Palestinian Olive Oil Castille Soap
The short version and about the soap: This 2024 harvested Palestinian Olive oil is liquid gold. I used a portion of this beautiful oil, to make Castile olive oil bars to raise money to send to Gaza Soup Kitchen, to help keep the funds going to the people in Gaza that need to eat. Everything that these people have to go back to is destroyed by the Israeli occupation, and we need to help them rebuild and reclaim their lives, one step at a time.
Pre-order Now! Ships March 31st!
Olive oil soap has a very creamy lather and it is super hydrating for the skin, with a multitude of benefits that are known as cure all's for so many ailments. Castile soaps are originally made from olive oil, so I thought it was the perfect type of soap to create for these bars. To let the olive oil stand alone and shine. This is great for sensitive skin types and made with zero scents or essential oils. I think it smells and feels amazing.
Longer story for the reason of this project:
Palestinian olive trees are ancient treasures and a sacred tree representing so much of what Palestinian's experience living under Israeli occupation. There are many of these olive groves that are over 5,000 years old. The olive tree, or branch, has always been the iconic symbol of peace, and it just really resonates with me that these sacred trees should exist in a place and among people that have experienced so much oppression but also resiliency and the need for peace among their people.
While part of our family here on the farm are Jewish, we classify as anti-Zionist Jews. Which is in stand of not believing that the Jewish people that were displaced from their original lands thousands upon thousands of years ago should take ownership and occupation of the land that in the last thousands and thousands of years ago was also inhabited by the people known as Palestinians.
Zionism efforts started right before the first World War by some religious extremists that believed there was a need for a Jewish nation that needed to be in their original lands that is currently Israel, but this notion at the time was not widely accepted and for decades was tossed to the side and forgotten about. But after WWII there became a pressing need to figure out what to do with so many more Jewish immigrants and all the horrors that Jewish people endured during the Holocaust era.
Jew's sought out refuge all over Europe, but after more propaganda, it became in some country's best interest such as Great Britain, Germany and the U.S, to help band with the Zionist effort and reclaim this so called "Jewish land" because the truth is they didn't want to take on the Jewish immigrants within their countries. It also was a strategic location to have an ally and create a country such as Israel, because at that time there was not much access to the middle east for many of these countries. So to gain access to new resources and have a strategic advantage military wise, these countries provided aid and the resources needed to "reclaim" this land for the Jews.
The problem is, that Palestinians and Jews have both been displaced, fought with and persevered through the unimaginable, and both have thousands and thousands of years of their religion, people and land coming from these same regions.
Who is to say who can truly claim ownership over it, and who is to say that one group of people is worth protecting one over the other.
In my eyes, everyone should find a way to let Palestinians live freely, and Jewish people should have found a way to more peacefully reacquainted themselves within their homelands.
I want to believe there can be peace for these beautiful people one day, but the truth is, there is a lot of other countries with power and money that are also playing into this religious war, and genocide of Palestinians.
I want to take this precious and sacred resource, that I have enjoyed eating so much of my food with, and do something with it to help those in need most right now.
As a soap maker and farmer in the United States, I cannot do much on my own, and my impact is small.
But being able to find a way to buy olive oil from the 2024 harvests by Palestinians, is such an honor and I wanted to do something with it that would give back.
Each bar, while it is marked up to an extra premium price, will be going toward Gaza Soup Kitchen, which is an on the ground group of people providing food for children and people of Gaza that have been cut off from resources by the Israeli occupation. This money raised will help them continue to be fed, stay strong and stand their ground from the small slivers of land they have left and dignity that they all deserve during time that would be any of our worst nightmares.
All children deserve to live and flourish, all children are created equal around the world. We must see this, and protect those that do not have a voice right now.
People say you shouldn't bring "politics" into small businesses, but I disagree for two reasons.
One because, every single thing we buy in our lives is a choice and an act of alignment and where our values are, buying cheap products from Amazon is a clear way of supporting an oligarchy of billionaires, but buying from your neighbor down the road is feeding money back into your local economy and keeping the people you know with income coming into their lives.
And two, because I don't believe this cause is just political. This isn't a debate in my opinion, quite like what your take on how much tax money should go to local schools, or whether you believe in the right to bear arms.
This is a cry for basic human rights, and the need for us to see what is happening to these humans is genocide, just like the Holocaust.
As the Jewish people say, "never again," meaning we should create a world that never leads to a mass execution and genocide of people ever again. Don't you think we owe it to Palestinians, the same respect, that they also do not ever deserve this kind of cruel reality.
PEACE FOR PALESTINE! PEACE FOR US ALL!
Use your money to help raised funds for Gaza Soup Kitchen.
Pre- Order Now! Shipped March 31st! Thank you all
In peace and solidarity,
Lilly of the Valley