Mothers of Sumud Garden

The Mothers of Sumud (MOS) Garden is a Palestinian women and youth-led initiative in the South Hebron Hills, in Area C, which has been under military occupation by the IDF since 1967.

MOS creates space for moms and kids in the village to have fresh produce and a respite from the indignities of occupation. The garden is a site of ongoing Palestinian-Jewish co-resistance, and a symbol of Sumud – steadfastness – in the community's continuing traditional Palestinian land stewardship and agricultural practices. 

The garden is housed on the land of a Palestinian family who purchased the land to rebuild their lives after 1948. Even though they own the land, settlers from the highly violent illegal settler outpost steps away are constantly trying to steal the land, using harassment, intimidation, violence, and destruction of property such as cutting water lines, smashing solar panels, uprooting olive trees, and setting fires. The war has emboldened settlers to terrorize, attack, and injure family members as they work their land. The army, in collusion with settlers, often prevents the family from accessing land that is theirs. 

This harassment, violence, and destruction happens over and over again. This is why we desperately need sustaining, long-term, monthly contributors. But, you may be are asking, why donate, when there is no assurance that the garden will not be destroyed again and again? 

The garden is not just a source of material and psychological support for a marginalized and traumatized community -- it is a political project: a declaration that this community is not going to be displaced from their home. Against all odds, the caretakers of the Mothers of Sumud Garden are committed to nonviolent resistance and creating a place of refuge for all seeking a just and equitable future in the land. By donating, you are offering material solidarity to this political project, and affirming the hope that, even in the midst of all of this darkness, a better future is still possible. 

The team hosting this collective are a group of veteran human rights organizer with deep connections with the family and significant experience organizing on the ground.