Waging Peace, Pages 57-58

Tent of Nations Director Inspires Iowans

TENT OF NATIONS director Daoud Nassar spoke before a capacity crowd at Drake University’s Olmsted Center in Des Moines, Iowa on Nov. 3. Nassar, a Palestinian Christian whose family farm, southwest of Bethlehem, is surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements established on Palestinian land, practices and promotes nonviolent resistance to land theft while seeking peaceful coexistence with Israelis.

“My grandfather came with his family from Bethlehem and bought the land,” Nassar said. “The land is on a hill which is about 3,000 feet above sea level. From there, we have a nice view to the west, and sometimes we see the Mediterranean. We are lucky that my grandfather registered the land under my father’s name in 1916. The land is called Daher’s Vineyard. Daher is my grandfather’s name,” said Nassar.

“In 1991, we got a paper from the Israeli authorities saying ‘your land is state land and the land does not belong to you.’ We went to the military court at that time. Our lawyer presented the documents, and the Israeli military judge was shocked to see papers. It was not expected that we would have papers, so the case was postponed,” Nassar explained.

“During that time we had a lot of difficulties with the settlers who came from the nearby settlements. They came to our home threatening us with guns. They tried to build a road through our property three times. They smashed our water tanks. They wanted, with physical pressure, to move us out of that area,” he said.

While continuing to pursue justice through the legal system, Nassar’s response to the Israeli campaign to drive his family off their land has been to create an organization called The Tent of Nations. “We want to invest our frustration in a constructive way,” he said. We don’t want to play the victim role. We want to prove that things are possible, even if it’s very, very hard.”

The Tent of Nations brings people together and builds bridges and understanding. “Peace should grow like an olive tree,” Nassar said, “from the grassroots. Peace cannot be dictated from up to down, and will not come only through the handshake of Palestinian and Israeli politicians.”

The Tent of Nations sponsors youth camps for Palestinian children from Bethlehem area refugee camps during the summer in the belief that the young people are the future.“The idea is to bring them out of their environment and try to connect them with nature, with the land, simple projects and workshops in order [to] motivate them,” Nassar told the audience. “We want them to understand that they are capable of shaping their future....

“Palestinians are living in a situation full of fear for the future,” he added. “So for us it is very important to invest in the future, in children, in young people, in women.”

For several years, Nassar said, the Tent of Nations has provided classes for Palestinian women in computer skills, English, handicrafts and other life skills in a Women’s Center located in the nearby village of Nahalin.

Since January 2009, about 3,569 people have visited the Tent of Nations farm. “For us, it is very important for people to understand the situation and not to be on one side. We need people to understand the situation from both sides and to go back home and ask the question, ‘What can I do now?’” Nassar said.

“I don’t want to argue history. The religion in our country is misused by Jews, by Christians, and by Muslims in order to reach political goals. My belief is that religion is a way to connect people together, and not to separate people from each other,” he concluded.

During the question-and-answer period it quickly became apparent that Nassar had reached and won the approval of his audience when general applause greeted his response to a question by an ardent Zionist who sought to challenge the Nassar family’s ownership of their land and Nassar’s efforts to put nonviolent resistance, tolerance, understanding, and peaceful coexistence at the center of the discussion.

—Michael Gillespie