fair Trade Association and Israel Bio-Organic Agriculture Association, Sindyanna’s products boast of international recognition whilst maintaining Fair Trade practices.

Giving back to the community

When Sindyanna generates profits through its international sales, unlike most corporations, they channel back all funds towards the development of a sustainable tomorrow. The organization helps educate women in the region, teaching them Hebrew and English. They also teach them , trade-crafts such as basket weaving, through traditional and modern green techniques, which in the long-term is nurturing a system of women empowerment that goes “beyond the balance sheet to create a positive social impact,” as Ladav believes. Incidentally, the weaving workshops is one of the few places in the world that incorporates every part of the plant,  palm fronds, which have found a new purpose other than sweeping floors.

“Some people believe that Arab society is primitive, that it opposes women going out to work. But we see hundreds, even thousands of Arab women looking for the opportunity to work for a respectable salary to improve their situations and those of their families,” said Samia Nassir, one of Sindyanna’s founders, in Arabic.

To restore the struggling Palestinian agricultural industry, Sindyanna also invests in organic farming while supporting farmers with advice on farming and finance. The ability to craft a sustainable agricultural model, along with the avenue for local agronomists to supply worldwide starts with empowerment through education and knowledge-sharing. Through Sindyanna, farmers have access to international markets which provides them with non-monetary benefits including improved farming methods and process to warrant continued international presence. The organization’s Roha project has helped convert , infertile lands into flourishing organic olive grovesIn In every step, the organization strives to nurture Arab talents by giving them the opportunity to be noticed, with a strong emphasis on sustainability.

Supporting the peace process

Despite global pressure and political efforts to restore harmony in the region, the conflict-ridden region has yet to see a positive, long-term solution.

However, even in the face of lost hope, there are a few individuals who believe work can help “harness the power of commerce for the social good.” Similar to Sindyanna, Daniel Lubetzky’s PeaceWorks fosters Arab-Israeli relationships through health food sales. BHcrafts, involved in the production of handmade clothing and decorative items through women in Bosnia and Herzegovina, is another such venture which strives to create jobs for families who have lost loved ones at war. The Center for Jewish Arab Development and numerous other business ventures across the region and globe continue to strive to bridge cultural divides and create change towards a better tomorrow.

“Sindyanna of Galilee is a different kind of economic project,” said Lahav in Arabic. “On top of our commercial and economic considerations, we believe that Jews and Arabs together can create a different society here.”

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