Sowing Seeds of Shukr @ Olive Branch Ranch - Rochester, Washington

Our gathering alone defied the expectations of what resistance has to be. Palestinian solidarity on a May Saturday afternoon looked like tending to olive trees, sharing a fresh lamb picnic, and witnessing what saving seeds from an ancestral Levantine village means a multi-generation Palestinian farming family. We raised our fists by bowing our heads on the farm ground in congregational prayer and teaching our children what a truly tayyab lamb slaughter looks, sounds, and tastes like. Regenerative land principles were sewn together alongside Arabic words, smiles, and a short sense of Salaam amidst a swirl of senseless horrors we all knew were happening halfway across the world that same day. All togetherβ€”hipsters, hippies, aunties, uncles, and kidsβ€” we soaked in the shukr cultivated on the farm, transmitted through our hearts, with knowledge of Allah’s bounty and grace.