The Olive Harvest in the Holy Land

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The Olive Harvest in the Holy Land

• Produced at the Global Centre, Exeter Community
  Centre, St Davids Hill
• http//www.globalcentredevon.org.uk/
• Photographs Paul Adrian Raymond unless otherwise
  stated.

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Slide 1 Olives and olive trees in the Holy Land
For many thousands of years, farmers in the
Eastern Mediterranean have grown olive trees for
their tiny fruits and rich cooking oil. The 10
million olive trees of Israel and Palestine
produce some of the highest quality olive oil in
the world due to the areas warm, dry climate.
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Slide 2 The olive harvest, a community event
For Palestinian farmers, the Autumn olive harvest
is an important annual event. The whole community
helps out men, women and children. The olives
are gathered into sacks, ready to be sent to the
olive press at the end of the day.
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At the press, the days olives are washed then
fed into a mill to be crushed, mixed with water
and turned into a thick pulp.
Slide 3 At the olive press
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Slide 4 Producing the oil
The paste is then fed into machines that separate
the oil from the water and solid matter.
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Slide 5 Storing the oil
The fresh oil is collected in canisters and the
solid matter, a dry powder called jiffit, is kept
in sacks.
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Slide 6 Making use of the whole olive
The Jiffit is later spread out on the roadside to
dry in the sun. It still has some oil in it and
is a very rich fuel. People burn it in stoves to
heat their houses during the winter.
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Slide 7 Occupation and movement restrictions
Sadly, Palestinian farmers often find it hard to
reach their trees and markets due to movement
restrictions imposed by the Israeli authorities,
which have controlled the Palestinian West Bank
since 1967. (Photo Marc Juillard / EAPPI)
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Slide 8 The threat of violence
Palestinian farmers also face the threat of
violence by armed Israeli settlers who live in
colonies on land illegally confiscated from the
Palestinians. (Photo Simi Ann Solaas / EAPPI)
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Slide 9 International accompaniment, ancient
trees
Fortunately, due to the presence of international
volunteers, farmers are able to reach many more
of their trees. Some of the trees are older than
Christianity itself. This one is around 2,000
years old, but still produces thousands of tiny
fruits every year.
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Palestinian farmers used to receive only 1 per
kilogram for their olives, far short of the 3.50
per kilo production costs. However, by selling
their olive oil through Fairtrade, they receive
4 per kilo plus the Fairtrade social premium
which they invest in local community projects.
You can buy Zaytoun Fairtrade olive oil from the
Global Centre 01392 438811.
Slide 10 The benefits of Fairtrade
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Receiving a fair price for their olives has
inspired Palestinian farmers to plant new trees
and look to a brighter future on the land their
ancestors have farmed since the time of Christ.