Palestinian Farmers under Severe Hardship during the Olive Harvest: a Call for Solidarity
Written by Ahmad Jaradat, Alternative Information Center (AIC)
During the first day that Palestinian farmers headed to their orchards to pick olives, several were injured when they were attacked by a number of settlers from the Nablus area, especially near the Gilad settlement post. If not for the intervention of the Israeli military, the outcome of the attack would have been much bloodier, especially since the attacking settlers were armed. The scene conjured up other experiences over the years, in which farmers have been injured and killed during such attacks.
In a number of West Bank areas, especially those in close proximity to Jewish settlements, farmers are in fear of attacks from settlers, who have often prevented them from picking their olives.
Economically, this is a very important season for the Palestinians, especially this year in which Palestinians are under a financial siege. The olive harvest constitutes an important source of individual income and nutrition for many Palestinians, in addition to it being an important portion of the national income. This year, there are several obstacles in front of the farmers during the olive picking season, one of them being the attacks by settlers and their eviction from their own land under gunpoint. Furthermore, hundreds of thousands of dunam are now inside the Separation Wall, which poses a number of problems for the farmers, because they are not allowed into their fields without permits from the Israeli authorities. Parts of these lands are closed off to the farmers completely. Other areas have been declared closed military zones all year round.
Over the past few weeks, farmers and institutions concerned with land, agriculture and the Separation Wall, began preparing for this season and helping the farmers by providing a certain amount of security and protection from settler and Israeli military attacks. In the Hebron district, a committee of several institutions has been set up to help the farmers in the southern Yatta region, where settlers often prevent farmers from reaching their agricultural land, especially during harvest season. Furthermore, a few weeks before the olive-picking season, settlers took over a 150-dunam area of land close to the Susiya settlement, which has hindered the movement of scores of farmers. Several similar committees have been set up in the northern West Bank as well.
In this regard, Israeli forces have recently been carrying out a series of measures in more than one location, especially in the northern West Bank, primarily to prevent farmers from gaining access to their land located behind the Wall. Two weeks ago, soldiers manning the Separation Wall gate in the village of Qafeen, north of Tulkarem, prevented farmers from crossing to reach their agricultural land, even though they had permits. According to Tayseer Harsheh, the mayor of Qafeen, “Since the start of the olive harvest, the soldiers at Gate 436 have prevented farmers from crossing even though they have valid permits issued by the [Israeli] Civil Administration. This will deny more than 1,200 farmers from the village from picking their olives behind the Separation Wall.”
He added, “The average annual production rate from land behind the Wall, especially from land belonging to farmers from the village, is 700 tons of olive oil. This means the farmers are losing their only source of livelihood.” (Al-Ayyam newspaper, 13 October 2006). It should be mentioned here that these permits, which are given to a small number of farmers whose land is behind the Wall, are for a certain time period during the day and do not include permission for the crossing of buses. For years, this has meant that farmers have not been able to pick the entire harvest.
In the Salfit area, where a high percentage of land belonging to the districts’ villages is behind the Separation Wall, farmers are struggling to reach their land to pick their olives. In spite of Israeli promises to grant them permits and despite the recent intervention of the Red Cross, soldiers at the gate are preventing farmers from reaching their fields. Nidal Omar, deputy head of the joint services council for villages west of Salfit said, “There have been efforts over the past few weeks through the Red Cross and the Israel High Court to open the Wall’s gates to farmers and to grant them permits but to no avail.” In al-Zawiyeh, Israeli soldiers at the gates confiscated a number of permits and tore them up. Amir Shuqair, mayor of al-Zawiyeh, said the percentage of permits granted to farmers reaches no more than 30 percent of the number of farmers in the town.
Faced with this reality during the olive picking season, where farmers are up against attacks by settlers and soldiers, it seems this year will be the toughest for them. As usual, we at the Alternative Information Center try to highlight this important issue, which is harmful to the livelihood of the farmers and impinges on their ownership of their land. We stress the need to work on exerting more efforts and call on international and Israeli activists to help the farmers pick their olives, especially in areas surrounded by settlements and behind the Wall. This could be achieved through joining local and international solidarity committees concerned with helping the farmers during this season.