This month, families across the West Bank will head out to their groves with ladders, nets and sacks for the annual olive harvest. Mills are being cleaned and prepared for the first olives, ready for one of the most important times of the farming year.
Last October we wrote about a poor harvest and one of the most difficult seasons in memory. When we spoke recently to one of our partners in the West Bank, he told us this year looks very different.
“The olive harvest looks like it will be good, better than last year. But the threats are worse. There are more outposts and settlements, in places where we never thought they would be.”
A good crop is only half the story. Farmers also have to be able to reach it. “Every year there are new elements of suffering,” he said. “Each day we navigate the latest challenges, and the next day there are new ones.”
A worrying start to the harvest
The UN has recorded a sharp rise in Israeli settler attacks across the West Bank this year, affecting hundreds of Palestinian communities. The impact is being felt across everyday life, including in the areas where our producers live and work. Homes, vehicles and farmland have been attacked, olive trees have been uprooted and there have been numerous reports of cash and gold jewellery being taken during searches of Palestinian homes.
The main olive harvest is still ahead, but some farmers have decided to start picking early. There are already reports of olives being taken from Palestinian-owned groves throughout the West Bank, and of farmers being attacked or prevented from continuing their harvest.
For the producers we have worked with for more than 20 years, restrictions on movement and access to land are not new. What feels different now is the pace at which the situation is changing and the number of communities affected.
Preparing for the harvest
“It’s not going to be easy this year,” our colleague told us. “But still, people are preparing – we will be doing to do our best to reach our lands.”
Soon families will be out in the groves, mills will be working long days pressing the new crop, and the year’s olive oil will begin its journey from the trees into homes and kitchens in Palestine and, through businesses like ours, further afield.
Over the coming weeks we will be speaking regularly with our suppliers and partners as the harvest progresses, and we’ll share their news with you. For now, we are hoping for a good crop and, above all, a safe harvest for everyone heading out to their olive groves.
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