Dispersed Palestine Seeds Abroad
Preserving Palestine's Food Heritage: The Palestine Heirloom Seed Library
In the heart of the West Bank, a unique project is taking root, aiming to sustain traditional Palestinian foodways and identity. The Palestine Heirloom Seed Library (PHSL), founded by Palestinian artist, writer, and activist Vivien Sansour in 2014, is an act of political resistance and cultural memory.
The PHSL collects and shares traditional Palestinian seeds, each carrying the agricultural knowledge and history of generations. These seeds serve as a living archive of Palestinian culture and food heritage. Operating primarily in the diaspora, the PHSL emphasizes that seeds are a "map" connecting Palestinians to their ancestors and future, asserting "this is who we are" despite colonial pressures aiming to erase Palestinian identity.
Located in the village of Battir, a UNESCO Heritage Site southwest of Jerusalem with a rich farming history, the PHSL's "headquarters" is a testament to the importance of preserving Palestinian agricultural heritage. The Library is engaged in community-building activities such as growing seeds and sharing them through events and collaborations, reinforcing cultural continuity through foodways that bind people to their land and history.
The destruction of Palestinian seed banks on the ground makes the diaspora-based Palestine Heirloom Seed Library even more crucial as a form of resistance and preservation. The work of PHSL has become more urgent due to ongoing violence in Palestine. Israeli military actions, including the criminalization of foraging for traditional plants and the exertion of control over water access, have enforced dependency on Israel's own products and economy.
Moreover, the Israeli military has targeted food and agriculture as part of its ongoing campaign against Palestinians. Today, in Gaza, Israel is wielding starvation as a weapon, denying crucial aid from reaching starving people and leading a charge to defund UNRWA, the primary provider of humanitarian aid in the region.
The PHSL aims to preserve precious biodiversity that may help both humans and plants adapt on a changing planet. Many seeds in the PHSL are ba'al, or rainfed crops, requiring relatively little water to thrive. This makes them particularly valuable in areas where water scarcity is a pressing issue.
In the diaspora, Palestinian-Venezuelan professor Riad Bahhur tends to seeds from the PHSL at his Sacramento home. Bahhur grows Battiri eggplants, long-necked gourds, and white cucumbers with gardeners from the Sacramento-Bethlehem Sister City group. The Battiri eggplant, for instance, did well in a section of Bahhur's garden overrun with mint, planted from a sprig that his aunt brought from Palestine decades earlier.
The PHSL doesn't systematically track who takes the seeds or where they end up. Instead, it trusts in the power of these seeds to connect Palestinians, fostering a sense of community and cultural continuity. In this way, the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library is more than just a seed bank; it is a symbol of resilience, a testament to the enduring spirit of the Palestinian people, and a beacon of hope for a brighter, greener future.
[1] Al Jazeera. (2018, January 26). Palestine's heirloom seed library: A political act of resistance. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/witness/2018/01/palestine-heirloom-seed-library-political-act-resistance-180126141427286.html
[2] The Guardian. (2017, June 21). The Palestinian heirloom seed library: 'This is who we are'. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2017/jun/21/palestinian-heirloom-seed-library-battir-vivien-sansour-cultural-resistance
[3] The New York Times. (2018, February 21). Palestinian Heirloom Seeds Offer a Taste of Home. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/21/dining/palestinian-heirloom-seeds-battir-vivien-sansour.html
[4] The Independent. (2017, June 20). Palestinian heirloom seeds: how Vivien Sansour is preserving the country's food heritage. Retrieved from https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/features/palestinian-heirloom-seeds-how-vivien-sansour-is-preserving-the-countries-food-heritage-a7770811.html
[5] The Electronic Intifada. (2021, May 11). Palestinian heirloom seeds: a weapon against Israeli erasure. Retrieved from https://electronicintifada.net/content/palestinian-heirloom-seeds-weapon-against-israeli-erasure/31408
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