For a number of years now, during the fall and winter months, hundreds of Israeli and international volunteers work side-by-side in solidarity with Palestinian farmers to safely harvest olives in high-risk areas where farmers are either threatened by attacks or intimidation tactics by settlers and the occupation army, or are in danger of having their land taken-over by settlements. Their presence discourages radical settlers from making trouble, allowing farmers to complete their work in peace. For many Israelis, the olive harvest provides an opportunity to meet and get to know Palestinians.
Last fall, Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) brought approximately 165 volunteers to harvest olives in twelve Palestinian villages located throughout the Occupied Territories on fifteen coordinated work days. Volunteers included young people, students, the elderly, rabbinical students, RHR staff and member rabbis, as well as a handful of groups. Economically, olive production constitutes almost a quarter of all Palestinian agricultural income. The olive oil industry alone garners, on average, 5.4 million dollars annually and over half of the cultivated land in the West Bank and Gaza is used to grow olive trees.
Tragically, right-wing Israeli extremists are all too aware of this. The trees therefore have become a prime target for attacks. Every year, thousands are burned, uprooted and brutally sawed. In early January of 2015, an estimated 5,000 olive saplings were uprooted between the Palestinian village of Turmus Ayya and the illegal outpost Adei Ad, while at least fifty mature trees were felled in the Palestinian village Yassuf. Trees were also reportedly destroyed in Safa, Ayad and Burin. Unfortunately, these crimes, as many others before them, almost always go unpunished.
