YOUR PRESENCE IS NEEDED FOR THE OLIVE HARVEST IN PALESTINE Resisting the Occupation by Insisting on Life

Since October 2000, hundreds of thousands of Palestinian trees have been bulldozed, uprooted or set ablaze by Israeli soldiers and settlers - xxxxx of these olive trees. Olive trees are a symbol of the life of the Palestinian, and their destruction by Israeli forces is an attempt to de-root the Palestinians from their land.


Throughout the West Bank and Gaza, Palestinian land has been and continues to be confiscated by the Israeli government. Since May of 2002, the Israeli government has been building a massive apartheid wall, which has thus far flattened and/or isolated hundreds of thousands of dunams of Palestinian farmland and destroyed tens of thousands of olive trees; Illegal Israeli colonies are built on occupied Palestinian land; more land is confiscated to build roads that encircle Palestinian villages but are not for use by Palestinians; Palestinians are locked up in their towns and villages as Israeli soldiers stand guard; Palestinians are not allowed to access their own property; crops go bad and Palestinian survival on their land is threatened.


The economic impact of Israeli policies on the olive sector has been massive ­ over XX million dollars lost to damage in the past three years, and millions more to Israel's barring farmers from their land. And these policies are designed to have impact not just now, but for years to come ­ olive trees produce for generations.


During last year’s one month Olive Harvest Campaign, 200 civilians from all over the world joined us in the Occupied Palestinian Territories as a front to this policy of starvation and ethnic cleansing. Internationals accompanying Palestinian farmers helped ensure access to fields and groves in some cases and helped highlight Israel’s war on Palestinian survival in cases were access was violently denied.


This year we are again calling on you to join us for the olive harvest in Palestine.


The Olive Harvesting Campaign, part of the Palestinian people's resistance to the occupation, will be from October 5 ­ November 20, 2003. ISM will be working in conjunction with the Palestinian Environmental Network (PENGON), the Union of Palestinian Agricultural Committees, the Union of Palestinian Farmers, and the Land Defense Committee to welcome you. Orientation and training will be held on October 3rd and 4th, and every Friday/Saturday throughout the campaign. Please register to join us at http://www.palsolidarity.org . For more information, please contact info@palsolidarity.org or see: http://www.palsolidarity.org. For more information on the wall and its impact on the Palestinian people, please see: http://www.palsolidarity.org, http://www.pengon.org, http://www.stopthewall.org

The olive is the lifeline of the Palestinian people. Come to Palestine and help Palestinians endure by joining them in concert with their land.