<
https://www.positive.news/environment/agriculture/the-quest-to-restore-west-bank-olive-groves/>
"Tens of thousands of olive saplings are taking root in the conflict-scarred
West Bank, funded by customers of the UK-based fair trade company, Zaytoun.
Olive trees have been the lifeblood of rural Palestine for millennia, but in
recent decades they’ve also become a potent symbol of resistance. Since 1967,
settlers and Israeli authorities have uprooted an estimated 1m trees amid the
ongoing seizure of West Bank land.
“It’s a systematic act aimed at destroying a way of life and forcing
Palestinians from their homes,” explains Zaytoun’s Palestinian director, Taysir
Arbasim, who estimates around 25,000 families have been driven out of olive
farming as a result.
The Palestine Fair Trade Association – the country’s largest fair trade union –
has been working to revive both livelihoods and landscape since 2006 through
its ‘Trees for Life’ programme, which replaces lost olive, carob, fig and
almond groves.
The initiative also supplies landrace seeds and promotes intercropping with
fava beans, peas and clover – regenerative farming techniques which enrich soil
health and boost future olive harvests. Olive saplings are grown in nurseries
and distributed to farmers when they reach two or three years old. It can take
another five years before they begin bearing fruit and the trees reach maturity
at 15.
Zaytoun has sponsored over 300,000 trees since 2011. Donations for the
2025-2026 planting season topped £190,000 – enough to fund 40,000 saplings.
Under local laws, cultivated land is, in theory, protected from confiscation by
Israeli authorities. “For Palestinians, agriculture is more than just a means
of livelihood, it is deeply intertwined with their history, identity and
resistance,” said a PFTA spokesperson.
“Farming holds profound spiritual and cultural significance, serving as a
powerful act of defiance against the ongoing Israeli efforts to sever the
connection between farmers and their land. Through cultivation, Palestinians
assert their right to reclaim their lands, sustain their communities and fight
for their freedom.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
