Gharib Askalani

The olive tree has chosen the Mediterranean as its home, covering the hills of Palestine since time immemorial. Given a choice, it prefers to grow on hillsides. Its branches offer shade for a barren landscape, converting rocky hillsides into a kind of Paradise looking upward to the sky.

The olive tree is deeply rooted in the earth. It waits patiently through the winter for the return of the sun, like a mother whose constant love maintains life throughout the harshest of seasons.

It is not a demanding tree. It can survive in rocky soil, on windswept mountain sides or in flooded valleys. The olive tree will not scorn a poor environment, nor rejoice in a rich one, for within it lies an eternal source of richness and bounty.

The ever green olive tree produces a golden oil illuminating the lanterns of churches, mosques and temples. The light from holy lanterns fills believers with love and a sense of oneness with all of God's creatures.

The olive tree is filled with grace, mercy and love. It has a special standing amongst trees, for peoples throughout history have chosen it as a symbol of peace and reconciliation, both with the other and with oneself.