Palestinian agricultural organizations and farmers, in coordination with the International Solidarity Movement and the IWPS, announce the 2004 Olive Harvest Campaign. The campaign will take place between October 5 and November 15.
More information and registration will be available on our website shortly. For preparation and contact information, please see our website, www.palsolidarity.org or write to info@palsolidarity.org.
Join Us in Palestine for the Olive Harvest!
The Olive Harvest Campaign, 2004, will challenge settler and Israeli army actions that deny Palestinians access to their land and the right to harvest their crops. Specific areas where the construction of the Wall, recently ruled as illegal by the International Court in the Hague, has resulted in increased suffering on the Palestinian people by confiscating cultivated land and denying access to farmers, will be targeted This will include focusing on areas where gates in the Wall that separate farmers from their land and markets are arbitrarily controlled by the Israeli Army.
Volunteers for the Olive Harvest Campaign will accompany farmers to assist in accessing their farms. In addition, they will serve as witness to expose the attacks by settlers, supported by the Israeli Army, on farmers and their families. The presence of internationals during harvest time has proven in the past to help both limit, and decrease the severity, of attacks.
The olive harvest is an extremely important activity for the lives and livelihoods of Palestinians and their communities. In the past four years agricultural productivity has decreased dramatically due to closures and sieges which prohibit access to agricultural land and markets. The Wall and increased attacks on farmers and their families in the fields has further impacted their ability to earn a living.
Harvesting olives is also a statement of connection to the land and a symbol of life. Palestinians are the indigenous people of this land who have harvested olives for thousands of years. They are continuing to be separated from their land by the construction of the Wall and expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, building of by-pass roads and the creation of “security-zones” by the Israeli Army. In addition, over half a million olive and fruit trees have been destroyed since September 2000. Palestinian agriculture is being effectively destroyed by the policies of the Israeli government and the rights of Palestinians to their land and to a livelihood are being denied.
The International Solidarity Movement calls on you to join us this Fall to participate in non-violent protest of the on-going confiscation and destruction of Palestinian land and the illegal policies of denying farmers access to their lands, markets and water sources. This campaign is part of the on-going work of the International Solidarity Movement, (ISM),a Palestinian-led movement of Palestinian, International and Israeli activists working to raise awareness of the struggle for Palestinian freedom and an end to Israeli occupation. ISM uses nonviolent, direct-action methods of resistance to confront and challenge the Israeli occupation.
This year we are calling on you to join us for the olive harvest in Palestine.
With international accompaniment, we can help ensure that Palestinian farmers and landowners are not met with brutal and sometimes lethal violence as they attempt to harvest their crops.
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!