Author: ISM Media Group

Olive Harvest 2007: You Are Needed More Than Ever!

Photo by Asa Winstanley
Join Us in Palestine for the 2007 Olive Harvest Campaign! Palestinian farmers and agricultural organizations, in coordination with the International Solidarity Movement, the International Women’s Peace Service, and the Christian Peacemaker Team announce the 2007 Olive Harvest Campaign. The campaign will begin on October 16th, after the end of Ramadan, and will continue for six to eight weeks, depending on the size of the harvest.
Photo by Asa Winstanley
The Israeli government continues to seize Palestinian land throughout the West Bank to expand settlements and build its illegal annexation barrier. As this goes on, Palestinian communities continue to resist Israel’s attempts to cement its control of the West Bank and imprison Palestinians behind walls and fences.

The Olive Harvest is an annual affirmation of Palestinians’ historical, spiritual and economic connection to their land, and a
rejection of Israeli efforts to seize it. Palestinians are the indigenous people of this land who have farmed olives here for
thousands of years. The annual harvest is a symbol of life for Palestinian communities.

Agricultural productivity over the last seven years has decreased dramatically because of closures and sieges, which prohibit access to farms and markets. Israel’s barrier and increased settler attacks on farmers and their families in the fields have further diminished Palestinians’ ability to earn a living. Over half a million olive and fruit trees have been destroyed since September 2000. Palestinian agriculture is being destroyed by the policies of the Israeli government and the rights of Palestinians to their land and to a livelihood are being denied.

International and Israeli volunteers join Palestinians each year to harvest olives, in spite of efforts by Israeli settlers, soldiers and bulldozers to destroy this vital piece of Palestinian life.

How It Works

The Olive Harvest Campaign provides a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Palestinian families in their olive groves and homes. The presence of internationals during harvest time has proven in the past to help limit and decrease the severity of attacks. Last year (2006) was the first year since the beginning of the intifada that a farmer was not murdered while trying to harvest his olives. One farmer was severely beaten, and in that instance, no internationals or Israelis were present. Your presence makes all the difference in reducing the levels of violence Palestinians experience while standing up for their
rights.

After a two-day training session, volunteers for the Olive Harvest Campaign will stay in Palestinian homes or international apartments in West Bank communities and accompany Palestinian families to their olive groves to serve as witnesses to document and expose attacks by settlers — supported by the Israeli Army — on farmers and their families.

In addition to olive harvest, volunteers will have the opportunity to join Palestinians in nonviolent protests throughout the West Bank against the construction of the annexation barrier, settlements and settlement roads.

This 2007 Olive Harvest Campaign is part of the ongoing work of the International Solidarity Movement, a Palestinian-led movement comprising of Palestinian, Israeli and international activists working to raise awareness about the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to the occupation. ISM uses nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance to confront and challenge the Israeli persecution of Palestinians. With your help and participation, we will expose the injustice of the Israeli occupation and send a message to the world that the occupation must end and the wall must fall!

For more information on preparation, travel and arrival in Palestine, please see the ISM Palestine website, www.palsolidarity.org/main/join/. ISM support groups located around the world can help answer your questions about the movement and Olive Harvest Campaign. Many will provide training sessions. For information on how to contact local ISM
support groups worldwide, please also see the ISM website.

Despite the difficult situation in Palestine, your dedication and support have made the 2007 Summer Campaign a success (for some of the highlights of the campaign keep reading!) and have given hope and strength to Palestinian communities living under occupation. We are desperately in need of financial support to enable ISM to prepare for and function during the upcoming upcoming Olive Harvest Campaign.

In 2006, for the first time since the beginning of the current Palestinian uprising no Palestinian farmer was murdered by settlers while harvesting his olives. In addition to this, many farmers harvested land that they have not been able to access for many years due to settler and military harassment. This was made possible thanks to years of campaigning and the accompanying presence of international and Israeli activists with the farmers in the high risk areas. We need your help to repeat this achievement in 2007!

