Palestinians get helping hand as olive harvest begins
Several international bodies and local groups have launched campaigns aimed at helping Palestinians harvest olives at West Bank farms that are under threat of attacks by Israeli settlers.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Every year, Palestinian farmers wait for October to see what their olive harvest will produce. Olives are a major seasonal crop for them, one that symbolizes Palestinian resilience in the face of constant Israeli settlers’ attacks targeting areas adjacent to Israeli settlements throughout the West Bank.
Such attacks pose a great challenge to Palestinian farmers, as they include the uprooting of trees, the burning and confiscation of land, the obstruction of olive harvesting operations and the theft of olive crops, all inflicting heavy losses on the farmers. The latest such incident occurred on Oct. 3.
This situation gave rise to three campaigns aimed at helping Palestinian farmers harvest olives. One was supported by the British Consulate staff, another was launched by the Wall and Settlement Resistance Committee of the PLO, and the “We Are With You” campaign was initiated by the Agricultural Development Association (PARC).
Hundreds of Palestinian and foreign volunteers, farmers and families are taking part in these campaigns that are being implemented across the West Bank throughout the month of October, which is the olive harvest month.
