The Olive Picking Program is organized each fall for 10 days, in coordination with the Alternative Tourism Group (ATG).
This Olive Picking Program aims to provide assistance and a protective civil international presence for Palestinian families to help them overcome the restrictions imposed by the Israeli military occupation and settlers during the olive harvest season.
In addition to their picking activities the participants developed a social, cultural, political, historic and religious understanding of the region, witnessed life under occupation, and shared advocacy ideas and tools.
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Around 120 international participants, from 14 countries worldwide, have joined this year' Olive Picking Program in Palestine, lasted from the 13th to the 22nd of October 2018, organized jointly by the JAI and ATG.
International participants supported Palestinian families in picking their olive fruits, and provided solidarity and protective presence to them, in the villages of Al-Khader, Hussan, Nahhalin, Wad Fukin, Teqou', and the town of Beit Sahour, at their fields, which are threatened of confiscation and Israeli settlers' attacks. They also listened to their stories and harassment they are subjected to, which they would share back home.
The program also included guided tours in the areas cities of Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jerusalem, where participants were introduced to the Israeli closures, 'checkpoints', colonies (settlements), apartheid wall, as well as cultural and religious sites.
Afternoon and evening presentations, talks and movies' screening were also provided to the participants on main issues related to the Palestinian life under occupation, and national/international anti-occupation campaigns, including the Boycott-Divestments-Sanctions (BDS), Kairos Palestine and others.