DAHER’S VINEYARD AND TENT OF NATIONS

The Nassar family is one of the last Christian Palestinian families living and working in the fertile hill country south of Bethlehem. The family's farm was named after Daher Nassar, who purchased the land in 1916. The Nassar family land is located in the fertile hill country 9 KM southwest of Bethlehem in the West Bank, in an area totally controlled by Israel per the Oslo Agreement of 1993. Israel requires a permit for all permanent infrastructure development. Currently, such permits are only granted to Jewish settlements located in this area. In addition, the land is not connected to the power grid or to public water. Because of the concrete barrier wall that Israel is constructing, very soon the land will be totally cut from the rest of Palestine.

Daoud Nassar, Director of Tent of Nations

In fulfillment of his father’s dream to establish an institute for the building of peace and coexistence on the family land, Daoud Nassar, grandson of Daher, established The Tent of Nations.  The mission of Tent of Nations is to build bridges between people and between people and the land. In pursuit of this mission, Tent of Nations has established projects to develop and protect the land and to make the land a center for people from different countries to come together and build bridges of trust and hope.

FRIENDS OF TENT OF NATIONS NORTH AMERICA

In recognition of the Nassar’s courage and groundbreaking work for peace, we have named our nonprofit “Friends of Tent of Nations” to underscore our commitment to building a bridge between our country and others like the Nassars working for world peace.  The launching of Friends of Tent of Nations North America was formally marked by the visit of Daoud Nassar in late November and early December of 2007. Daoud’s visit represented the first time the story of his family’s land near Bethlehem and the work of Tent of Nations was introduced in the USA. Over 300 people in the Washington DC and Amherst MA regions came to hear Daoud and to be moved and inspired by his story, or sent in contributions in support of his visit and his work. In two short weeks Daoud spoke at over 25 locations, including churches, non-profits, classrooms, peace and advocacy organizations, and NGOs. In Washington Daoud met with Congressional staffers on Capital Hill, and staff members at the US Department of State. A high point was when Daoud received a United Nations Association of the National Capital Area Human Rights Community Award on Capital Hill on Friday, December 7th.

All of us, including and especially Daoud himself, were overwhelmed by the warm and enthusiastic response to his visit. Besides the significant financial support that will facilitate the continuation of the educational and peacebuilding work of Tent of Nations, relationships have been created that will form a living bridge between supporters of peace here and in Palestine-Israel. We will continue to build this bridge through the support of specific Projects for Land and People. and sponsorship of visits to Tent of Nations for education and volunteer work, periodic newsletters, and speaking tours here in the United States.