Tonight, I’m repaying a debt that is long overdue. A few years ago when I was installing the slideshow you see in my banner above, I discovered a beautiful mural on a website called Tikkun Tree. There they displayed a work of art which I discovered had been created in a style called Balian Armenian ceramics created solely by the company, Armenian Ceramics, East Jerusalem. Anyone haunting the Old City shuk will know Armenian ceramics, as they’re all over the place. But the only ones that are original works of art are those produced in the studios of Armenian Ceramics. The work was featured in an exhibit at the Smithsonian in Washington, DC in 1992. The owner, Neshan Balian, graciously granted me permission to use the Jerusalem Olive Tree mural image in my slideshow, which is the first image you see when you open a page at my website.
I feature the image here for your enjoyment. The company’s website is full of gorgeous works of art suitable for all manner of residential installations as you can see by visiting the site. Please use my name and mention Tikun Olam if you do contact them.
Thanks to reader Maria for admiring their work and reminding me of my obligation.
This beautiful olive tree remembered me of this other, al-Badawi (yes, olive trees have names in Palestine), in al-Walaja, by many considered the oldest in the world:
http://mondoweiss.net/2011/07/israeli-bulldozers-edge-ever-closer-to-al-badawi.html
I read an article lately, I can’t remember where or who wrote it, but there was a description of the continual uprooting of olive trees, and a Palestinian peasant told the writer something like: “I’m not ashamed to say that I talk with my trees, and what they tell me is a sad story”. I can’t remember if it was the peasant or the trees who cried in the story, but I did reading it.
Here’s a very moving footage filmed by Israeli peace activists in Artas (Ertas) close to Bethlehem too, it’s not olive trees but it’s the same story.
I hope Izik, our “Proud Israeli” will look at it, but maybe he was among the IDF-soldiers at min 7:30 who find the tree uprooting so funny that they just can’t stop laughing. And when you see the sorrow among the peasants just afterwards, the Israeli pride is highly understandable….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjwI26-zV74