What a fabulous (and tasty and good for you) way to help people!
Michigan Peace Time (MPT) news is proud to
announce that after a long wait we have been able to secure a batch of
Palestinian Olive Oil from the heroic
farmers of Tulkarem. Tulkarem is one of the many Palestinian towns being
devastated by the building of the Apartheid Wall in the West Bank. We are
happy to be able to offer our assistance to Palestinian farmers risking their
lives to farm their fields. These farmers brave gun fire from settlers,
humiliation at checkpoints and countless other difficulties.
Many Palestinian farmers rely heavily on
olive production for their livelihoods. By purchasing the oil directly from
the farmers, we are able to assist the most vulnerable in the Palestinian
Territories while simultaneously
helping the local economy of the West Bank. Curfews and border closures, including restrictions on road access and
movement within the West Bank, have had a serious impact on the economy of the
Territories; farmers often face difficulties tending their olive groves and
selling the oil produced. This oil makes a great gift and comes with a card
explaining the importance of it's purchase.
Tulkarem Olive Oil: 1 bottle - $20*
1 case of 12- $240** *Individual bottles can be picked up at the MPT office in
Lansing or mailed for a $3 shipping fee.
**Cases purchased can be picked up at the MPT office in Lansing or delivered
in the Lansing area. For shipment by mail add a $10 shipping fee. To purchase
olive oil please send a check or money order to Michigan Peace Team with Olive
oil in the memo line. 1516 Jerome St., Lansing MI 48912-2220. Please indicate how many cases or bottles you would
like and what is your preferred method of delivery. If you have questions
please call Mike McCurdy at (517)484-3178 or email
[email protected]
If you are in
Detroit and want to order, I could bring it back from Lansing for you. I'm due
to go up there one last time to visit Wendy, Mantas and Olivia before they more to
Florida. I don't actually know when I'm going to do that though, so you'd
probably be better off paying the $3 per bottle.
I've been reading
Happy
Are You Poor lately. It is an amazing book; one that really knocks you back
to remembering the meaning of being a Christian. It calls for everyone (not just
priests and nuns) to
embrace poverty (it makes a big distinction between destitution and poverty, it
does not suggest that any become destitute) in order to raise the
standard of living for all people.
So often it seems like every message that comes at us is tying to influence us
to spend, spend, spend. Now, I don't feel like I am in any danger of being
caught up in the yuppie tidal wave of buying a big foot house, driving an
imported luxury car, or owning designer clothing. Fact is, I am far too
naturally cheap to be attracted to any of that no matter what my religious
beliefs. Instead I am guilty of spending a fair amount of money on obscure
cooking equipment, fancy ingredients, and craft projects which I not only do not
need but I sometimes fail to complete. The book puts a big emphasis on not
giving material objects any power in our lives. This appeals to me.
I mean, if I can't stop shopping for the betterment of mankind, what kind of a
person am I?
So I was really into this book's message. And I thought I was making
some improvements in my life because of it. Then I ended up at Davidde's
last week and discovered that he has had my favorite glass bowl at his house for
the past 8 months! I had been looking for that bowl all over (and had
asked Davidde about it even). I immediately demanded it's return and
walked out of the party with it under my arm.
It wasn't until the next day when I picked up the book again that I realized
that I snatched that bowl back from someone who does not own a bowl like that
(truth be told, I can probably come up with a dozen of the same size).
Plus I did it in a snitty manner. True, Davidde hardly counts as a "less
fortunate" person, but the fact is that he needed a bowl and I took mine from
him even though I didn't need it (but it is a really nice and handy bowl that I
have grown attached to, which of course is wrong, wrong, wrong!!!).
Oh well, if I was a perfect person from birth, life would be pretty boring.