Andek Akkoub

Andek Akkoub is a community and solidarity initiative rooted in a simple yet powerful question: Andek Akkoub? (Do you have Akkoub?). This question is about the wild food plant, Akkoub, which cracks through the rocks of the mountains and hills of the Levant each March after the winter rains. For generations, Akkoub has been a special delicacy in Palestinian kitchens. In 2005, it was criminalized by the occupation. Foraging this plant, a tradition deeply embedded in Palestinian culture, became illegal, with fines and imprisonment imposed on those who dared to harvest it from their own land.

In the face of this ongoing cultural erasure, Andek Akkoub serves as both a platform and movement to share the stories of Akkoub and other wild food plants, their struggle, cultural significance and the personal memories they hold. The intention is to protect these sacred traditions through educational workshops, community events and creative imagination spaces, rebuilding our connection to nature, home and land.

At the heart of Andek Akkoub is the belief that wild plants, like Akkoub, are not just foods but teachers of resilience and belonging. They teach us how to adapt, reclaim space and how to survive in the harshest conditions. By integrating principles of sovereignty and the right to access our own nature, we resist the systems that try to separate us from our ecological heritage, no matter where we are from.

Head over to @andek_akkoub and join upcoming events and projects, share your knowledge or ideas. This platform only grows through our collective input and spirit.

You can also order some beautiful hand-embroidered tees and caps, a collaborative project with Palestinian Tatreez artists supporting their craft and practices and spreading the message of Andek Akkoub.

In Love and Solidarity, Janine (Creator behind Andek Akkoub Initiative)

Janine works as a Cultural Strategist, Community Builder and Workshop Facilitator crossing spaces of ecology, regeneration and activism. Her work is driven by the belief that deep listening and access to nature is fundamental for collective healing.

Photo credits: Pablo Barreiro (left), Bilge (right)