The Olive Tree Movement

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,251-2394974,00.html
The olives are stunted, the trees in poor condition. At the top of a ladder, stripping fruit from high branches, the Palestinian farmer Omar Karni is in his element, working his way up a dusty olive grove that has been in his family for generations.
For the first time in four years, the family has been able to harvest the crop. Last time Mr Karni tried, radical Jewish settlers set fire to the tinder-dry land and beat him as he fled.

Gamilah Biso, an Arabic-speaking Jewish volunteer who was brought up in Damascus, realises that her presence and that of her colleagues is vital to ensure that the olives can be harvested from the West Bank’s ten million trees to produce the 36,000 tonnes of olive oil. That accounts for one fifth of Palestinian agriculture. “If we weren’t here the farmer and his family just wouldn’t be able to come,” Ms Biso said, deftly stripping the green olives from the branches. “It would be too easy for the settlers to shoot them.”

המחזה שנראה אתמול בכיכר רבין בתל-אביב הזכיר לעוברים ושבים מחזות שרואים בדרך כלל בשטחי הרשות הפלשתינית. פעילי שמאל, המבקשים לעורר את תשומת הלב למצוקותיהם של החקלאים הפלשתינים לקראת פתיחת עונת מסיק הזיתים, קיימו היום מסיק זיתים בלב הכיכר התל-אביבית והזמינו את העוברים ושבים לקחת חלק בפעולות המסיק באזור הגדה.

May 21, 2006

Gamilah is an Israeli activist who, (among other activities) transports Palestinians with medical problems from their villages to hospitals in Israel. Gamilah's summary of last week's activities includes a sad and distressing experience. [below, loosely translated from the Hebrew; parentheses within text are mine. Dorothy]

'Thursday: The infant boy from Bayt Furik, born with a heart defect, died. His 30 year old mother brought him to Wolfson hospital the day after his birth. At the hospital, he lived but 16 days. His father accompanied the mother to the hospital and remained for 2 days. Then his permit allowing him to be in Israel ran out, forcing him to leave mother and child, and to return to Bayt Furik in the West Bank [BF is about 10 kilometers east of Nablus.] I was in daily phone contact with the mother. She and her family have become personal friends. Some of our group from time to time visited her [the group Gamilah refers to comprises Israelis who, among other things, drive Palestinians to and from Israel for medical care]'