Attacked by settlers and blocked by soldiers, Palestinians face grim olive harvest

Palestinian olive farmer Khitam Najjar dreams of just one season where she can gather the harvest in peace, but it’s not this year.

As she and her son approached their olive groves near the village of Burin in the occupied West Bank last week Israeli soldiers stopped them, telling them they weren’t allowed to harvest in that part of the valley, she said.

“This is our land. I came with my son alone, we came to harvest. If we cannot harvest our own olives from our lands, where should we go?” Najjar said.

In more violent incidents since the beginning of the harvest this month, armed Israeli settlers have assaulted Palestinian farmers, cut down trees and set fire to olive groves. The latest spate of attacks by settlers and blockages by the army is part of a trend that, rights groups say, is worsening as the Gaza war rages on, with settlers appearing emboldened by some far-right Israeli government ministers who seek to annex the West Bank.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment when asked by Reuters about accusations that soldiers bar olive farmers from accessing their land. The military says it tries to ensure Palestinians can harvest while avoiding clashes with settlers, and says the war in Gaza has raised tension in the West Bank, causing a security situation that is harder to manage.

Many Palestinians, as well as Israeli human rights groups, believe the army has abetted settler attacks.

“Since the start of the [Gaza] war the army has prevented farmers access to their land here. They say it’s a closed military zone and for security reasons. Now, when I pick olives from the trees in front of my house, it feels like I’m having to steal them,” said Musab Sufan, another Burin resident.

The Gaza Strip, a separate coastal territory about 100km from the landlocked West Bank, has been largely razed by Israel’s year-old war against Palestinian militant group Hamas, but the West Bank has in parallel suffered its worst violence for years.

Hundreds of Palestinians — including armed militants, stone-throwing youths and civilian bystanders — have been killed in clashes with Israeli security forces. Dozens of Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian street attacks over the past year.

The olive harvest, which runs roughly between September and November, has been caught up in that violence.

The UN says hundreds of olive trees have been burnt, vandalised or stolen by settlers this year since the start of the harvest. A group of Western states including France, Britain and Germany issued a joint statement on October 14 saying olive-picking had become “dangerous” due to settler violence and calling on Israel to allow Palestinians to join the harvest.

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For Palestinians, olive trees represent a deep connection with their land, a crucial source of income and an important feature of their national cuisine.

Palestinian writers and poets such as Mahmoud Darwish have long infused their work with the symbolism of Palestinian olive trees. The harvest is a time for rural families, and sometimes visitors from urban centres, to work together on the land.

“This season is a bad one. They [settlers] have been burning trees already. It’s as if they’re implementing a scorched-earth policy to turn this land into a barren desert, to empty it of its inhabitants,” said Ibrahim Omaran, head of the Burin municipal council.

The right-wing cabinet of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which includes settlers who run parts of Israel’s security, finances and administration of occupied Palestinian territories, has recently presided over “unprecedented” land grabs of areas which Palestinians want for a future state, the Israeli rights group Peace Now said in a report this month.

Settler violence is a source of growing concern among Israel's Western allies. A number of countries, including the US, have imposed sanctions on violent settlers and urged Israel to do more to stop the attacks.

Many settlers believe Jews have a God-given right to land in territories Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war and where settlements have been expanding for decades.

Palestinians say they will not leave.

“My land is my identity. If I don’t have land, then what is my life for?” Najjar said.

Reuters