HARVEST UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE APARTHEID WALL

On Saturday, November 20, 2004 the olive harvest will take place in the vicinity of Jenin in the villages of Anin and Barta. This harvest is being organized by The Coalition of Women for Peace and Bat Shalom. Also participating in the activity is the Coalition of Students, a nation-wide students' organization.

Meeting: The entrance to Arara at 8:30 AM

Transportation

• Tel Aviv: 7:00 AM at Arloserof Train Station at the El Al pre-flight check-in.
• Haifa: 7:30 AM Solel Boneh Square
• Nazareth: 7:15 AM near the spring (Hamayan)
• Afula, Mizrah, and Megido 8:15 AM
• Jerusalem: only if there is sufficient demand

Equipment: ID card, work clothes and sturdy comfortable shoes, a hat, plastic sheets or bags, long sturdy sticks (for shaking the higher branches to bring down the olives), food , water (or other drinks), camera

Background

The government of the State of Israel constructed the apartheid wall east of the Green Line, in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, intending to establish a new international border for the State of Israel and of impacting harshly on the economic and social infrastructure of the Palestinian villages bordering the wall.

The completed portion of the wall from Salem in the north to Mas’ha in the south is 115 kilometers. Along it are tens of villages with 170,000 people; about 90,000 dunams of their lands lie west of the wall. The continuation of the wall to Ariel and Qedumim will severely effect the economy, education, health, mobility, and quality of life of an additional 250,000 Palestinians.

The Villages of Anin and Barta are located to the east of the apartheid wall. Some access gates to agricultural areas have been provided, but are inadequate for the farmers' needs to work their lands and to harvest their crops.

The difficulties in accessing lands through the gates, the long distances that farmers are forced to walk, the prohibition on using mechanical equipment, and on top of this the large numbers of people not issued permits to access their lands, causes great economic damage and possible loss of lands.

Land ownership is jeopardized, for instance, by an Israeli law on property rights. It requires registering lands according to individual ownership. Certain Palestinian lands (known as ‘miri’ lands) cannot be so registered because they have either joint ownership or allow for user rights. Therefore, since Israel issues permits to work the land according to registered ownership, which cannot be proven for these lands, they might lie fallow, thus becoming subject to an Ottoman law that has been adopted by Israel: if 'miri' agricultural land is not worked for three years it reverts to state property.

Our participation in the olive harvest is first and foremost a political act against injustice and the occupation. Our participation is also a humanitarian act: we help Palestinians reap the fruits of their labors, and express our solidarity with them in their plight.