Page 27 - Issue 8

Jez Aron reports on the recent participation of members of the tnuat bogrim, in co-ordination
with the Kibbutz Movement, in the olive harvest in the groves of the town of Qaffin, situated in
the area between the green line and the separation fence.

Qaffin a Palestinian town of around 9,000 inhabitants, located
in the West Bank, a few kilometres over the Green Line.
Mezer a kibbutz in the Israeli Arab-dominated Triangle area
near the Green Line in northern Israel.

It was a hot, sunny Friday morning. Armed with a handful of rations
and a coffee making kit, eleven HDTB 'farmers' made their way to
join a family from the Palestinian village of Qaffin in their olive
groves, in order to assist them in their harvest. Assembling at the
entrance to Mezer, an HDTB convoy followed the scooter of Doron, a
member of Mezer, out of the kibbutz, along the dirt roads to the
olive groves. There, we met Saîd, the Mayor of Qaffin, who joined us
for the day. At first, the fact that the mayor joined the effort
appeared to be a big deal, but as the day progressed, it became clear that the annual olive
harvest is not just a family business. It is a central component of the collective village culture
and tradition that outdates not only the Security Barrier, but also the establishment of the
State of Israel!
Mezer is inside the Green Line, yet its nearest Arab neighbours live very close by. In November
2002, a Palestinian terrorist infiltrated the kibbutz and murdered five people including a
mother and her two sons. Despite that event, members of the kibbutz decided to continue
developing their long-standing relationships with their Palestinian neighbours, and break down
barriers that create disharmony.

Mezer has had close relations with a number of these Arab villages. With one of their
neighbouring villages, Meisr, Mezer even shares a well and a soccer team. When the border
police who patrol this area stop residents coming across from
Qaffin, they generally let them continue on their way when they
tell them that they are going to visit their friends on Mezer.
However, a new barrier has been erected over the past few
years that has physically, psychologically and socially divided the
landscape. Now, rather than takin g a short fifteen minute stroll
to harvest or tend to their olive groves, the residents of Qaffin
who seek access to their lands must cope with a complex
bureaucracy and meet a number of conditions.

We made our way up the hill to our designated plot, casting an
eye to the east to get a view of the inauspicious fence cutting through the landscape. One can
see the small village of Qaffin on the other side. Following a number of reports about 'settler
violence' towards Palestinian olive grove owners in the media, and with the well-publicised issues
facing them since the erection of the barrier, a handful of volunteers from around the country
also joined in the effort.

What does it mean 'to pick olives'? Fruit for oil production is taken as soon as it
reaches optimum ripeness when it will yield the maximum oil with the most flavour.