On a walk through Deheisheh Refugee Camp, a target of many Israeli attacks and an even greater target of psychological warfare, I was greeted enthusiastically by no fewer than 20 young children and 10 adults. Back home in New York, that’s unfathomable.
Read MoreOurs is an environmental delegation so it is natural that we should have visited as many as six farms during our tour of Palestine. Farmers anywhere will tell you of their difficulties - the price of seed and feed, the price they can make in the market, and the vagaries of the weather. All this and more is sent to try the farmers of Palestine.
Read MoreAnd what can be said of the actual olive harvest, an opportunity to touch, to commune with, to bear witness to spirit trees that are hundreds of years old, some even thousands of years old! I traveled back in time to places that I had read about, to peoples that existed in ancient times and felt connected to the land and to humanity.
Read MoreWe were fortunate to participate in the harvesting of olives. Our group was welcomed warmly as we walked to a stand of trees, where men and women had gathered to tend to the various tasks of the day. Black tarps were laid upon the ground under the trees to collect the olives picked or shaken off of the branches.
Read MoreAfter some hours of beating the branches, picking, gathering and filling buckets and sacks of green and black olives, we take a break enjoying soup and a rice dish. Summers have become drier, the fresh leaves a little more brittle and the olives less plump than in former times. No wells are permitted and water from tankers is very expensive.
Read MoreWatch members of Eyewitness Palestine's Environmental Justice and Olive Harvest Delegation celebrate the Olive Harvest with the Farmers of Canaan Palestine. Click here for to watch video of the dancing and celebrating!
It was a perfectly beautiful day. We were greeted by a lovely Palestinian woman who gave our delegation a tour of Canaan where olive oil and spices are sold and where the factory which produces olive oil is housed.
Read MorePalestinian olive trees are repeatedly planted and destroyed, harvested and bulldozed; Israeli settlers dispose of their trash on Palestinians in hope of making their lives hell; and security is everywhere from public spaces such as airports and streets and private spaces such as farms and homes.
Read MorePractically everywhere we traveled in the West Bank we heard about a water crisis that has forced farmers off their land. Farm land which has not been cultivated for three consecutive years is considered neglected and can be seized by Israel and turned into ‘State Land.’
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