May 2020 | ATLANTA
Daoud Nassar highlights the four principles of the Tent of Nations, a family farm operating on the Palestinian West Bank, which strives to bring different cultures together to develop understanding and respect for one another and their shared land.
The Tent of Nations, a long-time partner of Global Ministries, is an educational and environmentally friendly family farm owned by the Nassar family, Christian Palestinians, located southwest of Bethlehem. Working to build bridges between people and the land, the Nassar family strives to bring different cultures together to develop understanding and respect for one another and their shared land.
The Nassar family, through Tent of Nations, has mobilized tens of thousands of supporters globally to help them keep their land and be a nonviolent, Christian witness to all their neighbors (friends and enemies)!
Their motto, which is on a stone at the entrance of their farm is, “We Refuse to Be Enemies.” This is especially important since their farm is surrounded by Jewish Israeli settlements that harass the family daily.
The four principles of the Tent of Nations are:
- We refuse to be victims.
- We refuse to hate, and no one can force us to hate.
- We act based on our Christian faith.
- We believe in justice.
United Methodists have visited and supported the Tent of Nations for many years. The World Methodist Council awarded its annual peace with justice award to the Nassar family in 2018. Global Ministries sent a small delegation to visit the Tent of Nations in July 2019 to renew friendships and capture this conversation with Daoud Nassar.
To learn more about the Tent of Nations, please visit The Tent of Nations’ website: http://www.tentofnations.org/.
Friends of Tent of Nations, North America group, advocates and raises funds and volunteer support for the work of T.O.N. To learn more, visit the friends’ website at: https://fotonna.org/