Later today, three Islanders who have just returned from Palestine will be giving a talk in Shanklin. Wendy Cooper, one of the three tells us more. Ed
Alongside Rachel Nassif (ecumenical accompanier), myself and Nick will be at Sacred Heart Church in Atherley Rd, Shanklin (just up from the station) at 7.30.
We are recently back from the Olive Harvest in Palestine and will be giving a two-part talk with slides on ‘Palestine, living with occupation’
Myself and Nick, being part of the Island group Friends of Palestine, received an email asking us if we would like to attend the olive harvest.
What we knew was that Palestinian farmers have been separated from their land, where they grow olives amongst other things, and have to apply for permission to harvest their crop.
Olive harvest in a few days
They may only get a few days of the year to complete the harvest and if they are lucky, get the pruning done.
To make life more difficult, hilltop settler youth pledge to disrupt the harvest by coming down to intimidate the farmers during this period.
The Israelli soldiers are obliged to protect the farmers and Internationals from them.
Our presence as witnesses and accompaniers then hopefully allows all parties to behave a little more calmly, and shows solidarity with the Palestinians who are living under the harsh reality of occupation.
Permaculture centre
We also visited and stayed at a permaculture centre just outside Bethlehem, sited on a dry river bed, which aims to experiment with, and put into practice, methods of growing and composting to deal with the extreme water shortages.
In between, we went to see the religious sites.
Do join us on Tuesday, there will be refreshments and plenty of time to ask questions.
Price £4 waged, £3 concession and £2 young person.
Hope to see you there.
Wendy and Nick
