Palestine’s olives: A visual guide to the annual harvest and traditions

Olive harvest play is nether mode crossed the occupied West Bank.

In each Palestinian home, determination is simply a "teta" - a grandma and keeper of household traditions, who shares her recipes for utilizing olives and tells stories of erstwhile the full household gathered to harvest them.

The tiny greenish oregon achromatic fruits are chiefly utilized to nutrient oil, a staple ne'er missing from a Palestinian meal table, arsenic good arsenic array olives that travel galore meals.

In this ocular explainer, Al Jazeera looks astatine what makes the olive truthful peculiar to Palestinian individuality and life.

Palestinian women, wearing accepted embroidered dresses, prime olives during a ceremonial marking the commencement of the olive harvest play successful Deir el-Balah successful the cardinal Gaza Strip connected October 23, 2022 [Said Khatib/AFP]

Olive trees person been cultivated crossed Palestine for thousands of years, serving arsenic a root of livelihood, taste practice and resilience.

The olive harvest, known arsenic "mawsim al-zaytoun", begins successful October, with preparations starting successful September.

Families acceptable their tools arsenic the archetypal September rains, talat al-matar, soften the soil, lavation the trees and, arsenic galore Palestinian proverbs say, bring "barakeh" (blessings) for the harvest and the twelvemonth ahead.

More than 100,000 families trust connected the harvest for their income. It runs done to November and brings unneurotic the full community.

In the years earlier Israel's warfare connected Gaza began successful October 2023, astir fractional of each cultivated onshore crossed the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip was planted with an estimated 10 cardinal olive trees.

Palestinians usage olives predominantly for oil, but each portion of the histrion finds a purpose:

Olive oil - About 90 percent of olives are utilized to extract oil, with antithetic regions of Palestine producing chiseled varieties.

Table olives - Eaten fresh, pickled oregon seasoned, array olives are a cardinal diagnostic of Palestinian cuisine, festivals and hospitality.

Soap - The metropolis of Nablus is celebrated for its olive lipid soap, which is affluent successful antioxidants and gentle connected the skin.

Wood crafts - Handcrafted olive wood items are made from pruned branches, fallen wood, oregon aged trees that are nary longer productive.