The Olive Tree & the Land

The olive tree is a Mediterranean tree that can live for thousands of years. It is at the core of culture, cuisine and economics in Palestine. The oil is both sacred and nutritious, the wood is useful and it’s branch is a symbol of peace and abundance.

In Palestine, it is also a symbol of the people’s connection to the land.

There are literally millions of olive trees; they are everywhere - in fields, in city yards, along roadsides, in village communities. They provide a major crop that is harvested in the fall. We are here, now, in the midst of harvest season and families work together to harvest for a few weeks.

We had the honor of staying with the Abu Fadi family in a village near the city of Jenin. We spent the evening in a common room where he and his relatives of all ages came to visit with us. While several people exchanged photos and videos using cell phones, the conversation ebbed and flowed, sometimes assisted by translation apps; I was surprised to see English to Arabic. Google translate tells me that olive is zaytun or زیتون. Several of the family spoke English, many understood English and all were curious and friendly. The women were out of the room most of the time but joined us for short times and listened attentively.

In the morning we rode in a cart attached to a small tractor, a short distance to their olive field. Abu Fadi picked oregano, sage and other herbs amongst the trees for our tea. He is a certifier for Canaan Fair Trade Olive Factory where they are members and sell their olives. He showed us the paperwork used to collect data from the many small farmers in the area.

Then we worked. Branches were pruned from trees. Olives were stripped from the branches and loaded into bags. Women and men worked together. This is a good year for olives. Last year’s drought cut their production by 80%.

It was an idyllic experience.  It was also fascinating to see their unique cistern system for collecting water. Then he told us the reason: they tried to dig a well, and the Israeli soldiers came and filled it in, multiple times. They are not allowed to dig wells, and water is extremely expensive to buy. Later we discovered that they are also not allowed to collect water. Their cistern system could be destroyed too.

This is the system of apartheid, where Israelis can have all the water they want at a much cheaper price. It is a tactic of economic pressure to try to force them off their beloved land. They are squeezed very hard by this pressure and many other obstacles. But they are resisting and continue the family life they love. It was an honor and very inspiring to share those few hours with this wonderful family.