A few of the highlights of this year’s Freedom Summer 2007 Campaign have been:

In the Hebron region, ISM has maintained a presence in Tel Remeida for over a year now. As a result the level of violent attacks by settlers against the Palestinian population has decreased significantly. For the first time in many years Palestinian children in Tel Rumeida are playing in the streets and the Palestinian residents dare to walk their streets after dark. Following a court order forcing the military to allow Palestinians to inhabit a Palestinian owned house that has been coveted by settlers due to it’s is strategic location, a permanent presence of international, Israeli and Palestinian activists has been established there. This has allowed Issa Amro and his new wife to renovate and move into their home. ISM also accompanies shepherds in the south Hebron hills in communities that face the threat of expulsion from their lands.

In the Nablus region, Palestinians and ISM activists have planted trees on land coveted by settlers. They have removed road blocks, exposed and evicted sniper positions in the refugee camps, made human roadblocks blocking invading Israeli jeeps and helped prevent home demolitions.

In Bil’in, the popular committee with the support of ISM, have been holding nonviolent demonstrations for over two years. These demonstrations, in conjunction with a legal challenge, were pivotal in bringing about the bankruptcy of the Israeli Goliath settlement building real estate company Heftsiba.

We also regularly support and join other villages across the West Bank, such as Um Salamuna, Artas and Walaja, all of which have initiated non violent campaigns to try to fight the theft of their lands by the apartheid wall. We have also funded and participated in the rebuilding of communities demolished by the Israeli authorities.

For details of the above activities see report on www.palsolidarity.org

We need your support to continue our activities:

Checks of any amount may be made out to “ISM-USA” and sent to:
ISM-USA
PO Box 5073
Berkeley, CA 94705

If you wish to make a tax-deductible donation, please make your checks of $50 or more payable to ISM-USA’s fiscal sponsor: A.J. Muste Memorial Institute, (with “ISM-USA” on the memo line of the check), and send to the same address above.

You may also use your credit or debit card and use our PayPal account through https://www.palsolidarity.org/main/donations/
Donations sent through PayPal are not tax-deductible.

Or help to fundraise with one of our numerous support groups around the world.

With any option you choose, you can be assured that these funds are used to further the work of the International Solidarity Movement. We thank you for your continued support.

in solidarity,

Hisham Jam Jum and Abdel Karim Dalbah
ISM Palestine Financial Committee

Peace Now report: Settlers enjoy luxury roads

Organization says State invests large sums in constructing highways for settlers in West Bank, while shortage in funds leaves infrastructure within Green Line lacking
Efrat Weiss
Published:
08.26.07, 12:04 / Israel News

While the State of Israel invests millions in constructing roads in
the West Bank, it neglects infrastructure development within the
Green Line, thus contributing to the increase in road accidents in
the country, the Peace Now organization claimed Sunday.

According to a report compiled by the group, 33 kilometers of roads
are currently under construction in the area east of the separation
fence, with an investment of some NIS 315 million.

“The State spends at least NIS 50,000 for each settler’s vehicle, on
infrastructure and new roads. While people in Israel get killed on a
daily basis due to a shortage in funds for infrastructure, the
settlers get luxury roads,” said Peace Now Secretary-General Yariv
Oppenheimer.

The roads in question include a road that is designed to serve four
settlements with 483 vehicles and 2,570 residents; the cost of
construction stands at NIS 142.5 million. Another road would serve
the 762 residents of one settlement and cost NIS 35 million.

The group noted that following a series of horrific crashes on the
Arava highway recently, it was reported that the construction of a
barrier between the lanes was being delayed due to the high cost of
the project. Meanwhile, a similar separation barrier has been built
along a highway in the southern Mount Hebron area, but was later
dismantled after the High Court deemed it illegal. The cost of the
barrier’s construction and later dismantling stood at NIS 80 million.

The report further noted that according to the Central Bureau of
Statistics, the State has over the years invested much more in paving
roads in the West Bank than in Israel. In recent years, some 17% of
road construction took place in the West Bank, although the settler
population makes up only 3.5 of the Israeli population.