Last week, as the olive harvest began, Combatants for Peace returned to a small grove near Bethlehem — the land of our Palestinian coordinator, Jamil Qassas. For more than two years, his family had been unable to reach their trees as the grove lies between settlements in the Gush Etzion bloc - an area where access has been increasingly restricted to Palestinians since October 2023.
When we arrived — Palestinians and Israelis together — we saw that many of the trees had withered and their fruit was gone. Still, we harvested what green olives we could, collecting a small but meaningful yield. Not long after we began picking, the army arrived. In a cynical move that we encounter weekly, soldiers declared the area a “closed military zone”, ordered everyone to leave, and fined the owners for standing on their own property.
Military control over occupied land means that even the most basic acts of life — farming, movement, and work — are subject to permission and force. When farmers lose access to their groves, they lose not only income but connection to their history and identity. Entire communities are pushed into dependency and despair, while settlers expand and thrive just beyond the fence. These restrictions are not accidents of bureaucracy; they are tools of control that fracture livelihoods, families, and the very fabric of the land.
The right to livelihood is a human right. It is the right to work your land, to provide for your family, to live freely without fear or restriction. These rights are violated daily under occupation, yet they are also defended daily by ordinary people — Palestinians, Israelis, and internationals — who refuse to give up on justice.
International volunteers regularly visit to take part in local harvests, standing in solidarity with Palestinian farmers despite personal risk. Recently, two Jewish women from the US were given a 10-year ban from Israel for participating in an olive harvest in a “closed military zone.” Officially accused of violating military orders, the ban is widely seen as a punitive move, part of ongoing attempts to silence opposition. Their actions remind us that solidarity takes many forms — some on the ground, others from afar — but all protect our shared humanity. Wherever we are, each of us has a role to play. Through our shared commitment, we can defend the right to live with dignity — in the fields of Bethlehem and beyond
You can join this effort:
Become a Friend of Combatants for Peace, and be part of a growing international community committed to equality and nonviolence.
Our next webinar is taking place this Thursday with Sulaiman and Noa - two leaders of the movement. If you would like to join this closed event - become a friend of Combatants for Peace or the Solidarity Circle and receive your invitation to join us.
*this event is only for members of Friends of Combatants for Peace or the Solidarity Circle.
In peace & solidarity, Rana Salman & Eszter Koranyi
