Olive Harvest Campaign 2017 Announcement: “Continuing on with our Farmers’ steadfastness”
Be a Palestinian farmer for a week or more this October
It is no new news that the Israeli Occupation continues its violations against Palestinian farmers and their resources. According to United Nation office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ fact sheets, the Israeli army and Israeli settlers uprooted more than 3859 trees most of them were olive trees since the beginning of 2017 only.
In comparison, the total number of trees uprooted in 2016 was 1500 trees. Thus, there is a tangible increase in the number of trees uprooted in 2017.
Despite the continuous Israeli uprooting and damaging of Palestinian trees especially olive trees, Palestinians replant more and more trees and become more attached to their land. The olive oil industry makes up 14% of the agricultural income for the oPt and supports the livelihoods of approximately 100,000 families, and nearly half (48%) of the agricultural land in the oPt is planted with 11 million olive trees.
The olive harvest season is a perfect period to stand in solidarity with Palestinian farmers and protect them and their olive trees from Israeli (army and settlers) violations. Accordingly, Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) launches a yearly olive harvest campaign to support Palestinian farmers and protect them from the Israeli violations. The presence of international volunteers along with Palestinian academics, activists and students lowers the severity of Israeli violations.
Your presence can reduce the risk of extreme violence from Israeli forces and settlers; also it supports Palestinians’ assertion of their right to access their land. In addition, The Olive Harvest Campaign provides a wonderful opportunity to spend time with Palestinian families in their olive groves and homes.
This year’s campaign raises the slogan: “Continuing on with our Farmers’ steadfastness”.
As each year, it is focused on providing an in-depth experience for all the international volunteers by allowing them to stay with farmers; help them in the olive harvest, have long discussions, and experience the Palestinian culture. We at UAWC believe that observing and experiencing the situation is more powerful than just reading about it.
The campaign starts from 10th October 2017 till 25th October 2017.
For more details about the campaign contact UAWC at: hiba@uawc-pal.org
In Solidarity, Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC)