The Palestinians consider the olive picking season as one of the most important seasons because it symbolizes for them the concept of durability. It is also considered a cultural matter expressing how Palestinians are bounded to their lands. Furthermore, for Palestinians, it is a symbol of land, people, memory, history, economy and resistance. Concurrently, Israeli colonists, spread all around the West Bank, consider it a sign for launching new vicious attacks on Palestinians and their trees and yields. Usually, colonists’ aggressions begin with the beginning of the olive picking season, nevertheless, they began earlier this year.
The Palestinian Olive trees face continues hostility:
No tree in the history of man kind has suffered as much as the Palestinian olive trees. At the beginning of this year’s olive picking season starting mid October leaflets were distributed in various Israeli colonies in the West Bank calling for the disruption of the olive picking process in the West Bank. Moreover, the Leaflets called for banning any Palestinian from working in their lands and prevent the ‘foreign peace activists’ from helping the Palestinians and disallowing them of taking pictures by stealing their cameras. More seriously, they called for stealing the olives even before they are picked up by the Palestinians.
Jewish Rabbis bless and permit aggressions against Palestinians because they are considered ‘aliens’ (NOT JEWS):
The colonists’ actions are built upon religious beliefs or instructions from the Torah which are the reason of the brutal war against the Palestinian olive trees. Rabbi ‘Murdkhai Eliaho’ permitted the theft of the Palestinian crops; he said: ‘ we are free to harvest the Palestinian fields because they are planting on lands that belong to us, the Jews.’
Quoted from Rabbi ‘Yousuf Tilmeed’, one of the most important Jewish religious figures in Israel; ‘ Palestinians are aliens (not Jews) and our religion allows us to do whatever we wish to their properties’.
Evidently, Israel regards the Palestinian olive trees as a target, and aggressions against the trees are part of the ethnic cleansing policies that Israel has been carrying out since 1948.
Table 1: Israeli Army’s and colonists’ aggressions during the 2009 olive picking season:
|
No
|
Date
|
Governorate
|
Location
|
Violators
|
Victims
|
details
|
|
1
|
10/10
|
At Tayba, ‘Anin
|
Israeli Army
|
The locals
|
Delaying the opening of the gates of the wall. Forbidding 300 farmers from reaching their lands behind the wall.
|
|
|
2
|
12/10
|
‘Anin
|
Israeli Authorities
|
‘Anin Local Farmers
|
Not giving farmers the permits needed to pass the gates that lead to their lands.
|
|
|
3
|
21/10
|
Faqqu’a
|
Israeli Army
|
Local Farmers
|
Delaying the opening of the gates. Deliberately closing a gate for a whole day.
|
|
|
4
|
3/11
|
Beit Lid
|
Israeli Army, Avnei Hefetz colonists
|
Local Farmers
|
Preventing the farmers from reaching the lands nearby the Israeli colony.
|
|
|
5
|
18/7
|
Nablus
|
Burin
|
Yizhar colonists
|
Local Farmers
|
Burning 300 olive trees.
|
|
6
|
29/9
|
Nablus
|
Burin
|
Yizhar colonists
|
Heirs of Abdul Qader As’ad Omran, Abdul Mo’een ‘Awad, Ahmad ‘Awad
|
Uprooting and cutting 160 olive trees (20-35 years old)
|
|
7
|
7/10
|
Nablus
|
Burqa, Bizzariya, Sabastiya
|
Israeli Army
|
Local Farmers
|
Converting 400 dunums into a closed military zone and forbidding the farmers from reaching it
|
|
8
|
12/10
|
Nablus
|
Qaryut, Al Lubban ash Sharqiya
|
Israeli Army
|
Local Farmers
|
Forbidding the farmers from reaching their lands despite the fact that they have the needed permits on the pretext of safeguarding the colonists’ security.
|
|
9
|
15/10
|
Nablus
|
‘Azmut
|
Israeli Army, Alon Moreh colonists
|
Local Farmers
|
Preventing the farmers from reaching their lands near Eli and Maale Labona colonies despite having the needed permits.
