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Peace oil

November 27th, 2006Esra'a (Bahrain)

A MEY reader brings attention to perhaps the most amusing thing I’ve seen all week:

“It’s extra virgin, great on salads and a lubricant for relationships in the Middle East.” Peace Oil, is olive oil produced in Northern Israel by a staff of Arabs, Jews, Bedouins and Druze working together– and as most of you know this is a rare occurence. The oil is pressed from organically grown Suria olives, and is produced by hand– in fact the olives are pressed in the mill only hours after they’re taken from the trees. Profit from sales of this product are used to support peace and reconciliation work in the Middle East. Hopefully with these kinds of projects barriers can be broken down and replaced with understanding and respect. A bottle of the good stuff runs at about 10 Pounds, and if you order yours now you’ll have it in time for the holidays.

Found the above interesting? For more spiffy products visit Josh Spear’s page, a new favourite of mine.

Edit: Since some of you asked, you can order this here.

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11 Responses to “Peace oil”

  1. #1 Bashar (Jordan) - November 27th, 2006 at 8:33 am

    What a great product. I wish we had more products like that….

  2. #2 Melissa - November 27th, 2006 at 8:38 am

    The person that wrote the copy should be a speech writer.“It’s extra virgin, great on salads and a lubricant for relationships in the Middle East.”

  3. #3 fairplanet blog » Peace Oil at Mideast Youth - November 27th, 2006 at 9:10 am

    [...] Esra’a from the great interreligious and international blog Mid East Youth has discovered Peace Oil. Since we covered it in our Live Green Section it is particularly great to see this product making an impact. [...]

  4. #4 Arash (Iran) - November 27th, 2006 at 9:48 am

    This is just fantastic!

  5. #5 Howie - November 27th, 2006 at 4:14 pm

    I will buy a bunch.

    You know…non-Jews and Jews in Israel do business together a lot more than you might think.

    One of the saddest cases was the Maxim resturant in Haifa that was cynically targeted by terrorists in a horrible attack. There was great cooperation between the various groups around that place, but I do believe it has been rebuilt.

    I hope there will only be more and more of this. It brings out hope in a cynical man.

    But where do we order it.

  6. #6 Esra'a - November 27th, 2006 at 4:28 pm

    Hi Howie, I edited the original entry with the needed info. :)

  7. #7 Howie - November 27th, 2006 at 4:54 pm

    Kind of you…I am going to order…

    Seems like I am always buying Middle East oil

  8. #8 AntonGarou - November 28th, 2006 at 1:13 am

    Yup.I grew up in Haifa,where the Jews and Arabs do a lot of business together,my family’s favorite restaurant when I was young was a middle-eastern eatery that was owned and run by Arabs.And most neighborhoods are mixed to one extent or another.

    There is even a whole festival during the time when Christmas and Chanukah coincide that’s called “The holly day of the holly days”(it doesn’t translate well, sorry).

  9. #9 David Sokal - December 15th, 2006 at 6:47 am

    Hi Esra’a, Howie, Anton, Bashar and other commentators on Peace Oil:

    Coincidentally a similar product has been developed in the US. It was actually available before the Peace Oil you are talking about. Guess what it’s called: yup, you got it! Peace Oil! See http://www.peaceoil.biz.

    So what’s different? The Peace Oil you refer to is based in London and became available in November. I am refering to the Seattle, USA-based product that is a mix of extra virgin olive oil from three fair trade groups, two Israeli and one Palestinian. Approximately, 95% of the oil is from Palestinian farmers in Israel and the West Bank, the other 5% is from Jewish farmers. Israeli Jews help with product development and export. Also, a large Palestinian Fair Trade group, Canaan Fair Trade, contributes to Seattle’s version of Peace Oil.

    One of the Israeli Fair Trade groups is called Green Action Israel, a lefty “eco-social change” organization. See http://www.greenaction.org.il. Avi Levy, the Fair Trade activist, goes to the West Bank and works directly with a Palestinian farmer so he can more easily export to Israel and beyond.

    The other Israeli Fair Trade group is called Sindyanna of Galilee: Jewish and Arab women working together for workers and women’s rights and to support the Arab community in the Galilee by helping market their products, especially olive oil. They are actively involved in protecting Arab olive groves in Israel.
    See http://www.sindyanna.com.

    So, I concur with Anton and Howie, that many more examples of cooperation between ethnic communities exist in the middle east. And to Bashar I say … your wish is my command. There are more products like that.

  10. #10 fairplanet blog » Peace Oil at Mideast Youth - June 8th, 2007 at 2:54 am

    [...] Esra’a from the great interreligious and international blog Mid East Youth has discovered Peace Oil. [...]

  11. #11 Fairplanet » Peace Oil at Mideast Youth - May 28th, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    [...] Esra’a from the great interreligious and international blog Mid East Youth has discovered Peace Oil. [...]

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