Olive harvest reaps animosity in West Bank
Palestinian farmers say settler violence has led to a rushed harvest, while Israelis say they fear “terrorist activity”.
Israeli authorities are giving Palestinian olive growers less time to harvest their crops this year, saying they want to protect them from settler violence and vandalism.
For families in the West Bank, whose livelihoods depend on the sale of olives and oil, picking the olives before they are ripe can seriously decrease their value.
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Jewish families in nearby settlements claim that harvests have been used as cover for “terrorist activity” and that the Israeli military needs to oversee them.
But many Palestinian farmers see violence only on the other side, when settlers burn and chop down their orchards, forcing them to replant again and again.
Al Jazeera’s Charles Stratford reports from the West Bank.