|
|
10
|
15/10
|
Nablus
|
‘Asira al Qibliya
|
Israeli Army, Yizhar colonists
|
Local Farmers
|
Colonists, supported by the Israeli Army, forbade the farmers from harvesting the olive trees and placed an outpost in the area.
|
|
11
|
17/10
|
Nablus
|
Qaryut
|
Eli colonists
|
Mufeed Jaber (72)
|
Assaulting the said farmer while harvesting olives, he sustained several injuries and a fractured shoulder.
|
|
12
|
17/10
|
Nablus
|
Salim, Kafr Qallil
|
Israeli Army
|
Local Farmers
|
Forbidding the foreign advocates from helping the Palestinian farmers, also the Israeli Army threatened to fine any Palestinian who seeks help from foreigners.
|
|
13
|
18/10
|
Nablus
|
Burin
|
Israeli Army, Bracha colonists
|
Local Farmers including Mursi ‘Eid(35), Qasim Alnajjar(28), Jamal Alnajjar(24)
|
Tens of colonists attacked the farmers near the colony and threw stones at them in an attempt to prevent them from olive picking.
|
|
14
|
22/10
|
Nablus
|
Qaryut, Al Lubban ash Sharqiya
|
Eli colonists
|
Faisal Rasheed (5 dunums), Mohammad Rasheed (5 dunums)
|
Tens of settlers torched 10 dunums of olive trees.
|
|
15
|
25/10
|
Nablus
|
‘Iraq Burin
|
Israeli Army, Bracha colonists
|
Mohammad Qadus, Wa’el Qadus
|
Two farmers were shot while peacefully demonstrating against the colonists’ acts.
|
|
16
|
25/10
|
Nablus
|
Qaryut
|
Eli, Shilo, Shvut Rahel, Maale Levona colonists
|
Local Farmers
|
Colonists attacked the farmers to ban them from harvesting olives.
|
|
17
|
27/10
|
Nablus
|
Qaryut
|
Israeli Army, Shvut Rahel colonists
|
Mu’taz Ghassan (31), Isra’ Badawi (23)(sustained Injury in her eye), Jawad Albadawi, Jamal Kassab
|
Colonists attacked the farmers while harvesting olives despite the fact that coordination was made between the Israeli and Palestinian DCO to allow the farmers to peacefully harvest their crop. The Israeli Army did not interfere to stop the attacks.
|
|
18
|
12/11
|
Nablus
|
Burin
|
Yizhar colonists
|
Akram ‘Emran
|
Cutting down 80 olive trees.
|
|
19
|
9/11
|
Salfit
|
Yasuf
|
Taffuh colonists
|
Local Farmers
|
Preventing farmers from reaching their lands despite the fact that coordination was made between the Israeli and Palestinian DCO to allow the farmers to peacefully harvest their crop.
|
|
20
|
9/8
|
Qalqiliya
|
‘Azzun ‘Atma
|
Oranit colonists
|
‘Abdul Kareem Salamah
|
Setting fire to 100 olive trees located behind the wall.
|
|
21
|
2/10
|
Qalqiliya
|
Jayyus
|
Israeli Army
|
Local Farmers
|
Preventing the farmers from using gate 979 to get to their lands and letting them use the further gate 943.
|
|
22
|
4/10
|
Qalqiliya
|
Jinsafut
|
Israeli colonists
|
Abdul Hafiz Kamel
|
Colonists beat a farmer and stole his crop claiming that the land belongs to them.
|
|
23
|
7/10
|
Qalqiliya
|
Sabastiya
|
Israeli Army
|
Local Farmers
|
Preventing foreigners from helping Palestinian farmers.
|
|
24
|
10/10
|
Qalqiliya
|
Kafr Qaddum
|
Kadumim colonists
|
Fo’ad Abdul Qader, Sadeq Eshtewi, Omar Eshtewi, Saleh Eshtewi
|
Burning 146 olive trees.
|
|
25
|
10/10
|
Qalqiliya
|
Amatin
|
Kadumim colonists
|
Sayel Ghanem, Ahmad Ghanem, Mohammad Ghanem, Abdul Raheem Ghanem, Basel Ghanem
|
Torching 144 olive trees.
