The Olive Picking Program 2015 with 90 participants ends successfully

Category: Olive picking program Created: 19 October 2015

See more photos of the program.

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Picking2015 2tLasting from the 10th to the 19th of October, the JAI–ATG Olive Picking Program ended successfully. Around 90 internationals from 13 countries participated, coming to help Palestinian farmers and their families pick olives, accompany them, and provide protection in their threatened fields.

Participants worked with Palestinian families in the villages of Wad Foukin, Beit Sahour, Teqou', Walaja and Beit Jala within the Bethlehem area, and Tantour within the Jerusalem area. This year, the program came under conditions of escalating settler attacks and Israeli army measures, which caused an increase in riots and popular resistance movements by Palestinian youth in various cities and villages through out Palestine.

Picking2015 3tThe program included guided tours in Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jerusalem; opportunities to witness and learn about the wall, settlements, land confiscation, checkpoints, and Israeli occupation measures, as well as to experience Palestinian heritage, religious sites, old cities, and an the olive pressing process. It also included geopolitical presentations from organizations such as BADIL and ARIJ on the issues of refugees and the Israeli measures to continuously displace Palestinians.

Evening presentations and discussions, such as the Kairos Palestine and Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions (BDS) Campaign, highlighted and further explained the Israeli measures and life under occupation, as well as movements working for change.


Some participants' reflections:

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