For thousands of years, throughout the Eastern
Mediterranean, the olive tree has been a symbol of peace
and prosperity. This is probably because of the many uses
the tree can be put to: wood for fire or building, olives
for oil or eating: the fatty, protein-rich olive is one of
the few fruits that provides all the nutrients necessary
for survival. For the ancient Greeks, the olive was
literally god's gift; Athena founded the city of Athens by
planting the first olive tree. During Roman times the
olive groves retained their place as an important crop for
the Empire. Olive branches were carried as symbols of
authority, victors in the games were crowned with olive
leaves, olive oil was distributed as bounty by the emperors
to their loyal troops. The Arab and Ottoman empires that
subsequently conquered the Eastern Mediterranean swept away
much of Rome's power, but the olive trees weathered the
storms, as did many of the peasantry; the masters changed,
but their tax was still paid in olive oil.
Now in the scrap of East Med seaboard known as Palestine
and Israel, many groves of olive trees still stand, and
still provide people with sustenance. But since they are a
means of support, they are also hedged about with issues of
power and control, in this land where holding the soil is
such a vital part of politics. For the Israeli state, any
element of Palestinian self-sufficiency is a threat, since
it represents reserves of energy and strength that can help
maintain the resistance. For this reason, trees are
bulldozed and farmers collecting the olive harvest are
beaten, harassed and shot at. The Jewish settlements
planted throughout the West Bank are not simply and attempt
to change the local demographics, they are also part of an
aggressive project to seize control of the resources that
enable the Palestinians to survive: water, land, freedom
of travel. If settler thugs manage to stop the olive
harvest from being taken in for long enough, then the
Israeli state can seize the land, under a law: originally
brought in by the British: that allows the government to
take unused land. For this reason, the battle over olives
and the olive harvest has taken on great significance.
Activists with the International Solidarity Movement have
participated in past harvests, attempting to stave off
violence against farmers.
Fair trade and ethical investment can only help social
change if it is concretely helping social movements,
otherwise we may be merely helping an unstable and unequal
relationship to continue: the example of cash crops such
as coffee and chocolate come to mind; even fair trade
chocolate is still entrenched in a region's dependence on a
single cash plantation crop. The situation in the West
bank is not like this: olives are a sustainable crop, and
their cultivation is a deep part of the region's history.
Palestinian olive growing co-ops are still battling to
grow, harvest and process their olives; for food, for
money, and also for self-respect. While they are able to
support themselves in this way, desperation and dependence
on aid money is staved off. One way that we in the UK can
help to create space for peace in this scrap of land is for
us to support these co-ops by buying their oil.
You can find out more about the issues mentioned in this
article from:
http://zaytoun.org
http://www.olivecoop.com
notts_zaytoon@yahoo.co.uk
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