Former hostage honored for pioneering farming work in Africa
Shoshan Haran receives honorary doctorate from Open University for Fair Planet NGO
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
Former hostage Shoshan Haran had been awarded an honorary doctorate by the Open University for her pioneering work helping African farmers access better farming methods.
Haran grew up on Kibbutz Be’eri, the daughter of a founder of the kibbutz, and raised her own family there.
Wearing a yellow scarf at the May 29 award ceremony to demonstrate her support for the hostages still held in Gaza, Haran said she learned at the kibbutz about the value of equal opportunities.
Haran had been working as a plant biologist at seed producer Hazera Genetics when she and another seed expert founded Fair Planet, a nonprofit that built bridges between seed companies and African farmers and helped them find the right seeds for their farms.
In a video created for her honorary doctorate, Haran described showing farmers how to best utilize seeds and watching their production grow, which then brought other farmers into the fold — a total of over 100,000 in Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Rwanda — helping alleviate poverty and hunger.
Haran also spoke in the video about what happened to her family on October 7, 2023, when Hamas terrorists invaded the kibbutz.
“They broke into our sealed room, they invaded our home,” she said.
Haran was taken hostage from her home in Kibbutz Be’eri with her daughter Adi Shoham and two grandchildren, her sister-in-law Sharon Avigdori and niece Noam Avigdori, all visiting for the Simchat Torah holiday.
Her husband, Avshalom Haran, sister Lilach Kipnis and brother-in-law Eviatar Kipnis, also Be’eri residents, were killed that day. Haran only found out when she was freed after 50 days of captivity.
Her son-in-law, Tal Shoham, was taken captive separately from his family and freed after 505 days of captivity.
He and his wife, Haran’s daughter, Adi Shoham, had left the kibbutz a few years earlier because of the significant security issues given their proximity to Gaza, said Haran in the video.
“We refused to look at those issues and understand them for what they were,” she said.
Haran accepted the honorary degree from university president Leo Corry and former chief justice Dorit Beinisch.
Haran called on Israelis to support the hostages’ families and to join protests, either in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square or around the country.
“They need your support,” she said. “Our recovery will only happen when all the hostages return to us — those who are alive for rehabilitation, and those who have died for a proper burial. That will be our true victory. And we need it now.”
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