A Glug of Oil Makes Your Meal More Ethical - Co-operative News Article
Zaytoun on January 29th, 2009Palestinian olive oil could soon be the first oil to receive Fairtrade status.
Last month, representatives of the Fairtrade Foundation and international Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO) held a workshop in Ramallah on the process of certification, Fairtrade price setting and producer support for Palestinian olive farmers.
Central to the workshop was Zaytoun, a UK-based co-operative community interest company (CIC). All of its suppliers attended and local co-ordination for the visiting delegates was provided by Taysir Arbasi, Zaytoun’s director in Palestine.
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‘Bas Al Shugul - Al Ard. Bas’ - The Land Is The Only Work We Have
Zaytoun on January 28th, 2009Report written by Tara, an Australian ISM volunteer
“We have no bathroom, how can we wash ourselves? How can we go to school looking like this?”, implored 13 year-old Shaima al Samouni. It’s a pertinent question, given that schools reopened two days ago for the first time since the Israeli attacks on Gaza started.
With 29 family members killed during the attacks on the Zeitoon neighbourhood in Gaza city, however, it seems a strange concern. But life marches on, and the other children have gone back to school. Tugging at the clothes they were wearing, the children explain that, now, three weeks after their homes were destroyed, what they’re wearing is all they have. And, it seems, they’re not going to school wearing that.
They take us across the dirt, to a half-bombed house. On the way, we walk over the foundations of what used to be the house of Majid al Samouni and his family. The children stop to show us a drum of olives (zeitoon) that was destroyed. We pass by the carcass of a large sheep. Shot by the Israeli army. They show us their two pretty donkeys. “Donkeys quais”, I say in broken Arabic, relieved that they’re not taking us to more animal corpses. There used to be nine donkeys, they explain. But the Israeli soldiers shot seven of them. Then my colleague points out the gaping hole in the shoulder of the brown donkey - also shot by the Israeli army. Donkey mish quais.
One of the young girls, who is nine years old, is desperate for me to understand the extent to which their lives were destroyed. Not in terms of life lost, but livelihood. “Bas al shugul - al ard. Bas” (The land is the only work we have), and the land is totally destroyed. The children catalogue the types of fruit trees they had - lemon, guava, orange, mandarin, and the ubiquitous olive. They don’t talk about the battery-chicken shed that is crushed, chickens still in cages. When i finally ask just how many chickens there were, I find it difficult to believe the answer - two thousand chickens.
Her older cousin goes to great lengths to tell me repeatedly, at every opportunity, that they were just farmers, not Hamas. I know, I reply. See Al Haq report
Where Is The Ceasefire? Livelihoods Continue To Be Destroyed
Zaytoun on January 28th, 2009Report written by Tara, an Australian ISM volunteer
A young farm-worker, Arwan al Ibrim was murdered by Israeli military forces at approximately 9:45 am on Tuesday 27th January, in the village of Al Farahin, east of Khan Younis.
27 year old Arwan was working picking parsely and spinach in the village agricultural lands, approximately 700 m from the Green Line, when Israeli jeeps opened fire with machine guns from behind the Green Line – shooting more than 30 bullets in quick succession, eyewitnesses report. Many of the seven farmers working in the area scattered, taking shelter from the shower of bullets. Arwan, however, was shot in the neck, dying instantly.
Arwan had only recently returned to his job as an agricultural worker, after 6 months, as the area was considered to be too dangerous following the large-scale Israeli army invasion that took place there on 1st May 2008, and then the recent Israeli war on Gaza. Even though the area is still considered extremely dangerous, Arwan decided to return to work there in order to help buy medicine for his elderly, paralysed father. He was being paid just 20 shekels (approximately $6) a day to work there.
His mother laments that she and his father had begged him to stay home for breakfast, but Arwan refused, saying there was a lot of work to do, and that he wanted to get started before the Israeli army arrived and started shooting. Just two hours later, the family found out from the television that Arwan had been killed.
Later on the same day, in the city of Khan Younis itself, a young man riding a motorcycle was critically injured when he was fired upon from an Israeli drone. Hayan As Ser was taken to Nasser hospital where his condition reportedly remains critical.
These attacks came after one Israeli soldier was killed and three more injured when their jeep drove across a buried explosive near the Green Line, reportedly planted by Palestinian resistance fighters. However, despite claiming to have implemented a ceasefire from 2am on Sunday 18th January, Israeli forces have continued to shoot at civilians in villages close to the Green Line, including Al Farahin, on a daily basis.
In the nearby village of Khaza’a, Maher Abu Arjila, a 22 year old farmer was killed by Israeli soldiers shooting from behind the Green Line on 18th January, just hours after the ceasefire was supposed to come into effect. Another resident, Nabil an Najar, was injured when rubble fell on top of him as a result of soldiers shooting the building he was standing under.
On the evening of Sunday 25th January, Subhe Kdah, was also injured as Israeli soldiers shot into the village; and on Monday 26th January, residents report soldiers firing in the area of the United Nations school.
On the other side of the Gaza strip, Palestinian fishermen are also reportedly coming under fire on a daily basis, with one fishing boat captain, Ala al Habil, hospitalized with a gunshot wound to his lower leg, when he was shot at by an Israeli navy boat on the evening of Monday 26th. Another fishing-boat captain, Iyad al Hissi, was shot at repeatedly whilst in the wheel-house of a fishing boat that was less than one nautical mile from Gaza shore on Tuesday 27th. Witnesses say he managed to escape from the wheel-house without injury. In both cases, fishermen report that the Israeli navy boats were shooting to kill the captains.
