Tag: Olive harvest - Page 3 - International Solidarity Movement

Israeli settlers sabotage the olive harvest in Awarta

23rd September 2014 | International Solidarity Movement | Awarta, Occupied Palestine

Awarta Olive Trees — Photo by Maan News Agency

On the 28th of August, around 7:00 a.m., Israeli settlers from the illegal settlement of Itamar cut down and burnt more than 30 olive trees belonging to Awarta village before the harvest.

For the farmers living southeast of Nablus City, the olive trees are a basic, continual part of life.

The large, illegal settlement of Itamar is built on the lands of Awarta, Yanoon, and Aqraba villages. The settlers there have a company of shepherds. They have stolen the northeast lands from Awarta, so now people cannot work in that area without permission, and then only for a few days during the harvest.

Every year before harvest, settlers burn and cut the trees until the farmers cannot collect their fruit. In this way, they want to make people give in and forget their land. And they do not stop there. During the harvest, they attack the farmers, and release pigs onto Palestinian land to destroy it. Then settlers attack in groups, throwing stones and burning the grass, and most of them pick out the remaining fruit before the DCO gives permission.

These are the policies Israel uses against the land and the farmers.

Call to action: Join ISM for the 2013 Olive Harvest Campaign

22nd August 2013 | International Solidarity Movement | Occupied West Bank

olive-harvest14 — Israeli soldier stands next to Palestinian farmers harvesting their olives

At a time of regular settler violence in the West Bank, the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to join us for the 2013 Olive Harvest Campaign at the invitation of Palestinian communities.

The olive tree is a national symbol for Palestinians. As thousands of olive trees have been bulldozed, uprooted, burned and destroyed by Israeli settlers and the military – according to the UN settlers alone destroyed or damaged over 7,500 trees just in 2012 – harvesting has become more than a source of livelihood; it has become a form of resistance.

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. Despite attempts by Israeli settlers and soldiers to prevent them from accessing their land, Palestinian communities have remained steadfast in refusing to give up their olive harvest.

ISM volunteers join Palestinian farming communities each year to harvest olives, in areas where Palestinians face settler and military violence when working their land. Your presence can make a big difference, with Palestinian communities stating that the presence of international volunteers reduces the risk of extreme violence from Israeli settlers and the Israeli army.

We support Palestinians’ assertion of their right to earn their livelihoods and be present on their lands. International solidarity activists engage in non-violent intervention and documentation, practical support which enables many families to pick their olives.

The campaign will begin mid October and will last around 5-7 weeks. We request a minimum 2 week commitment from volunteers but stress that long-termers are needed as well. We ask that volunteers start arriving in the first week of October, so that we will be prepared when the harvest begins.

Training

The ISM will be holding mandatory two day training sessions which will run weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Please see the join ISM page or contact palreports@gmail.com for further information.

In addition to the Olive Harvest Campaign, volunteers can also participate in regular ISM activities in support of the Palestinian popular struggle.

Join us in our solidarity with the Palestinian resistance at this crucial time of year!

In Solidarity,

ISM Palestine

Resist the land grab: donate a tree

29 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus, Occupied Palestine

For more than a decade the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has supported Palestinians during the olive harvest, a task which continues to be challenging.

We regularly support farmers by accompanying them to fields and planting olive trees in areas of high risk of settler attacks and army harassment. As part of our continuous support to the grassroots struggle, we are going to plant olive trees in the villages around Nablus, starting now. For this, we need your support.

Hundreds of thousands of olive trees are located near illegal Israeli colonial settlements, making the trees as well as the farmers a sure target for settler violence. On average, around 10,000 trees are destroyed each year. Before the olive harvest had began in 2012, farmers had to deal with the devastating effects of arson. According to the United Nations, more than 870 trees were vandalised in the first week of October’s harvest.

Working near settlements is much more than a source of livelihood: it is a form of non-violent resistance. Planting and harvesting olives is a continuous affirmation of Palestinians’ historical, cultural and economic connection to their lands and a rejection of Israeli efforts to seize them.

Villages around Nablus have seen an increased level of violence and harassment by settlers and the army. ISM activists in Nablus have spent recent months working in villages around Yizhar, the most violent settlement in the West Bank. The village of Urif has been under regular attacks by settlers and army, including settler attacks around the school which is located on the very edge of the village. Madama has also seen some extremely violent scenes involving shepherds being assaulted whilst working their lands around the settlement. Asira, another village which surrounds Yizhar, has just been the victim of yet another outrageous land grab. The village of Burin gets attacked from settlements on two sides. We want to help these villages resist by planting olive trees around the most dangerous land around Yizhar settlement.

We want to start by planting around 1000 olive trees and for this we urgently need your help. An olive tree costs $4 to $11, depending on it’s size (the bigger the tree the sooner olives can be harvested). The more money we can raise, the more and bigger olive trees we will be able to plant. Any amount you can donate helps. Please donate now so that we can start start planting. All funds raised will be used entirely for the purchase of new trees.

Please help spread the word. Join the event on Facebook.

Picking olives in a cage

Journal by Ellie Marton

25 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

I spent Tuesday inside a cage. Not my usual way to spend a sunny Tuesday – but for the Palestinian farmers I was with, this is routine.

This is because their land happens to be near the illegal Israeli settlement of Ariel – in fact, it is in the Israeli imposed ‘buffer zone’ between the largest settlement in the West Bank and the surrounding Palestinian villages – of course, the buffer zone is created out of land outside of the settlement, effectively grabbing yet more land from the Palestinians.

Many olive trees are trapped in this ‘buffer zone’ between a fence on one side and Ariel on the other. So, during the Palestinian olive harvest, the villagers who own the land must ask for Israeli permission to access their own trees – as is typical across the West Bank. However, they have a second hurdle to cross, as their trees are behind this fence, the soldiers need to let them in and out every morning and evening.

