OLIVE PICKING
The organization Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) placed an urgent call for volunteers for the 2011 olive harvest in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (oPt). Since 2002, RHR has assisted Palestinian farmers in various parts of Area C with harvesting their crops, particularly during the olive harvest. They have done so because there has been a significant increase in attacks on Palestinians from extremist settler groups. Security forces have failed to implement the 2006 High Court decision, which demanded their full responsibility in protecting Palestinian agricultural activity in Area C.
Note: Area C accounts for 59% of the land within the West Bank. Contrary to the popular belief of many individuals in the international community- the West Bank is not a fully sovereign territory under the control of Palestinians - this portion of the land it is controlled and administered by Israel, not the Palestinians themselves. Area C contains Israeli settlements, roads used to access the settlements, buffer zones/strategic areas, almost all of the Jordan Valley and Judean Desert, a significant portion of Palestinians and vacant land available for construction in villages and towns. Many Palestinian families living in these areas face and continue to face violence, or the threat of violence from many Jewish settlers.
The presence of Israelis and internationals, and the international media in particular, has helped clam the situation, as it decreases the likelihood of settler attacks. RHR started gathering volunteers in October to venture out with the District Coordination Office (DCO civil administration), security forces and the police, carrying cameras and working side by side with Palestinian farmers throughout Area C.
As soon as I heard news of this opportunity, I knew I wanted to participate. The day I joined the group, however, we did not venture into the oPt. Rather, our mandate that day was quite unique in relation to the past work of RHR. We went to what was once part of the Palestinian village Bil'in. Today, after being occupied by Israeli forces in '67, and addressed in the signing of the interim agreement in '95, Bil'in is a village located in the West Bank, directly adjacent to the Wall and the Israeli settlement of Modi'in Illit.
History of the Bil'in Wall Conflict
1991: 200 acres of Bil'in agricultural lands were confiscated for the contruction of the Kiryat Sefer settlement, now part of Modi'in Illit.
2004: More lands were confiscated, while the Israeli army posted the construction order for the separation wall. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that the Wall was a violation of international law. A week prior, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Israeli government had the right to construct the wall to ensure security, but that sections of it should be rerouted due to the hardships it imposed upon Palestinians.
2005: After the Bil'in Committee of Popular Resistance Against the Wall and Settlements was created, the local council leader of Bil'in hired an Israeli human rights lawyer to represent the village in a petition to Israel's High Court of Justice to change the route of the wall, as it separated the village from 60% of its farmland, and therefore way of life. The village also organized at first daily, and then weekly protests against the construction of the Wall, during which the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) intervened to prevent protestors from merely approaching the Wall, causing violence to erupt - including the use of tear gas and rubber bullets, both of which one of my friends fell victim to a few years back. The army has also systematically arrested members of the Bil'in committee in charge of organizing these non-violent resistance actions, to discourage and reduce their resistance to the occupation.
2007: The High Court ordered the government to change the route of the wall near Bil'in in a "reasonable" period of time. However, the proposed alternative path would allow Bil'in to get back only 200 of the 2,000 dunums that were confiscated.
2008: Israeli settlers set up mobile homes on Bil'in land to expand the settlement of Mittityahu Mizrah.
2011: Sections of the barrier were dismantled to construct the alternative route.
Our Trip
There were about 10 of us, myself and Romana being the youngest of the group, joining Israeli men and women, including aspiring Rabbis, in efforts to help a Palestinian family from Bil'in with their olive harvest. What was unique about this particular trip was that the family's olive fields were located beyond the separation wall, in what Israel deems "Israel." Every year, this particular family gets a permit for 4 days or less to pick olives from trees on their land. However, while they technically have permits to pick olives on their own land, often the elder men of the family are not allowed to pass beyond the wall at the last minute, soldiers seeing them as a "security threat" to the state of Israel.
On this particular Tuesday, the 10 of us (four of whom were quite elderly but didn't let their age stop their activism) helped a mother and her four sons pick olives. Here is a quick look into what we did:
Separation Wall between Bil'in and Modi'in Illite
Unpaved roads on the way to the Bil'in Olive Fields
Fence Around the Field
View of the Modi'in settlement from the family's now neglected olive field
The youngest working son of the family
It was a long day of work, but I was happy to help. However, once returning to work my boss asked us what we thought of the trip. He then suggested, that while these trips are beneficial on a short-term basis for the family and others like them, perhaps it is also a form of TQM - total quality management. In other words, it is a way to manage the occupation - to make it somewhat more "livable" for Palestinians.
What I enjoyed about this trip was that so many times individuals who recognize crisis ask:
WHAT CAN I DO?
This was a way a single individual could help a family fight the occupation, and show Israel and the world that there exist Israeli citizens, global citizens and simply members of humanity who don't agree with Israel's occupation of Palestine or the ideology behind it. At the same time, my boss' suggestion made me think. Maybe this program is unintentionally aiding the occupation by putting in place a systematic mechanism that tones down the more extreme aspects of the occupation - making it slightly more bearable.
