A Journey to Tent of Nations

DRC Sponsor: Don Holmertz

Hannah Breckbill will be sharing her experience doing accompaniment and solidarity work last winter at Tent of Nations, a Palestinian farm in the occupied West Bank. You'll hear about Mediterranean agriculture, living in a cave, public transportation in Israel/Palestine, life under occupation, and the joy of international connections.

Tent of Nations sits on a hilltop just southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank. It has belonged to the Nassar family since 1916, when it was purchased by the grandfather of the current owners, during the time of the Ottoman Empire. It was registered at that time and in 1924 a survey was done to comply with requirements during the time of the British Mandate. The land has belonged to and been farmed and settled by the Nassar family throughout Ottoman, British, Jordanian and Israeli rule. Unlike many Palestinian farming families, the Nassar family have ownership documentation dating from the original purchase.

In 2001, Bishara Nassar’s children transformed the farm into an international meeting place. The Nassar family runs the farm of approximately 100 acres as an educational and environmental farm. They welcome thousands of international visitors and volunteers every year and host camps in the summer for the children from the local refugee camps in Bethlehem. They are Palestinian Lutheran-Christians, making them a targeted minority in Israel. The farm is now surrounded by the Gush Etzion settlement bloc of nearly 100,000 people, settlements largely considered illegal by the international community. As a result, Tent of Nations has endured a long history of oppression, injustice, isolation, expropriation, and threats of violence. In the face of these challenges, Tent of Nations works for a better future and overcoming its obstacles through international partnerships and by operating and living in a peaceful, nonviolent way based on their Christian values.

When not involved in her courageous service projects, Hannah and her business partner Emily Fagen are the founders and operators of Humble Hands Harvest, a small, worker-owned organic vegetable, fruit, pastured pork, and grass-fed lamb farm located a few miles north of Decorah. They offer their products at the Winneshiek Farmers Market in Decorah and through a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for both produce and meat.

For more information on Tent of Nations please see their website at https://tentofnations.com.

For more information on Humble Hands Harvest please visit https://humblehandsharvest.com.

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**Please complete your noon meal sign-up prior to the meeting, preferably not later than close of business Monday. Our face-to-face meeting will be hosted at the VFW. The meal sign-up, meeting announcment, and any other logistical information will be distributed in advace to all members by email.