World demands - Palestine Solidarity Campaign

Spring 2012 REPORTSpalestine NEWS 19More than just a treeFor Fair Trade Fortnight, thePalestinian olive oil importer,Zaytoun, hosted Abu Kamal,an olive farmer from Al Ramehand part of the Palestine FairTrade Association, on a UKtour. The 15 members ofthe PFTA co-operative in AlRameh, near Jenin, producearound 10 tons of olive oil ayear. Here Manal Abdallah,of Canaan Fair Trade, whoaccompanied him, describeswhat the visit meant to them.Abu Kamal and Manal Abdallah with supporters in Dundee. Photo: Zaytoun.Fair Trade Fortnight for us was morethan just a way to promote ourproducts. It was a way for us to say:we are farmers from Palestine, a nationthat has a long history, rich with its cultureand heritage, that deserves to exist and tolive in dignity.It was a pride for us to carry thePalestinian olive oil bottle to every eventwe participated in. A bottle that says thisproduct is MADE IN PALESTINE. It doesn’tsay made in Area A, B, or C. It doesn’t sayMade in the West Bank, or the OPT. It isa bottle that acts as an ambassador forPalestinian farmers, carrying with it a tasteof their history, their attachment to the land,their homes and their olive trees.“It was a pride for usto carry the olive oilbottle to every event”It was a pleasure for us to meethundreds of people who listened to ourstory with full attention and completeinterest. During discussions, we felt howtouched the audiences were after hearingAbu Kamal talk about how Fair Tradechanged his life and the lives of 1700 otherfarmers like him.Abu Kamal talked about the importanceof the olive tree. “For us it is more thanjust a tree. It is a main source of incomefor the Palestinian families. It representsour culture, our heritage, our history, ourhumanity and presence. We inherited thistree from our ancestors who planted it sothat we can eat from it. It is our duty to takecare of it and protect it so our children andgrandchildren can eat from it.”Abu Kamal also talked about thechallenges farmers face because of theIsraeli occupation in terms of denial ofaccessing their properties and denialof accessing water resources, and thecontinuous settlers’ attacks. “Knowing howsacred and important this tree is for us,imagine what it feels like when someonecomes and takes it away from us! Whensomeone comes and simply uproots orburns our olive trees. When someone comesand builds a wall through our lands takingaway big portions of it, splitting it into piecesto which we are denied to access.“But regardless of all these challenges,we will endure and continue to exist,because this is our way of resistingoccupation and oppression.”Abu Kamal also talked about how FairTrade in Palestine was a way to includewomen to participate in bringing incomefor their families. In Palestine’s Fair TradeAssociation, we now have six women cooperativesengaged in producing organicproducts like za’atar, couscous, almonds,bulgur, sundried tomatoes and soap.Those products are now exported to 17countries.“This is our way ofresisting occupationand oppression”Fair Trade had a direct and visible impacton the Palestinian farmers’ lives. Because ofthe much higher income he now received,Abu Kamal was able to pay his son’suniversity tuition fees which he couldn’tafford before. Knowing there was a marketfor his products, Abu Kamal started to caremore about his lands, his trees and hiscrops. He even swapped from conventionalto organic farming, even if it cost him higher.“Now I don’t have to worry about howlong it would take me to sell my products.Because of Fair Trade, I can assure mywhole crop will be sold in the season,” hesaid.Through the Fair Trade premium,farmers are able to invest in social projectsbenefitting their communities and cooperatives.“With the premium, we wereable to bring new computers to schoolsin my village, a new fridge to store themedicine in the health care centre and newheating systems and air conditioners in thekindergarten,” Abu Kamal said.What impressed me the most, personally,is how much people care about Fair Trade inthe UK. Visiting all these Fair Trade schools,villages and supporters, gave us a pushto continue what we’re doing, to keep onplanting, enduring, resisting and investing inthe spirit of Fair Trade regardless of all thechallenges.Abu Kamal always ended his talk byinviting people to visit Palestine, to sharewith our farmers the joy of the olive harvestseason, to experience the generoushospitality of the Palestinian people,to celebrate with them the fruit of theiraccomplishments, and to taste delicaciesfrom the Land of Milk and Honey! We lookforward to really seeing you all at Canaanand in Palestine very soon!• www.canaanfairtrade.com• www.zaytoun.org