In Palestine, the olive harvest turns into a nightmare

Right now, the entire West Bank is in the colors of the olive harvest. From the roads, we can see the large black tarpaulins under the olive trees on which the fruits fall, the wooden ladders, and whole families gathered under the trees. But this traditionally festive season too often turns into a nightmare for many Palestinians. There is no morning without the owners of olive trees finding their trees ransacked, burned, cut down, or emptied of their olives.

In two weeks, more than 1,600 trees were vandalized, according to figures from the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Nor is there a week without settler attacks – a ritualized, violent clash, stone throwing, pepper spray, burnt cars, broken windows, sometimes armed threats – which seem more intense than ever this year: more ‘about sixty attacks since the start of the season.

There are also all these owners of olive trees who have lost land, because of the separation wall, and who are sorry for each olive harvest. This is the case of Ziad Othman, 62, met during the harvest in Jaroushiye, a small rural village near Tulkarem. Its olive groves are just 30 meters from the wall: “Each season is a challenge between us and the occupation”, he says, pointing to the wall, and explaining that his lands, too close, are considered “military zone” by the Israeli army.

“We had 40 hectares, which came from my grandfather. But when they built this wall, the Israelis took 17 hectares from us. Since then, we no longer have access to these lands, we cannot pick these olives. “

Ziad Othman, a Palestinian farmer

to franceinfo

The only solution for Palestinians to have access to this land is to obtain a permit from the Israelis. But Ziad explains that it was extremely complicated: “The first few years they would give us permits to go to our land and harvest the olives. And then they quit. Now, if an entire family applies for permits, maybe just one person, or two, in This is really proof that they don’t want people to go to their land. “

According to a report published Tuesday, October 26 by the organization HaMoked, the Israeli army rejects 73% of requests for permits from Palestinian farmers for access to their land. And less than 1% of these permits were refused for so-called “security” reasons.

In other words, they are almost always bureaucratic reasons, for not respecting the “criteria” imposed by the IDF. Sometimes it can be a plot considered by Israel to be too small to require a permit, or the fact of not being the owner of the land but only a member of the family, quite arbitrary and increasingly restrictive criteria. . One thing is certain: all of this seriously harms Palestinian families and communities. Because for some, harvesting olives and selling olive oil are the safest sources of income for the year.