Occupied Jerusalem- The Palestinians are closely linked to the olive tree. In addition to the religious dimension of the tree due to its mention in the Holy Qur’an, it has become a symbol of the Palestinian’s adherence to his land and steadfastness, and a symbol of the Palestinian cause. It is also a factor of unification and rapprochement among the people separated by the occupation, its procedures, and its troubles.
Despite the olive tree being subjected to the occupation’s practices of bulldozing, destruction, uprooting, and burning, in addition to settlers’ attacks on the land and the olive tree, it has remained proud and proud, bringing joy to the hearts of those who see it, and waiting to return the favor to the one who planted it, and provide him with its fruit, which constitutes a source of income for the majority of Palestinian families.
With the middle of October of each year, the Palestinians renew their love for the olive tree, and by the early morning hours, family members begin to gather and prepare to practice their ancient heritage by harvesting the fruits of the blessed tree. They are motivated by their love for their land, and their impatient waiting for the income that will return to them from it. Everyone participates in This beautiful occasion includes young and old, women and young men, and each one of them looks at it with his own perspective that touches his mind and emotions.
But this does not seem to be the case for the Samarin family from the town of Silwan, south of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied Jerusalem, specifically in the Wadi Al-Rababa neighborhood, where the family’s land is located within the area of lands targeted by the Nature and Environment Authority and the settlement associations.
Early harvest
The Samreen family began picking their olives before the rain fell, unlike what they do during the season every year, due to the Israeli Department of Nature and Environment’s attacks on their olive trees, as they cut the trunk of one of 12 trees, the largest of which is 300 years old and the youngest is approximately 100 years old.
Tel Aviv Tribune Net accompanied the family during their work in picking olives, where young and old gathered in the Wadi Al-Rababa neighborhood and brought with them the tools they needed to harvest the fruits.
We headed towards Hajja Umm Musa Samreen while she was taking shade under one of the olive trees, accompanied by her youngest grandson, Adham, and her granddaughter, Silwan, whom she gave this name because of her love for the town of Silwan, where she was born, grew up, and grew up.
Umm Musa says, “Every year we come to pick the olives from our land after the first rains fall, but so far it has not fallen (…) The young people are furloughed from their work due to the presence of the Jewish holidays, so we took advantage of the holiday to pick the olives. The olive harvest needs young people and labor, and I “I can’t be alone.”
Umm Musa remembers the harvest season in the past: “In the past, my mother, my uncle, and his wife used to come to pick olives, but they all died, may God have mercy on them. Today, I, my children, and my grandchildren come.”
She added: “In the past, everyone used to help with the ‘Aouna’ (help) and find olives, and they would prepare breakfast and lunch on the land, and everyone would be happy.”
Tired and fun
Hajja Umm Musa expresses her love for picking olives, saying, “It is the most beautiful season in which we gather with the family. It is a tiring season, but I relax in it. There is nothing better than tasting the fruits of one’s efforts.”
Regarding the first sip of olive oil after pressing it, she says in her colloquial dialect, “My appetite, the oil is like ghee, better than what is sold in the markets.”
Umm Musa works on sorting the olives, arranging them, rubbing them with salt and lemon, and pickling them as olives. As for the remaining ones, she sends them to the only press in Jerusalem to be transformed into oil, and distributes them to her children, grandchildren, and lovers, saying, “May God place blessings in them.”
The Jerusalemite citizen points out the weakness of the season this year, explaining that “there are few olive trees on the trees, but we do not leave them to gather them for oil, thank God.” She wonders, “Who should we leave him to?!” At the same time, she answers: “The settlers, my daughter, stole the fruit before the harvest season came. They came down and broke the olive trees and branches.”
Umm Musa has been suffering for a long time. Two years ago, the Department of Nature and Environment seized the Al-Hamra land that the family had been renting from the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate to cultivate since 1928, with an annual renewable contract.
Umm Musa spoke sadly about the last olive harvest season before the Nature and Environment Authority took over the land. “The last time we harvested olives, we made 4 boxes of oil (…) Their olives were good.”
She adds that her psyche becomes tired and exhausted whenever she sees the olives hanging from the branches, referring to her continuous attempts with her son Shuaib to recover it. “A person’s land is his property, and he who wastes his land wastes his land (…) We will not leave our lands.”
Recovery soon
We ended the conversation with the mother and went to her son, Shuaib Samrin, to learn more about the issue of that land and the attempts to recover it. He said, “Today the file is in the Supreme Court. God willing, we will recover even part of it. This land is the scent of my ancestors, and my father, Adam Samrin, spent his life on it with his mother, father, and brother.” .
“The land of Al-Hamra is considered the garden of Silwan, planted with all kinds of fruits that God created. Its area is estimated at 5 dunums (a dunum is equal to a thousand square metres) and it was watered by the Canaanite spring of Silwan (…) When I walk next to it I try not to look at it (…) I am convinced if we do not recover it today We will get it back in the future,” says Shuaib.
Regarding the olive harvest season, Shuaib recalls, “In the past, all the people of Wadi al-Rababa used to agree on one day and one hour to start the olive harvest season. I learned from my grandfather and father, and today, I pass on what I learned to my children and the children of my brothers and sisters.”
Shuaib explains, “The quality of olives is poor every year, and we usually wait for the first rains to fall or until the beginning of November, but in recent years we start the olive season before that, as a result of the attempts of the Nature and Environment Authority to control the lands.”
He explains that the settlers and the occupation army are attacking the land and the olive trees, as they “break the tree branches and throw the olives on the ground, to prevent our presence in the lands (…) They do not want any Arab presence on the lands, they want to enter them peacefully without disturbance or accountability from the owners of those lands.” .
Regarding his feeling during the olive harvest season, the Jerusalemite citizen expresses, “It is as if a person is going on a recreational trip, relieving himself from the troubles of life, and resting in it by sitting under one of the olive trees in the embrace of the nature of the Wadi Al-Rababa neighborhood.”
He ends his speech by saying, “I do not remember in our lives that we bought oil or olives. It is all from the fruit of the existing land. Praise be to God. God does not deprive us of this blessing. This land – whether the Jews seized it or not – God willing, will always remain ours.”