Daoud Nassar is a Palestinian Christian who is the director of the Tent of Nations, a family ecological farm in the hills near Bethlehem known worldwide as a place of peaceful resistance. At 3Generate, my fellow JPIT intern Erin and I interviewed him to learn more about this educational and environmental farm dedicated to reconciliation and community-building.
Resistance and human rights
I asked Daoud if nonviolent resistance and human rights advocacy were the same thing to him, or different tools? He did not separate them neatly. For Daoud, nonviolence comes first as a matter of faith and character, and the language of ‘rights’ follows through. He referenced the Tent of Nation’s motto, “We refuse to be enemies,” which captures this. Nonviolent actions, in his view, describes the kind of person you choose to be while standing your ground and advocating for your rights. He suggested that “you can hold firm on your rights, without letting bitterness take over your heart”
I then asked about the legal cases concerning his land and the fear of Israeli settlers attempting to seize his land. He spoke about attempting to use international law to challenge attempts at land confiscation but with a strong essence of pragmatism in his response. Having papers is incredibly important, and until recently, his family were fortunate enough to have held on to theirs through years of relentless court proceedings. Although papers alone cannot settle everything, this is clear by the constant obstructions Daoud, and his family must cope with.
The significance of these legal challenges has become even more apparent in recent weeks. On 8 October, an Israeli Military Committee rejected the Tent of Nations’ land registration application. The Methodist Church has expressed concern at this decision, noting that it threatens the future of the farm and pledged to work with ecumenical partners to support the Nassar family and the Tent of Nations.
Daoud spoke about how restrictions have meant he is not able to build structures above the ground to cultivate his farm, but he has found a way to stay optimistic and adapt to his situation. He now builds below the ground to keep the farm sustained.
What outsiders get wrong
I asked what journalists and human rights organisations get wrong when they try to highlight the situation. Daoud appreciated the support from many, but said there is significant danger in an organisation arriving with the idea that you have come to “save” someone. Such an approach can position marginalised communities as passive recipients of help. Daoud strongly opposed this perspective and was committed to avoiding it in his own work.
The support he appreciates is through personal involvement: “Real help starts with listening. Come, stay a while, treat this as a partnership”.
I pursued my question further looking closer at how the language we use, like “human rights” can be powerful, but it can also turn a lived experience into a headline or a statistic. He agreed with this perspective, “human rights language opens doors in courts and in conversations with governments, but behind every case there is a family, a history”. The framing is useful if it does not replace the human story. When it does, something important gets lost.
How can Christians support?
I asked how Christians from elsewhere could help support him and the Tent of Nations. His answer was refreshingly simple: “Come and see. Visit, volunteer, hear the story firsthand, and then tell it honestly when you get home”. Prayer does matter and it will always matter but it should lead somewhere practical and tangible. These reflections he gave were challenging, because it’s easy to care about something from afar without ever letting it cost you anything.
Living with conflict
Then it was Erin’s turn, and the conversation moved from principles to lived experience. She asked how conflict has shaped life for him, his family and the community. Daoud emphatically described the severity of the situation and what it means to live under constant pressure. He spoke of the frequent checkpoints barriers, road restrictions and needing a permit to visit certain places. These issues capture a day in his life, but what stood out was his response to this adversity. He responds to these challenges by finding practical solutions: “we kept building. When we lost electricity, we used solar power; when we could not build up, we built below; we still organise youth camps and women’s projects”. I understood his approach as, to answer a destructive situation with something constructive, as a way of refusing to be defeated.
Hope
Erin asked what keeps him hopeful after everything. He stated, “My faith and watching young people from different countries work side by side on the land, planting trees and sharing meals”. Hope for him favours cooperation and living in harmony with people from all walks of life. Daoud is witnessing what unity and togetherness can look like against the backdrop of violence and destruction. This is paramount to envisioning a future in which the conflict has ended and reconciliation can begin. The Tent of Nations resembles a microcosm of what society can bear resemblance to when hope prevails against injustice.
What would peace look like?
Finally, Erin asked about the relationship between peace and justice. Daoud described them as ideals that go well beyond the mere absence of violence. For him, peace means both communities, Palestinians and Israelis living with dignity and freedom.
He restated that “peace without justice is not peace at all”. A ceasefire alone cannot resolve such a colossal conflict, because a silence imposed on people who are still denied their rights is only a temporary quiet. Justice, from this perspective, is what allows peace to last because it addresses the grievances that would otherwise fuel renewed conflict. His position also redefines the question; peace is something to be built through fairness and respect for all.
Our main takeaway
Erin and I came in with questions about rights, law and documentation, and left reflecting more on the power of resilience, presence and faithful Christian witness. The most powerful element of our conversation with Daoud was his invitation; an invitation to come, listen, and do not let hatred set the terms. In a room full of people who mostly encounter this conflict through screens, it served as a compelling call to action for everyone present.
If you would like to engage more closely in Daoud Nasser’s work, please see attached additional resources:
Programs & Projects | Tent of Nations
Tent of Nations: “We refuse to be enemies”
Palestinian Christian Nonviolent Peacebuilding at Tent of Nations with Daoud Nassar – YouTube