Palestinian Olive Harvest Marred by ’Israeli’ Violence

By Staff, Agencies

Afaf Abu Alia, a 53-year-old Palestinian, was brutally attacked by over 20 "Israeli" settlers while harvesting olives near Ramallah.

“I felt like I was dying,” she recalled, describing repeated blows to her head and hands that left her with brain bleeding, bruises, and severe blood loss. Her family fled, leaving behind their tools and harvest, and later faced harassment from an "Israeli" patrol.

“They’ve become bolder towards Palestinians,” Afaf said, noting that such assaults now often take place under the protection of "Israeli" occupation forces [IOF].

Behind the attack on the Abu Alia family lies another painful story.

The land where they were assaulted doesn’t even belong to them. They had been forced to rent olive groves in a neighboring village after settlers repeatedly targeted them on their own land in al-Mughayyir, east of Ramallah.

As Afaf spoke about the day settlers cut down their olive trees, she broke down in tears: “When they cut our olive trees, it felt like they were gouging out our eyes. The olive tree is so precious to us - like our own children.”

Afaf’s relative, Ayman Abu Alia, was also attacked, with settlers smashing his car and beating him. He said the family lost 400 olive trees last August when settlers and bulldozers destroyed them. “It was a massacre against olive trees. Every family in the village lost theirs,” he said.

For the Abu Alia family, the loss was both economic and a destruction of heritage: their great-grandfather planted these 150-year-old Roman olive trees, which Ayman said are targeted to drive them off their land.

The violence is not confined to al-Mughayyir or Turmus Ayya.

Since October, over 158 settler attacks on olive harvests, backed by the IOF, have been documented.

Palestine has around 12.5 million olive trees, including one million that once stood in the Gaza Strip but have been destroyed by war.

In the West Bank, olive trees cover around 136,000 acres, but IOF and settler violence has blocked farmers from 110,000 acres, threatening livelihoods. Annual production usually reaches 17,000–22,000 tonnes but is expected to drop to just 7,000 tonnes this season, the lowest in decades.

Olive harvesting is a vital communal tradition, involving entire families and half a million Palestinians economically. With settler attacks up 20% this season and 10,000 trees destroyed since January, losses already exceed $70 million, especially in areas like “Jalbun” village, where farmers are barred from their groves.

Since "Israel" built a separation wall in 2004, cutting off 1,500 dunams—including 350 of olive groves—farmers could access their land only a few days a year with permits.

Since October 7, 2023, around 100 farmers have been denied permits, and settlers also destroyed dozens of trees in July.

Mohammad Abu al-Rabb, one of those farmers, has been unable to access his 15-dunam grove for three seasons, losing the entire yield, and was denied a permit again this year.

He said the land, cultivated by his grandfather and father, is older than "Israel” and that olive trees are targeted because of Palestinians’ deep ancestral and spiritual bond with them.

Hamzeh Aqrabawi, a Palestinian researcher, explained that olive trees are central to Palestinian culture and spirituality, symbolizing continuity across generations.

Despite "Israel's" efforts to sever this bond by targeting ancient trees, Aqrabawi said, "the bond has only grown stronger," with Palestinians risking their lives to tend their groves.