7 Ways Palestinians Are Celebrating Olive Harvest This Year
by Anera
Posted in:Â News
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.
2000 years old Roman Olive trees in Ramoun village (jenin province) in Palestine pic.twitter.com/xEFXyZD2cZ
— Abdullah Alsaafin (@a_alsaafin) October 13, 2017
2. Basking in piles of ripe, juicy fruit.
During Olive harvest in #Ramallah .#Palestine pic.twitter.com/WuQYvRm0Jw
— Palestine Social (@PalestineSocial) October 11, 2017
3. Getting kids involved in the classroom.
Education of kindergarten children
How to make olive pickles..#Palestine pic.twitter.com/7dfV7MgBWe— Noor Al-kilani (@no20ke2) October 15, 2017
4. Singing songs of devotion to the olive trees.
Children in #Gaza sing for the blessed Olive tree after #teacher Rihab told them a nice grandma story on #Olive picking @Aneraorg pic.twitter.com/Vzh8tHMbjC
— Rania Gaza (@raniajoudy) October 30, 2017
5. Bringing bushels of pickings to local presses.
Olive oil manufacturing in #Palestine … #FreePalestine #SaveHebron pic.twitter.com/Pfc9yURRD1
— Dr. Basem Naim (@basemn63) October 23, 2017
6. Homemade olive oil—just add za’atar.
Making fresh olive oil in #Palestine from olives picked from trees in Ezariyeh. pic.twitter.com/Y2uDUO6wdN
— Anera Refugee Aid (@Aneraorg) October 24, 2017
7. Preserving an ancient symbol of peace.
Meet Khaled & Ayala. They partnered to improve olive oil quality & grow #peace between #Palestine & #Israel. https://t.co/895bbkZTEU pic.twitter.com/GK0f8uv4Vh
— USAID (@USAID) October 3, 2017