About Us:
Peter
Mann and Cynthia Arnold are the founders of Import Peace. Peter now serves as the President of the Board of
Directors. Peter, Cynthia and Chad Ellertson were part of the 100 Presbyterians who journeyed to Israel and Palestine on a "Steps Towards Peace" trip in 2006. The group spent 11 days traveling, praying and discerning the truth. Many of us saw the grave economic realities of the occupied territories and when we returned home many of us on the trip chose ways to make a difference. For Peter, Cynthia and Chad that meant creating Import Peace, a nonprofit dedicated to economic justice by importing olive oil, olive oil soap and Zatar, a Palestinian side dish.
Chad Ellertson is now a freshman at St. Thomas University and sits on the board of directors
at Import Peace. He enjoys canoing, hiking, fishing, hunting, and
just hanging out with friends. And, he serves as an adviser to the board.
Cynthia Arnold is the
creative force behind the scenes. Peter, Cynthia and Chad and Arloa Ellertson
teamed up to form Import Peace. Like many of the 100 peacemakers
on the trip many have returned to the U.S. to grow economic development
projects through Fair Trade, promote tourism and work together to find
a just peace for all in this land of the Holy One!
Join us to foster peace, economic sustainability and justice for all people living in the Middle East! You can email us at cj@importpeace.org.
Israel's continued construction of a wall eight meters high confiscates Palestinian land and prevents Palestinians access to their olive and citrus groves, located on the other side of the wall. Once the wall is complete, Palestinians will lose access to an estimated 2,000,000 trees.
Meet the Import Peace team: (L-R) Peter, Chad,
Cynthia and Arloa who planted trees during an olive tree planting project in Bethlehem in May, 2006.
