Saving Palestinian Seeds and Stories ^{CEFR B2}

Vivien Sansour established the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library to save seed varieties, crops and the oral histories that link Palestinians to their land. The project grew from her childhood memories of family orchards, animals and almond trees into a global grassroots initiative that ties food, memory and cultural survival together.

She began a PhD in Agriculture and Life Science but left the programme to learn directly from elders in Palestinian villages, valuing practical knowledge over academic study. She has collected and conserved seeds such as carrot, beans, arugula and spinach. Sansour explains that seeds are the product of long relationships between people, soil, water and climate; many local varieties evolved over generations to suit dry conditions. She uses okra as an example of a crop that travelled to the region, was domesticated there and became part of local culture. Some varieties that grow without irrigation are called "ba’al," a term linked to older fertility traditions.

Recent UN statistics, she notes, show the vast majority of farmland in Gaza has been destroyed and much of the remaining land is inaccessible. Sansour warns that loss of land means loss of culture, knowledge and the relationships that allow crops to continue. Based in Battir, a village described as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Seed Library has faced repeated settler incursions; for that reason she has rejected support from government institutions. She frames Palestine as part of wider global crises—climate change, new technologies, rising surveillance and economic systems that harm public goods—and aims to create and expand "tender spaces" where seeds, culture and community can survive and be passed to future generations.

• Core seeds collected: carrot, beans, arugula, spinach.
• Local examples: okra and "ba’al" varieties.
• Main goals: community autonomy and cultural continuity.