In the West Bank, an essential olive harvest despite restrictions

It’s olive season in Palestine. Children dart between the olive trees while adults bustle among the branches, harvesting handfuls of sun-drenched fruits. The olives are abundant and the trees are generous. “The harvest will be good, God willing,” smiles Ibrahim Tos, relieved to begin picking on October 10 on this plot of 200 trees, despite military restrictions.

“Israel built its separation barrier right in the middle of my territory,” explains the resident of Jab’a, a village south of Bethlehem, pointing to the metal fence located a few olive trees away. “Because of the war, the Israeli army barred us from accessing it for last year’s harvest, and the settlers prevented us from accessing another plot close to their settlement of Bat Ayin. » Of the 20 barrels of oil he usually extracts, Ibrahim only produced 12 in 2023, thanks to the trees located within the village.

A loss of $10.6 million

Between 80,000 and 100,000 Palestinian families depend economically on this harvest, carried out each year between October and November, according to estimates by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). The agency reported that half of Palestinian farmers were unable to harvest due to military restrictions imposed after October 7, 2023. “The total loss was estimated at more than 1,200 tons of oil, which is equivalent to a financial loss of 10 million euros ($10.6 million). » noted OCHA in a report published last February.

This year’s harvest and the modest income that Ibrahim will recover from the sale of oil are all the more important since he lost his work permit in Israel before October 7. “In one year, we lost 60% of our income,” estimates the father of five. He accepted help from the Israeli NGO Rabbis for Human Rights to pick olives on the plot near the barrier.

Typically a joyous season when families and friends gather around olive trees to harvest together, this period has been marked by a sharp increase in settler violence in recent years. OCHA recorded 113 incidents between September and November 2023, and nearly 10,000 olive trees were vandalized over the course of a year. “Before, the whole family was outside. The women and children picked olives with us. Today it’s too dangerous,” Tos said. Reassured by the presence of Israeli volunteers, he allows his nephews to join him in the fields.

“We can work together, be together”

For nearly 20 years, Rabbis for Human Rights has helped Palestinian communities during harvests and tried to mediate when the army or settlers intervene. “The State of Israel is facing a dark and rude awakening. In the West Bank, extremist settlers have made violence routine, carrying out pogroms against Palestinians under the cover of war, religion and encouraged by the government,” denounced Avi Dabush, rabbi and executive director of the association. “That’s why our help during the harvest is the clearest, most necessary and most Jewish response we can offer at this time. »

While the harvests on Ibrahim’s land have gone well, communities near Nablus are already experiencing increased violence and intimidation from settlers in just a few days.

Around twenty volunteers responded to the NGO’s call for this first day of harvest in Jab’a, enough to attract the attention of the army, which monitors the barrier from a nearby military base. “It’s not good. You must inform us,” the soldiers told the activists before turning back. No restrictions at the moment. In the shade of an olive tree, Tos reflects: “These Israelis who come to help us show that we can work together, be together. »