The violence is worst during harvesting.  In the past, olive growers have been shot by settlers while harvesting their crop. Another issue is the security wall separating farmer and crop in many places and destroying olive groves in others. All this before the growers even attempt to sell one olive. Things are being improved now by the persistence of Rabbis for Peace who went to court to secure Israeli Defence Force protection for the harvest, but the IDF still veers on the side of the settlers. Rabbis for Peace have teamed up with other international groups to supervise individual harvests with great success in ensuring IDF protection and stopping settler violence. Without their watchful eye, it is doubtful the harvest would be so peaceful.

For the olive growers, selling and exporting their produce represent a whole new set of problems as Heather Gardiner of the Zaytoun enterprise told me. Zaytoun imports olive oil from the Jenin region in the West Bank, olive oil from Palestinian farmers of the Galilee region, Zaatar-wild grown herb mix, olive soap from Nablus in the West Bank and peace lamps made in Ramallah with olive oil -  unsold due to difficulties with exports since the Intifada began. A new range started in Dec. 2006: almonds from Jenin, dates from the Jordan Valley and cous cous from Gaza.

Zaytoun's mission statement:

Zaytoun is an ethical business established to support marginalized farming communities in Palestine. Palestine is the home of the olive tree, supporting over half the population & dominating the agricultural landscape. Zaytoun finds a market place for Palestinian produce in the UK.

As a non-profit company our primary objectives lie with the welfare of the producing communities. We invest in empowering farming communities & developing the agricultural infrastructure in Palestine.

I put a few questions to Ms Gardiner:

Q: How many Palestinians do the producers you work with employ?