“We love food here at Amos Trust. We love talking about it, we love preparing it, we love sharing it, and yes, — we love eating it. We take the business of hospitality very seriously and what could be more hospitable than sharing a meal?” Nick Welsh writes about why hospitality and food are so important to Amos’ work.
Quite how it came to pass that I’m the one writing this particular article, I’m not really sure. I’m no Jamie Oliver — although I’ve been told that my chilli isn’t half bad (tip: use frozen mince... no — really.)
We love food here at Amos Trust. We love talking about it, we love preparing it, we love sharing it, and yes, — we love eating it. We take the business of hospitality very seriously and what could be more hospitable than sharing a meal? As the American labour leader and civil rights activist Cesar Chavez said, “...if you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat. The people who give you their food, give you their heart.”
Ottolenghi & Tamimi: Yotam and Sami from Ottolenghi choose Amos to be their creative partner and cater our fundraising dinners. Watch our short film about some of the reasons why.
There’s long been a culinary thread through our work in Palestine — those that have visited the West Bank with us know this only too well; whether it’s barbequing at Wi’am or enjoying the really quite amazing Maqluba prepared so lovingly by the women in Aida refugee camp. And who can forget Merai’s outstanding (and I don’t use that word lightly), chicken and rice. Whenever we visit, we always come back several pounds heavier than before we left.
“...if you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat. The people who give you their food, give you their heart.” Cesar Chavez
Our relationship with food took on a new direction when we started organising Palestinian culinary tours with our friends at Zaytoun, and then again when we were lucky enough to have Yotam and Sami from Ottolenghi choose Amos to be their creative partner and cater our fundraising dinners.
In 2018, Greenbelt Festival invited Amos to host a series of Palestinian cooking demos in their new food venue, The Table. How we laughed when our friend Phoebe from The Olive Tree Kitchen continually rolled her eyes at Amos Director and sous chef Chris as he made a hash of cutting up the onions!
Cooking up a storm: Chris Rose from Amos Trust and Phoebe Rison from The Olive Tree Kitchen in The Table at Greenbelt Festival 2019
When our supporters give their time and offer up their skills to fundraise for us, food is usually involved. When our partners visit us from around the world, food often takes on a central role in their own stories. As someone said when they came back from one of our Taste of Palestine tours, “you can disagree about the facts on the ground, but you can’t disagree with my taste buds”.
To find out more about our next Taste of Palestine culinary tour in October 2020, please visit amostrust.org/travel
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Amos has partnered with Al Ahli Baptist Hospital for over 30 years. On 17th October 2023, its diagnostic unit was hit by a shell in the first days of the war. Then on 17th October, Al Ahli was the first hospital in Gaza to be hit by a rocket. Read our blog post about the hospital one year on.
The UK is failing to stand up for international law, as Israeli forces are forcibly transferring civilians from northern Gaza to the south and relentlessly bombarding the area, making it uninhabitable and stripping away the essential conditions that sustain life. Read the full statement from 15 organisations.
In the future, the ‘7th October’ will hold a place of particular significance. For Israel, it will be remembered because of the loss of 1,200 lives, the brutality of the Hamas attack and the fate of 251 hostages. For Palestinians, and those who have watched the events of the last year unfold, it will be remembered for the destruction and hatred unleashed on Gaza that has left 40,000 dead, 10,000 missing, 100,000 injured, 2 million displaced and so much destruction.
On 17th October, 2023, we received the devastating news of a strike on our partner, Al Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, which tragically claimed hundreds of lives. Remarkably, the hospital reopened the next day to continue treating patients. Read our update on the current situation.
Our partner, NECC/DSPR Gaza, began providing post-traumatic psychotherapeutic support following the 2008 Gaza conflict to children (and their mothers) and young people involved in their youth training programme. Initially considered a temporary programme, they soon realised that in Gaza, trauma is an ongoing condition, leading to the continuous provision of their psychosocial support programmes since then. Read more.
Amos Trust
7 Bell Yard, London
WC2A 2JR
UK
Telephone:
+44 (0) 203 725 3493
Email:
[email protected]
Registered Charity No.
1164234
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