'Treedom for Palestine' is fighting the good fight, one olive tree at a time

Not a lot of good news stories have come out of the Palestinian territories over the past couple of years, in particular. The Trump Peace plan may represent hope for some; others have long lost any shred of optimism.

In December 2023, I was asked – and was honoured – to meet a Palestinian Authority official who had been thrust into the limelight after an Israeli attack killed more than 20 members of his extended family in Gaza. In an attempt to offer him some crumbs of comfort, I pointed out that millions of people around the world were awakening to the Palestinians’ plight and their history, and that younger generations were very strongly on their side. “I try to avoid being so pessimistic in public,” he told me, “but by the time that’s any help, I fear there won’t be any Palestine left at all.”

So the holiday season seems an appropriate moment to tell of a social enterprise that is bringing hope, security, jobs and the prospect of a brighter future to some Palestinians, at least.

A few years ago, an Iranian American called Cyrus Copeland learnt about a “freedom farm” in the West Bank that had been set up by the Palestinian Farmers Union. The model was a 1-hectare plot of previously uncultivated land, protected by a steel fence, and in a location sufficiently distant from any Israeli settlements. A total of 250 olive saplings were planted, watered by rainfall and, in the summer, an underground drip irrigation system that draws on local wells rather than pipes that could be cut off by the authorities.

Palestinian Farmers Union. Photo: Palestinian Farmers Union

Palestinian Farmers Union. Photo: Palestinian Farmers Union

Palestinian Farmers Union. Photo: Palestinian Farmers Union

Palestinian Farmers Union. Photo: Palestinian Farmers Union

Grace, resilience and agency – it’s worth remembering that at a time when others seem to want to determine their fate, Palestinians still possess all three

“I came across the original farm that was planted in 2018,” Mr Copeland tells me. “It was very moving. It felt like the farm had found me.” He started a conversation with the PFU and its indomitable executive director, Abbas Milhem. “I wanted to find out how scalable this idea was,” says Mr Copeland, “not just in terms of prosperity and sustainability, but also gender equity – as women tend to do a lot of the agricultural work.”

The feedback was positive. So in 2022, Mr Copeland, an author and speaker whose early childhood was spent in Iran, founded Treedom for Palestine in partnership with the PFU. And today, there are more than 75 freedom farms in the West Bank, turning degraded land into something useful and productive – each one can bring an annual revenue of $35,000 –