three days worth of picking the olives

not a skill many of us have. our first day's picking was the first day of the programme. it was also immediately after the long day getting here, and to cap it all it was incredibly hot. that said it was a wonderful experience. we were driven to the field. it took an hour to get there even though it's not far as the crow flies. don't think they have crows here but I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong. the field belongs to a family who live not far from their land and in fact you can see their house down in the valley. but because of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank this family has to take the same route as us - an hour each way to tend their trees. so how do you pick olives? you put sheets under the trees and pick by hand. the high ones can only be reached by ladders. then you sort them on the ground, picking out the leaves. we novices were very slow of course but then saw the farmer's sons shaking the trees - much faster. the farmer maintained a dignified stance thoughout the whole session and kept pointing out olives we'd missed on the tree or ones that had fallen off. he relaxed at the end though when people were taking photos and his grandchildren were there. the rest of the family made us feel most welcome and gave us delicious coffee mid morning - coffee made with cardamon. by late morning I was wilting and lunch a welcome relief. the women and children arrived with huge pots (another hour's drive) and served us the most delicious rice and grilled chicken and salad and yoghurt and wonderful dolmades.

next morning we went to a field which can only be accessed with Israeli permission and through two locked gates. the gates are high and have rolls of barbed wire around them. they (the gates) are positioned under a huge overpass - a fast road for settlers' use only which sits on enormous pillars. the Israeli soldiers were there when we arrived but let us through without any problem. Amon whose land it is, was a completely different personality and generation from the farmer the previous day. he's in his 30s, and has travelled widely in South America and Europe. he says you have to know how to speak to/deal with the Israeli guards. you have to tell them what you want and what you're doing and not be cowed. anyway the reality is he can only get to his land and his house by passing through these gates. apparently when the gates were erected he was able to open them fully and drive though. now he's not allowed to do that so has to use his scooter. we walked almost half a mile from the gates to his house where his mum greeted us. their house was built in 1890 by his grandfather (but I think it's more likely his great grandfather as his mother looked younger than me). during the time of the Turks he said. (I've taken some pictures but can't upload them here. there are no internet cafes in Bethlehem and I'm using the one computer in the office of an arts centre in Beit Sahour. will post them when I get home.) anyway the atmosphere was extremely jolly and we worked hard. there are a number of Dutch people in the group and they were joined for the day by a Dutch/Spanish photographer taking pictures for Reuters. so a small group of us went with Amon to another field where a Palestinian and his wife (in traditional dress) were picking olives. Amon told us that these particular trees belonged to his cousin who wasn't living there and that the man picking the olives with his wife had no work so the arrangement was that the cousin got half the harvest and the man the other half. Amon also pointed out trees on a steep slope and we asked who harvested them. he said no one but that people came and 'took' the olives -Palestinians who have absolutely no money. the owners of the trees live in Chile or Peru and they're happy that they go to people who need them. it's a way of helping the community he said. I forgot to say that the harvest is down by 15% which means if you have oil to sell you get a higher price. in fact Baha our guide told us it's the worst harvest for two or three decades. not enough rain.

today's land was close to the Israeli wall. can't remember the name of the village and my notes are back at the hotel so I'll post that information later. it's a community where the wall separates the houses from the land so the amount of land the farmers can utilise has been slashed. when the wall was being built a couple of years ago the Israelis were doing major construction very close to the school. this of course led to lots of tension and children throwing stones at the military. the Israelis consider Palestinians over the age of 14 to be old enough to be tried in a military court so this particular Palestinian village has the highest percentage of juveniles in military jails. anyway on to the land and wonderful greetings from the family. we picked steadily all morning and were much better at it on day three than at the start. again delicious coffee and tea served to us. the tea's infused with sage but not the large leaf sage we have at home. the session ended with lunch in the field - rice and kofta and roasted vegetables and yoghurt. wonderful!

sorry this has been a bit long but I have to make use of the computer when I get a chance. come olive picking all of you. you'll love it and you'll love Palestine and its people.