|
|
26
|
20/10
|
Qalqiliya
|
Kafr Qaddum
|
Kadumim colonists
|
Mohammad Eshtewi
|
Preventing farmers from picking olives and assaulting one of them.
|
|
27
|
22/10
|
Qalqiliya
|
Amatin, Far’ata
|
Israeli Army, Hifat Gil’ad colonists
|
Local Farmers
|
Uprooting 8 olive trees, preventing the farmers from reaching their lands located near the colony.
|
|
28
|
6/10
|
Deir ‘Ammar
|
Nahalil colonists
|
Abdullah Odeh Family
|
Cutting down 250 olive trees.
|
|
|
29
|
14/10
|
Dura
|
Israeli Army, Negohot colonists
|
Local Farmers
|
Forbidding olive picking.
|
|
|
30
|
21/10
|
Yatta
|
Susiya colonists
|
Mohammad Hosheiya, Samir Hoshiya, Jamal Hoshiya
|
Cutting down 17 olive trees.
|
|
|
31
|
21/10
|
Lands near the wall
|
Israeli Army, Israeli Civil Administration
|
Farmers who own land behind the wall
|
1500 families requested entrance to their lands behind the wall, the Israeli army considers the lands ‘buffer zone’ and nobody gets permits to reach it unless he proves his ownership of the land. Only 420 families applied for permits and only 212 families were granted them.
|
Source: LRC field work
14125 olive trees were cut down, torched, or uprooted:
During 2009, 14125 olive trees were cut down, torched or uprooted, including 1455 trees that were burnt or uprooted during the olive picking season and about 7000 were uprooted for the purpose of expanding the existing colonies while the rest were burnt or cut down by colonists. Not only did the Israeli Authorities and colonists destroy olive trees but also they prevented the farmers from reaching their olive fields, especially the ones behind the wall.
Table 2: Israeli violations in numbers
|
No
|
Governorate
|
Number of Trees
|
Number of Violations
|
|||
|
Uprooted or cut down
|
Torched
|
Gates Closure
|
Shooting and Beating
|
Banned from reaching their land
|
||
|
1
|
Jenin
|
|
|
2
|
|
1
|
|
2
|
Tolkarm
|
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
3
|
Nablus
|
1540
|
4550
|
|
4
|
6
|
|
4
|
Salfit
|
5720
|
|
|
|
1
|
|
5
|
Qalqiliya
|
8
|
390
|
1
|
2
|
2
|
|
6
|
Ramallah
|
250
|
|
|
|
|
|
7
|
Hebron
|
1267
|
400
|
|
|
2
|
|
Total
|
8785
|
5340
|
3
|
6
|
13
|
|
Source: LRC field work
General Information on the Palestinian Olive Sector:
According to Mr. Fares Aljabi, Palestinian olive oil consultant and member of the Palestinian Olive Oil Council, olive oil is a main source of income for many Palestinian families as there is 100000 Palestinian families who totally depend on olive oil in their living. Hundreds of factories and olive presses operate only during this season. The olive picking season is vital for development, unemployment rates become lower because olive picking requires a lot of workers and olives are considered vital income.
Usually, 12% of the agricultural income comes from olives, about $ 700 million, which measures 3-6% of the national income. The current season is considered unfruitful; this is because of the climate changes and factors related to the Israeli occupation’s actions.
970 thousand dunums in the West Bank and 25 thousands in Gaza strip are planted with olive trees. The olive trees are concentrated in northern West Bank area. There are 300 olive presses in the West Bank, 260 out of them are still operating.
Olive planting occupies an estimate of 50% from the total agricultural area of Palestine which equals 1.9% of the total area of the West Bank (970 thousands dunums are planted with olive trees). 85% of the trees planted in Palestine are olives, another 10-15 thousand dunums used for irrigated farming.
The Palestinian Bureau of Statistics stated that the total number of workers in olive presses last year was about 1100, 68% were paid workers.
Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC
The Land Research Center
LRC
