Nablus & the Olive Harvest

I am now writing you from the city of Nablus, which is located in the north of the West Bank. For the last two days I have been in the village of Roujeeeb, which like most of the villages here is hemmed in from all sides by either (illegal) settlements (like Elon More or Itammar) or (illegal) military bases. This makes it sometimes very difficult to impossibe for the villagers to harvest their olives without the possibility of conflict. So, groups like the ISM, as well as Israeli groups like Rabbis for Human Rights, Gush Shalom, The Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions, all participate in the olive harvest with Palestnian families so that they can help if any conflict arises. For more info, go to www.palsolidarity.org.

That said, the olive picking has for the last two days been quite peacefull, and I hve enjoyed it fully. The famiy we are with has been kind, generous and thankful for our help and presence; I am just glad that their daughter speaks excellent english, as my arabic is quite rudimentary. The other day I was picking with them as well as an Israeli that escaped Germany in 1936 when he was 6 years old; when I was here 2 years ago, I was at a demo along wih Hedy Epstein, who escaped Germany around the same time. So, for the time being, I will be in the Nablus area going from village to village and picking olives, with possible side trips to demonstrations involving the wall and the villages it affects. For now, here is one of many stories. The daughter of the famiy, Ghadeer, told me that her young children had a solution to the situation here; take Sharon and tie his hands behind his back, then everyone can live together in peace.

sounds simple, but who knows, it may just work!