The gate is meant to be opened at six every morning, during the 20 days that villagers have permission to pick olives inside the cage – some farmers have to set off from home before 5am to get there on time to be allowed in. Five soldiers deigned to grace us with their presence at around 6.15, zooming down their patrol road in a military jeep. They opened the first gate onto the road, then past the rolls and rolls of barbed wire separating this from the next gate, eventually coming down to permit access to the sixty Palestinians, who were waiting patiently outside, as the sun rose over the hill.

The soldiers took the ID card of every person who passed, impatiently gesturing at people to hurry up with their guns. When we had all crossed the patrol road and into the third gate into the cage-proper, the door slammed shut behind us. We were locked inside until 4pm, when the soldiers would come and release us.

This length of time has severe implications for the farmers picking inside the cage – if anyone is ill or gets injured over the course of the day, there is no guarantee that medical help would be able to reach them. Children can’t join their families picking olives after school. If families don’t pick their olives within the permission time, they will lose them. Multiple trips can’t be made during the day – any olives that need to be removed have to be taken in one go at the end of the day – and this can be a lot. More than anything, the loss of autonomy and control over your own life and livelihood is devastating.

The family that I was picking with didn’t actually own the land – they rented it from another family who live in a village very near to the land. However, because of the cage, it would take them around three hours to reach their trees. So although the majority of Palestinian families have a deep connection to their trees and their land, this family needed to sacrifice this for the practicality of allowing someone who lives closer to farm their land.

Actually picking the olives was trouble free. We saw one settler, jogging past on the other side of the fence – apparently there are sports fields there. At the end of the day, we walked the forty minutes back to the gate and waited for the soldiers to let us back out. This time, they called people one by one, handing them back their ID cards. This took rather a long time. At the end, there was one woman left – for several tense minutes, the soldiers couldn’t find her ID card and held her back. Her relief was tangible when it was found, and she was allowed to follow the rest of her family out of the cage. Palestinians need their ID cards for all aspects of their daily life, to have it go missing would be a big problem.

Israel aims to humiliate and control the Palestinian farmers – with great dignity, patience and steadfastness, the Palestinians gather their olives year after year, waiting until the moment when they will break free from the cages.

Ellie Marton is a volunteer with the International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed)

3 Arrested as Palestinians attacked by settlers and soldiers in Tel Rumeida

By Vicky Blackwell and Elyana Belle
Photographs by Vicky Blackwell

22 October 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

VIDEO from Youth Against Settlements:

UPDATE: 10.30pm – All 3 men have now been released without charge.

Today, a group of settlers from the illegal settlement in Tel Rumeida arrived at Hashem Azzeh’s olive grove next to his house at around 12.30pm, whilst he and his family were harvesting their olives, yelling for everyone to get off of “their” land.

Hashem and his family were on their land harvesting olives for the first time in 5 years after being granted permission from the District Civil Liaison. He was accompanied by several members of his family as well as activists from the International Solidarity Movement. The situation quickly escalated as settlers pushed the Palestinians in order to try and enter Hashem’s house.

Within ten minutes the soldiers arrived and began to separate the Palestinian family and internationals and siding with the Israeli settlers. Arguments continued with both sides yelling “this is my land,” regardless of the fact that Hashem has the deeds to the land. The settlers were also heard shouting “This is not your land, this is the land of the Jewish people.”

At this point around ten more settlers had come down and joined in, shouting abuse at Hashem and his family. The soldiers pushed the Palestinians and internationals back towards Hashem’s house threatening to arrest anyone who did not obey. The soldiers grabbed a young Palestinian man by the name of Imad Al Atrash who was video taping standing behind international activists: pushed him against the wall and zip-tied his arms behind his back.

Then they went after an International activist trying to arrest him for taking video footage. While trying to escape they grabbed another of the International activists standing by, put him in a headlock on the ground and arrested him. Jawad Abu Eisheh who had arrived in solidarity with his neighbors was also captured and arrested (this comes only 9 days after Jawad and his family were also attacked by settlers whilst harvesting their olives nearby, see: https://palsolidarity.org/2012/10/settlers-attack-and-injure-palestinians-harvesting-olives-in-tel-rumeida/ )

The two Palestinians and Italian activist have been arrested and taken to a police station in the illegal settlement of Kiryat Arba.

The district of Tel Rumeida is heavily militarized and contains the homes of both Israeli settlers and Palestinians. Hasham’s family moved to Tel Rumeida in 1950 after being forcibly removed from their homes in what is now Israel. The Tel Rumeida settlement was installed in 1984.
In an attack in 2006 the settlers smashed Hasham’s nephews’ teeth in with a stone. That same year his wife (3 months pregnant at the time) was attacked and subsequently miscarried. Again in 2006 she was attacked, this time 4 months pregnant, and again, suffered from a miscarriage due to the attack.
The settlers living directly over Hasham’s house have also in the past raided his house, (bullet-holes near his front door show when the settlers shot live ammunition at his house), they cut his water-pipes and poisoned his water tank, cut his trees down in his garden and have physically attacked and assaulted him and his family as well as breaking-into and vandalizing his house on several occasions.

Previous reports on settler violence against the Azzeh family:

https://palsolidarity.org/2006/05/report-on-razor-wire-closing-entrance-to-the-track-leading-to-the-al-azzeh-homes/

https://palsolidarity.org/2006/09/hebron-27th-sept/

https://palsolidarity.org/2006/10/olive-picking-tr-settlement/

https://palsolidarity.org/2006/10/tr-harassment/

https://palsolidarity.org/2012/09/hebron-man-walks-down-street-for-first-time-in-years/