On Saturday, October 25th, 2003, we joined the olive harvest at a small village east of Taybeh, called Khirbet Jbarrah. Last year we tried to join forces in blocking settlers’ attacks on Palestinian olive groves in the West Bank. We could not be everywhere, but in quite a few villages we did contribute significantly to their staunch position in view of the settlers’ attacks and the increasing pressure of life under siege and closure.

During this year's harvest season there has been an accumulation of aggressions by settlers towards olive pickers: in the village of Einabus the settlers beat up some of the people who participated in the harvest; in e-Sawiya the settlers felled hundres of olive trees in an organized action. In areas around the separation wall the Palestinian farmers are trying to complete the harvest on the plots west of the fence and to fulfill their right to work their land under the pressures of the civil administration. For them, life under the rule of the Separation Walls is a continuous saga of! humiliations and abuses: often the villagers have to wait for weeks before they are allowed to cross the “agricultural gates” in the fence; in some cases the farmers were denied passage altogether; in most cases they are not allowed to bring with them agricultural equipment (tractors or carts) forcing them to leave their crop in the fields and orchards. It is worth noting that in some villages passage through the Separation Walls was allowed only after rumors of the arrival of the Olive Harvest Coalition spread.


This year we concentrate our efforts on the olive harvest at villages that are directly damaged by the system of fences and enclaves now under construction throughout the West Bank. More than 80,000 trees, most of them fruit-bearing, have already been destroyed in the most fertile parts of the West Bank – around Tul Karem and Qalqilya – and the end is nowhere in sight. The “fence” itself cuts off farmers from their fields, patients from their hospitals, individuals from their family members. Thousands of Palestinians – like those living in the enclaves of Qalqilya or Habla, for example – are now caged between the fences/walls. Numerous villages – such as Jayyous, al Jarushiyya or Deir al Ghassoun – are now separated from their own lands by the fence. Farmers need special permits to cross the fence’s gates in order to reach their plots; they are now totally at the whim of the conqueror who exercises this permit system to further pressure them into collaboration. Furthermore, this basic, everyday dependence generates acts of arbitrary cruelty and humiliation. School children wait for hours in front of a closed gate, and in recent months farmers have discovered that any excuse – security-related or otherwise – may be used to leave the gates shut and prevent them access to their lands.




We had special reasons for going to Khirbet Jbarrah. This is one of the Palestinian villages located in the “seam zone” – between the fence and the “green line”. Several weeks ago this zone was declared closed military area. According to the order (security regulation no. 378), since the beginning of October this “seam zone” is out of bounds. However, more than 12,000 Palestinians live in this very area - that is clearly meant to be annexed by Israel. They are both cut off from the rest of the West Bank and prevented from entering Israel. In order to continue their presence in this area, they are now required to obtain a special permit from the army [click here for a closer look at the permit and the new military regulations regarding the "seam zone"].

They have now suddenly lost their fundamental right to live on their land. In order to stay in their villages, enter and exit them, Palestinians aged 16 and up in this area are required to fill out detailed forms to be processed by the Civil Administration. Every Palestinian aged 12 and upward needs such a written permit or be accompanied by a person holding such a permit. On the other hand, no Israeli citizen – nor “any person eligible for Israeli citizenship by the Law of Return” – is excluded from this area. This is outright racist distinction. The indigenous inhabitants have no right to be there, while Jews – even non Israeli citizens – do. The Palestinian inhabitants are denied their right to live on their land, move about freely and earn a decent living. Thus the fence system not only legitimizes the annexations of all areas on its Israeli side, but also promotes efforts to empty them of their inhabitants. This is the “cultural”, quiet transfer, as one Jbarrah resident put it.

Military orders define the “type of person” to be allowed entry and presence. They establish, for example, that the “type of person” employed at the settlements may be permitted entry for work purposes. This system of permits and passes classifies people according to their ethnicity and their contribution to the economy of the master race, and is typical of apartheid regimes.

Khirbet Jbarrah is one of the first villages included in this new arrangement. These new regulations have been tried on the residents of Jbarrah for several weeks now (see below links to Amira Hass’ articles in Ha’aretz of October 15, 20 and 22). The village economy was based on poultry farming. Now its residents can no longer market their produce. Most of their fruit groves and fields are on the other side of the fence – and inaccessible. The villagers are being pressured into filling out their forms. Some have already been notified that they will not be receiving permits ‘for security reasons’ (including such people who had been arrested during the First Intifada, namely many of the political activists). The Civil Administration as notified the villagers that if do not fill out the forms and apply for staying permits, they will no longer be able to exit the village.

We arrived at Khirbet Jbarrah – about 350 activists, Jew and Arabs – to express our solidarity with the villagers, stand by them and help harvest their olives. The significance of this action is not merely symbolic. The uprooting of trees is the first step towards uprooting people. The joint olive harvest expresses our desire to live on this land in peace and justice.