Olives in Palestine...‏

In Palestine, the symbol of peace, life and fertility, olea europaea, or the Olive tree is prized for its historical presence, its beauty, its symbolism and most importantly its economic significance. Olive trees are a major commercial crop for Palestine, and many many families are dependent on it for their livelihood. Olives have been a significant part of the region since ancient times. This tree grows at a rate of 1-2 feet each year, reaching a height of 20 – 40 feet after about 40 years. They generally live for about 400 years, but many are known to be 700 or 1000 years old. The olive tree has great importance for the Palestinian culture and identity.

The Zionist aggression in Palestine encompasses more than human casualties, it has also created economical and environmental disasters. One of these tragedies is the uprooting of the historic olive trees. Palestinian sources estimate that over 1.2 million olive trees were uprooted by Israelis since 1967 to build settlements, expand roads and lay infrastructure. Israeli forces targeted many Palestinian villages in Gaza Strip & West Bank, completly destroyed their lands and in addition to the uprooting they have set these olive trees on fire so that the Palestinians may not even try to get its fruit afterwards. That was the agenda of Israeli occupation forces to destroy the back-bone of their only livelihood support.

Olives are now getting less in number every day and Zionist forces have now made it a routine to step up their attacks at the beginning of the olive harvest season to prevent poor Palestinian farmers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip from collecting the Olive fruits.

Sobhi al-Zobaidi is an independent filmmaker who is currently working on his doctorate at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver. He was born in Jerusalem, raised in a Jalazon refugee camp, and educated at Birzeit University in Palestine and New York University in the United States. His films address the complex realities of contemporary Palestinian life — the disruptions and humiliations of everyday existence under Israeli occupation, in refugee camps and in the troubled enclaves of the West Bank and Gaza, and the internal fragmentation and division that afflicts Palestinian society.

See this 11 minutes documentary about the systematic destruction of Olives in Palestine made by Sobhi al-zobaidi. sobhi/al-Zobaidi/olives.html

In Solidarity, Shahzad Nazir Khan