The Olive Press Blog

7 Ways Palestinians Are Celebrating Olive Harvest This Year

by Anera

November 2, 2017

Posted in: 

As November begins, Palestine is in the midst of its olive harvest season, which began last month. That means that from Gaza to the West Bank, Palestinian farmers are heading to their trees to pick the ripe fruit, gather and sort it, and send it off to local presses to make staples like olive oil and handmade soap. But olives mean much more than tasty cooking and silky soaps. They are the fruit of an ancient symbol of Palestine: rooted to the land, hardy against the odds, and bearing branches of peace. Below, we look at 7 ways Palestinians are ringing in the olive harvest.

1. Taking the whole family out to the groves.


2. Basking in piles of ripe, juicy fruit.


3. Getting kids involved in the classroom.


4. Singing songs of devotion to the olive trees.


5. Bringing bushels of pickings to local presses.


6. Homemade olive oil—just add za’atar.


7. Preserving an ancient symbol of peace.

OUR BLOG

Related

September 29, 2026
,

A Fanzine for Disco Elysium Raises Over $20,000 for Anera

by Anera

For us, a group of 49 volunteers – seven moderators, 32 artists, seven writers, and three translators – it started with a shared love of one game: Disco Elysium, an acclaimed 2019 role-playing video game that follows a detective with…

Read More

September 28, 2026

I Give Because I Believe in the Future

by Abby White

As a Jewish teen growing up in Newton, Massachusetts, a trip to Israel after high school felt like a rite of passage. In 1977, I spent seven weeks on a kibbutz in the Galilee, waking at four in the morning…

Read More

September 23, 2026

Remembering Piney Kesting

by Anera

Anera mourns the loss of Piney Kesting, a longtime board member, writer, and friend who died peacefully on Tuesday, September 22, at Faulkner Hospital in Jamaica Plain, Boston. She was 72. Piney is survived by Kevin, her beloved husband of…

Read More