This is the time of year when hundreds of people from across the globe usually come to the West Bank to help Palestinian farmers harvest their olives.
The occupation has made the harvest very difficult for many farmers. Many have no longer got access to their lands and are only allowed to get to the trees for a short period of time so the olives have to be harvested quickly. In addition, every year, the Israeli military and Israeli settler movement uproots, poisons, and sets fire to hundreds of olive trees.
The Holy Land Trust olive picking initiative is one of our longest running programmes and we combine it with a fact-finding tour so that the volunteering is set within a broader political and cultural context. We hope to run it again in 2022 and we hope that you might think about joining us.
However, for the last two years the farmers have not had international support due to Covid. But we are still supporting families, particularly those in Area C which is under Israeli military rule. We will do everything we can to help those farmers harvest their olives but we need your help to help them.
Please consider sending us a donation at this time when the closed borders mean farmers cannot be supported by volunteers from overseas. Stand in solidarity with us and give what you can to support the economy of the Holy Lands and help families live with dignity.
Donating $50 here, means we could have one person working with a farmer for a day in Area C, during the harvest.
Elias Deis - Executive Director
Holy Land Trust’s E.D., Elias Deis has worked for over a decade at Holy Land Trust. He was formally the Travel & Encounter Program Director and serves on the Beit Sahour City Council.
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