WEST BANK’S TROUBLED HARVEST AMID ATTACKS ON OLIVE FARMS
▶ No respite for Palestinian villagers, even during what should be a time of plenty,
In an olive grove south of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank, Moath Omran recalled the moment his village of Burin was attacked by Israeli settlers. “It was a big clash,” he said of the incident last month, when four Palestinians were wounded by stones thrown by settlers. Trees and houses were also damaged, the UN office for humanitarian affairs reported.
“Every year, when they see people start harvesting the olives, they start throwing rocks and also setting fire to the land,” said Mr Omran, 30.
As he spoke, people around him plucked olives from the trees, to be pressed into oil or used in cosmetics.
“The roots of olive oil go back to our ancestors,” he said. “This land can grow olives very well, so we take advantage.”
But the tradition is under threat. So far about 2,200 trees have been damaged during this year’s harvest, according to the UN.
That is more than last year’s 1,700, with the harvest yet to be completed.
Palestinian farmers say that Israeli soldiers, who exercise military control in the West Bank, fail to intervene and protect Palestinians or their trees from these attacks.
The military say that is “a generalisation and incorrect”.
“As a rule, IDF troops act to prevent escalation and reduce conflict when they detect acts of violence in the area,” the military told The National.
The Red Cross said its employees were attacked with pepper spray by Israeli settlers near Burin last week, on a visit to the area with Palestinian farmers and Israeli military officials. It said the team was taken to an Israeli base for treatment.
Alongside physical violence, destruction of the native olive tree has serious consequences for the land.
“In addition to the significant economic and social impact on the livelihoods and food security of the farmers, burning of olive trees has three main types of adverse effects on the environment,” said Ciro Fiorillo, head of the West Bank and Gaza office for the UN’s Food and Agricultural Organisation.
It causes soil erosion and desertification, emits harmful carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and destroys trees that can store the gas.
“Each medium-sized olive tree removes around 8.35 kilograms of CO2 from the atmosphere annually,” Mr Fiorillo said.
Efforts are made to replace destroyed trees, including by Israeli activists, who earlier this year brought 200 trees to plant in Burin.
“A week later we came [back again] and a lot of the trees were uprooted – the new trees – so we replanted them,” said Rabbi Nava Hefetz.
A member of the Israeli organisation Rabbis for Human Rights, Ms Hefetz, 66, has harvested olives alongside Israeli and foreign volunteers for years. Activists have also been attacked by settlers. An elderly rabbi suffered a broken arm two years ago.
“We are going to places where there is a threat on the Palestinian farmers,” she said, as she stood among the olive trees in Burin.
While many farmers are at risk of physical violence during the harvest, others have trouble even reaching their land.
In the early 2000s, Israel began to build a barrier snaking through the West Bank that it said was necessary for security reasons.
Some 85 per cent of the barrier has been built inside the
Palestinian territory, according to the UN, rather than on the internationally-recognised border with Israel.
As a result, Palestinians must apply for an Israeli permit to access their land behind the barrier.
In the village of Qaffin, permit-holders are given a few minutes three times a day to tend their land.
“It’s not enough to serve the land,” said Taysir Harishi, a former mayor of the village.
“Three to four times per year, fires take place. You cannot get the fire brigade, you cannot even enter,” he said, as he stood in front of a gate with scorched land behind him.
More than 73 per cent of farmers’ permit applications were refused last year, a large increase from 29 per cent in 2014, according to figures obtained by Israeli human rights organisation HaMoked.
Usually farmers in Qaffin are allowed to cross into the so-called Seam Zone only on three days a week, though they can enter daily during the olive harvest.
Permits are restricted to landowners, who must request special permission to have others help them during the season.
“[Before the barrier] me, my sons, my daughters, my wife, we all worked on the land,” said farmer Ibrahim Amar. The family home in Qaffin lies only 300 metres from his crops.
“From my house to the gate, I have to walk around a kilometre and a half,” said Mr Amar, 64, standing beside the barrier. “From here to the land, around a kilometre and a half [further].”
Mr Amar said he used to grow other crops such as watermelon and corn, but his limited access means he can now only rely on hardy olive and almond trees. This loss has led him to supplement his income with taxi driving.
Olive trees are grown throughout the West Bank, but making a living from the crop is challenging.
According to UN figures, about 80,000 Palestinian families earn their income from growing olives in plantations. However, just 3 per cent of Palestinian olive oil is exported to “premium markets” beyond the Middle East, a 2018 World Bank report said.
The oil is sold in shops for about 35 to 40 per cent more than Turkish olive oil, owing to greater production costs. These include everything from the relatively high price of labour to restrictions on movement, including Israeli checkpoints, said the World Bank.
Farmers in Gaza are under greater restrictions than those in the West Bank. Israel has led a blockade of the Palestinian enclave since 2007, severely limiting the entry and exit of goods and people.
Mohamed Ouda, the manager of an olive press in Gaza, said farmers were able to export olive oil last year, but the current harvest was less promising.
“The surplus was exported to Saudi Arabia and the UAE,” he said. “But this year, due to low production, there is no commercial export.”
Nevertheless, harvest time provides an opportunity for some in Gaza, where about half of people are out of work.
Talaat Abu Jiyab, a Gazan farmer, said he was inundated with calls from potential pickers but could take on no more than 50.
“This is an opportunity for an unemployed worker who waits the whole year for this season, to work for a month harvesting olives at a rate of 30 shekels ($9.60) a day,” he said.
As well as providing a source of income, olives remain an important symbol across Palestine, said Mr Abu Jiyab, 55.
The trees, which can live for hundreds of years, are an emblem of durability and permanence.
“Palestinians cherish this tree,” he said.
“Whether we are in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, the border areas or far from the border areas, we consider this tree like one of our children.”
Every year, when they see people harvesting the olives, they start throwing rocks and also setting fire to the land MOATH OMRAN
West Bank villager