Despite the economic hardship and physical threats from the Israeli settlers and army, Abdullah Abu Awad refuses to leave his family land. — Photos: Los Angeles Times/TNS
ABDULLAH Abu Awad, from Turmus Ayya, first harvested his family’s olive grove decades ago with his father and grandfather. He knows the trees as well as he knows his own children.
But he hesitated before driving across the field one morning in December, unsure what the nearby Israeli settlers might do. The settlement of Shilo sits just beyond the fence of his 12-acre (48562.3 square metre) property.
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Olive occupation
Minwar Abu Awad keeping watch for settlers who threatened to stop his family’s harvest of olives from their own property.
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This road outside the West Bank town of Qusra is one of several that settlers have recently blocked, making it harder for Palestinians to get to their crops.
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Abdullah Abu Awad, details how 12 men, some with rifles, attacked his family during harvesting, telling them they weren't allowed to pick their olives.
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Hani Oudeh, showing some of the damage that Israeli settlers have caused to Palestinians' groves in the West Bank.
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The oil presses kept running, but almost 40% of the West Bank’s olive groves went unharvested in a disastrous year for Palestinian growers, the UN says.
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Nur Abu Awad carrying a bag of successfully harvested olives to the family home.
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Israeli settlers and troops blocking access to two springs Qaryut used for water, as well as most roads out of the Palestinian village.
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Work on their property remains a family undertaking despite the growing threat. Tala, two and a half years old, happily learning how to separate olives from their branches.
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Israeli settlers threw bricks into this Palestinian home outside Qaryut, according to Raed Hajj Muhammad, mayor of nearby Jalood.
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Lyad Naasan (center) joking with friends and relatives who worked to repair their home after Israeli troops blocked them from bringing in workers and equipment.
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Abdullah Abu Awad scans the area for Israeli soldiers or settlers as he breaks for a cigarette.
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Bashar (left) and fellow Palestine Red Crescent volunteers monitoring Israeli settlers and soldiers blocking access to a spring that Palestinians rely on for water in Qaryut, West Bank.
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Olives are collected on a tarp below the family’s trees.
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A worker rests after a temporary rush on the olive press in Turmus Ayya. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times/TNS)
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New danger: The West Bank’s olive trees now highlight the growing strife between Palestinian landowners and Israeli settlers and troops. — Photos: Los Angeles Times/TNS
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Nur Abu Awad, bottom, has learned to watch the nearby road for such threats while working on the grove.
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A spray-painted message on a Palestinian home reads "Death to Arabs" in Hebrew alongside a Star of David. It was reportedly left by Israeli settlers who also burned a vehicle in a rampage in Turmus Ayya. —Photos: Los Angeles Times/TNS
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Amal Abu Awad, 59, harvests olives by hand on their family groves next to their home in Turmus Ayya, Occupied West Bank.
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Relatives test a freshly picked sample for juiciness.
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The factory was a more joyful place before olive farmers came under increasing attack for working their land.
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