What worries me about this conception is its potential to inspire a generation of apathy from those uninvolved. Perhaps this is for the better?
Perhaps it would inspire greater change from within?
Perhaps I have gotten to a point where the idea of "conflict resolution" in this context is looming in the gray area between reality and the abstract.
Note: Area C accounts for 59% of the land within the West Bank. Contrary to the popular belief of many individuals in the international community- the West Bank is not a fully sovereign territory under the control of Palestinians - this portion of the land it is controlled and administered by Israel, not the Palestinians themselves. Area C contains Israeli settlements, roads used to access the settlements, buffer zones/strategic areas, almost all of the Jordan Valley and Judean Desert, a significant portion of Palestinians and vacant land available for construction in villages and towns. Many Palestinian families living in these areas face and continue to face violence, or the threat of violence from many Jewish settlers.
The presence of Israelis and internationals, and the international media in particular, has helped clam the situation, as it decreases the likelihood of settler attacks. RHR started gathering volunteers in October to venture out with the District Coordination Office (DCO civil administration), security forces and the police, carrying cameras and working side by side with Palestinian farmers throughout Area C.
As soon as I heard news of this opportunity, I knew I wanted to participate. The day I joined the group, however, we did not venture into the oPt. Rather, our mandate that day was quite unique in relation to the past work of RHR. We went to what was once part of the Palestinian village Bil'in. Today, after being occupied by Israeli forces in '67, and addressed in the signing of the interim agreement in '95, Bil'in is a village located in the West Bank, directly adjacent to the Wall and the Israeli settlement of Modi'in Illit.
History of the Bil'in Wall Conflict
1991: 200 acres of Bil'in agricultural lands were confiscated for the contruction of the Kiryat Sefer settlement, now part of Modi'in Illit.
2004: More lands were confiscated, while the Israeli army posted the construction order for the separation wall. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) declared that the Wall was a violation of international law. A week prior, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Israeli government had the right to construct the wall to ensure security, but that sections of it should be rerouted due to the hardships it imposed upon Palestinians.
2005: After the Bil'in Committee of Popular Resistance Against the Wall and Settlements was created, the local council leader of Bil'in hired an Israeli human rights lawyer to represent the village in a petition to Israel's High Court of Justice to change the route of the wall, as it separated the village from 60% of its farmland, and therefore way of life. The village also organized at first daily, and then weekly protests against the construction of the Wall, during which the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) intervened to prevent protestors from merely approaching the Wall, causing violence to erupt - including the use of tear gas and rubber bullets, both of which one of my friends fell victim to a few years back. The army has also systematically arrested members of the Bil'in committee in charge of organizing these non-violent resistance actions, to discourage and reduce their resistance to the occupation.
2007: The High Court ordered the government to change the route of the wall near Bil'in in a "reasonable" period of time. However, the proposed alternative path would allow Bil'in to get back only 200 of the 2,000 dunums that were confiscated.
2008: Israeli settlers set up mobile homes on Bil'in land to expand the settlement of Mittityahu Mizrah.
2011: Sections of the barrier were dismantled to construct the alternative route.
Our Trip
There were about 10 of us, myself and Romana being the youngest of the group, joining Israeli men and women, including aspiring Rabbis, in efforts to help a Palestinian family from Bil'in with their olive harvest. What was unique about this particular trip was that the family's olive fields were located beyond the separation wall, in what Israel deems "Israel." Every year, this particular family gets a permit for 4 days or less to pick olives from trees on their land. However, while they technically have permits to pick olives on their own land, often the elder men of the family are not allowed to pass beyond the wall at the last minute, soldiers seeing them as a "security threat" to the state of Israel.
On this particular Tuesday, the 10 of us (four of whom were quite elderly but didn't let their age stop their activism) helped a mother and her four sons pick olives. Here is a quick look into what we did:
Separation Wall between Bil'in and Modi'in Illite
Unpaved roads on the way to the Bil'in Olive Fields
Fence Around the Field
View of the Modi'in settlement from the family's now neglected olive field
The youngest working son of the family
It was a long day of work, but I was happy to help. However, once returning to work my boss asked us what we thought of the trip. He then suggested, that while these trips are beneficial on a short-term basis for the family and others like them, perhaps it is also a form of TQM - total quality management. In other words, it is a way to manage the occupation - to make it somewhat more "livable" for Palestinians.
What I enjoyed about this trip was that so many times individuals who recognize crisis ask:
WHAT CAN I DO?
This was a way a single individual could help a family fight the occupation, and show Israel and the world that there exist Israeli citizens, global citizens and simply members of humanity who don't agree with Israel's occupation of Palestine or the ideology behind it. At the same time, my boss' suggestion made me think. Maybe this program is unintentionally aiding the occupation by putting in place a systematic mechanism that tones down the more extreme aspects of the occupation - making it slightly more bearable.
What worries me about this conception is its potential to inspire a generation of apathy from those uninvolved. Perhaps this is for the better?
Perhaps it would inspire greater change from within?
Perhaps I have gotten to a point where the idea of "conflict resolution" in this context is looming in the gray area between reality and the abstract.