Dr. Bronner's Soap Lubricates the Peace Process In Israel and Palestine
For years I have been using Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap. I like the tingly peppermint smell, how clean it makes my skin feel, and the fact that the ingredient list is short and organic. Last weekend, at the annual Washington DC Green Festival, I learned that not only is Dr. B’s good for my body and good for the earth, but it’s good for the Middle East, too!
As it turns out, since 2007 Dr. Bronner’s has been sourcing 100% of its organic olive oil needs from producers in Israel and the West Bank!
The majority (90%) of the oil comes from Palestinians in the West Bank. Dr. B’s works with Canaan Fair Trade, a trading firm founded by Palestinians who “support peaceful co-existence with Israel and see profitable olive farming as one means of improving Palestinians’ economic situation.”
Canaan purchases oil from 1,700 small farmers who are organized in the Palestine Fair Trade Association. Since Palestinian olive oil competes in the global market with subsidized oil from EU countries, oil production was not so economically lucrative in the past. As members of the PFTA, however, small farmers who produce certified Fair Trade and Organic olive oil receive a guaranteed minimum price for the products as well as a Fair Trade premium of 25%.
Furthermore, they are able to protect the earth because the organic olive oil they produce is free of polluting pesticides and fertilizers.
On top of everything else, Dr. B’s has a certain message of peace. The company sources the remaining 10% of their organic olive oil from Sindyanna, a cooperative of Israeli-Arab women, and the Strauss Farm, owned by an Israeli family who pioneered organic olive farming in Israel.
By mixing the olive oil of Israeli and Palestinian farmers in their soaps, Dr. B’s aims to create a powerful symbol for peaceful coexistence. Says Gero Leson, Director of Special Operations,
We want to create cooperation among the crop growers on both sides, and this is another way to help people who are at the bottom of the social and economic ladder. Mixing the oil with soap is only a symbolic act that is important to us and our customers, so that they can know that by mixing the oil of Israeli and Palestinian suppliers, we are supporting both of them.
In my book, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps definitely gets an A+ for sustainable development and corporate social responsibility!
:: For more information about Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps’ work in Israel/Palestine, visit their website, or this article (that I picked up at the Green Festival!).
Check out the following Prophecies for more on Fair Trade in Israel and Palestine:
SAHA’s Fairly Local Trade
No Sweat Apparel’s Organic Ts Help Bring Peace to the Middle East
Buying Fair Trade from the Hands of Local Craftswomen.
Photo Credits: capitolhemp and shirien_87
Join the Conversation
Business creates its own ideological imperative. Once people are making money together, there is no time or inclination for fighting one another, because everyone needs to make a living, and we’re not likely to go at each other’s throats, if we are helping one another to survive.
This example is exactly what has to happen between Israelis and Palestinians, but on a much larger scale. I, for one, want to open a factory in the West Bank, which will be built by Palestinian and Israeli entrepreneurs, who will then hire and train Palestinian workers, to produce a green energy product of some sort. Saudi financing would be the icing on the cake.
Such a project, if successful, would likely attract worldwide attention, and would attract additional investment dollars for more such projects, and for more such green technology jobs. Such a project would say to the world that a Vision of Hope could be made real if people of good will simply choose to make it so. And pretty soon, a single project could grow to become a movement for change. In this way you would be conditioning people for the possibility of peace, instead of jumping to the peace table without having much to say to one another.
I think you have to have a more concrete idea, than just opening a factory. What will it produce? Why are the factory workers Palestinian? Will the managers be Israeli? It’s an old formula. Maybe create a forum where young entrepeneurs from both sides of the green line can create something together, like a hot startup company. Now that might get you some financing…
-Karin
As usual, some very pertinent questions, Karin.
My post A Recipe for Peace Pie has some additional answers.
The project will be a symbolic one because it should serve as a model for other such projects around the world. We want to transform a few scattered projects out there into a movement for change.
I want the first such product to be about green energy, since such a product would resonate at a time when people around the world are thinking about transitioning to a more sustainable form of energy. I am consulting with two leading universities in Israel, and trying to figure out which product would work best scientifically, and commercially.
The factory workers should be Palestinian. These would be good paying jobs. We want to give people a place at the table, a stake in their future, and good paying green technology jobs would be a good way to do that. Such jobs would go a long way to restoring Arab pride.
The managers will not just be Israeli, but would be a consortium of Palestinian and Israeli entrepreneurs. I get what you mean that simply Israeli managers would be demeaning. We are trying to sell a vision of hope, not demean people. So we have to become sensitive to that sort of thing.
In terms of young entrepreneurs working from both sides of the green line to create the project, that sounds great to me. They may have to discuss things by video conferencing at first, but that’s OK. Soon enough, if things work out, the wall/fence will come down, and corporate meetings could take place face to face.
Financing, in my opinion, will not be as difficult as it may seem at first glance. There are people out there sitting on a lot of money, and in search of a legacy to leave behind. I know of such people. What better legacy is there then young people, on both sides of the fence, coming together as entrepreneurs, to create a project, that resonates with hope, that creates green energy jobs, that helps to sustain the environment, that grows our economies, and that helps to stem the tide of ideological hate and extremism. I am talking with such wealthy individuals as we speak, and they’re not saying “NO”.
I would prefer to obtain some Saudi financing as well, becaue this is a symbolic project, and Saudi financing would say to the world that oil profits will be used to create green profits, that oil economies will grow with green jobs, that oil rich countries are willing to diversify their investments, and that good paying jobs will be used to inspire people with a vision of hope, not hate.
If you have any contacts for me, that would be a blessing. My idea is a little out there right now, but I see hints in the air that people may be coming around, and that such a project may well be the only way to go.
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