The harvest in Silwad began with a tense walk on the morning of October 17th. Settlers were observed on the horizon, as solidarity activists traversed the valley towards the trees. Around thirty of us traveled in solidarity with Palestinian farmers, passing by an illegal Israeli settler outpost that had been constructed last year.
We eventually arrived to the olive grove and immediately got into the harvest spirit. Little conversations and small hums filled the air as we got to picking, filling bags olive by olive for around an hour and a half; the ever-constant threat of interruption by settlers at the back of our minds. At one point, a trespassing Israeli shepherd walked through the grove, talking on the phone. I wondered how, whilst doing something so peaceful, I could feel so anxious.
A group of settlers arrived. They began yelling orders that we must move on, forcing us to stop harvesting as they funneled us out of the grove. As we prepared to begin filling the farmers’ vehicles, the settlers started blocking the road, seemingly in an attempt to buy time for the arrival of armed soldiers.
In a final act of solidarity, a number of us began carrying sacks of olives away on foot, whilst others stayed temporarily to support the farmers in protecting the remaining olives in their possession. All solidarity activists were then forced to retreat, in fear of violence, as IOF vehicles were spotted closing in.
Despite the regrettable settler aggression, we are very glad to let you know that the farmers were eventually able to leave with all of the olives in their vehicles and were later reunited with the remaining olives that we had kept safe.
Today, Palestine resisted and the farmer won.