Whilst gunfire on Palestinian fishing boats was a daily occurance throughout the last so-called Israeli ceasefire, human rights workers who were accompanying fishermen during that period suggest that the situation now is even worse. “During the last ceasefire, the fishermen were getting shot at every day, but now it’s happening much closer to shore - within 1 or 2 miles of the shore”, remarked one international human rights worker.
These recent violations come in addition to the shelling of Gaza’s port area that continued for five days after the announcement of the ceasefire - which resulted in a number of casualties; as well as the shooting of 7 year old Ahmed Hassanian in the head; and the bombing of Amal area, east of Beit Hannoun,- killing one, wounding another - making a mockery of any claims to an Israeli cessation of fire.
“Where is the ceasefire?” Arwan’s elderly mother demanded angrily. “They said there was a ceasefire, but there is nothing!”
Interviews with fishermen on 27th January:
On the morning of 27th January 2009, a Palestinian fishing boat left Gaza City port in one of the first attempts to work after the recent onslaught on Gaza, and the following ceasefire announced by Israel. While fishing in Palestinian territorial waters, about 1 mile off the northern Gaza Strip shore, it was attacked by an Israeli gunboat. The fishing boat was sprayed with bullets of different types. As it can be seen in the images taken by ISM volunteers, upon the return of the fishing boat to the Gaza port, Israeli soldiers were mostly targeting the wheelhouse. Fortunately the captain managed to survive, nobody was injured but the boat suffered serious damages. More here
26th January 2009 - Gazan territorial waters: Despite a ceasefire, and despite the fact that their target was a civilian vessel, the Israeli navy opened fire on a Palestinian fishing boat causing a serious leg injury to a fisherman, Alaa Al-Habil. More here
The Oil of Life – Morning Star Article
Zaytoun on January 26th, 2009Nick Matthews on a co-operative keeping Palestinian farming alive.
“They planted for us to eat - we will plant for them to eat.”
This old Palestinian saying sums up the philosophy of Al Zaytouna, the Palestinian Olive Tree Association founded in 2004 as a non-profit association working in all the Palestine agricultural areas that produce olives.
The olive branch, traditionally a symbol of peace, has now become a symbol of the Palestinians’ struggle for survival.
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Why I’m Boycotting Israeli Produce - Guardian Article
Zaytoun on January 26th, 2009By Joanna Blythman
Fruit and vegetable exports are crucial to the Israeli economy. A consumer boycott of agricultural produce exerts direct economic pressure where it matters.
If you’re not in the habit of checking the country of origin on fruit and vegetables to minimise food miles, you may not have noticed just how much Israeli produce is in our shops and supermarkets. At the moment, there are piles of new potatoes (though it’s hard to see why anyone with a scrap of environmental awareness would buy these when our indigenous main crop spuds are still firm and abundant), and that’s just for starters.
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Palestinian Extra Virgin Olive Oil into the EU Parliament
Zaytoun on January 26th, 2009Luisa Morgantini
Vice President of the European Parliament
It will be distributed in all tables and restaurants of the European Parliament in Brussels and in Strasbourg, the olive oil produced in the Palestinian Occupied Territories and rigorously Fair Trade. Since long time, the EP utilizes Fair Trade products, thanks to the initiative by a group of MEPs, but it is the first time for a Palestinian product.
“It aims to be also a symbolic act – declared Luisa Morgantini, Vice President of the European Parliament and promoter of the initiative- but it will also be an important support to the Palestinian farmers’ cooperatives, women and men who continue to cultivate, to love and to defend their lands threatened and expropriated by the violence perpetrated by the Israeli military occupation, by the colonial annexation wall that goes on uprooting trees, demolishing houses and steeling the cultivated lands to the farmers. From now on eating in the tables or in the restaurant of the EP will be for me and for many others an emotion and also a solidarity act by seeing the Palestinian Label over this product that because of its precious flavour represents an hymn to the taste and to the fair trade”.
The extra virgin olive oil is produced by the PARC - The Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees- distributed by Oxfam
Message from Zatoun in Canada
Zaytoun on January 22nd, 2009From Zatoun to Zatoun
An Invitation: From North America to Gaza
In days of darkness we seek the light. Olive oil has been a source of physical and spiritual light to many cultures. It enlightens minds to greater understanding and lights hearts to compassion.
Zatoun, through the sale of fair trade olive oil, has built a diverse community of support in North America for Palestinians and Palestine. At this difficult time for the people of Gaza, we want to reach out to another ‘Zatoun’ community in Gaza to show solidarity and caring. Its formal name is ‘Al-Zaytoun,’ and it is a very poor neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City. Not much is to be found about it on the Internet other than it was the site of heavy bombardment and casualties including a report of 25 members from one family killed by a missile.
Zatoun has made a $2,500 contribution in aid of families living in the Zatoun neighbourhood of Gaza City.
We invite members of the Zatoun community in North America to make their own personal financial contribution to Zatoun families in Gaza. The aid will be delivered by the Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip. It is a respected and effective humanitarian aid organization on the ground. It is a member of the International Red Cross movement.
Our channel in North America to the Red Crescent Society for the Gaza Strip is through the CPFQ-Child Sponsorship Program - Financial Appeal for Gaza Families. Donors will be issued an immediate receipt (in pdf format and tax deductible to Canadian residents) by CanadaHelps.org. More information about the ongoing work of the Child Sponsorship Program is available at their website.
Please make an online contribution using this link. Use the ‘Donate Now’ button. IMPORTANT : Please specify in the ‘message box’ that the contribution is directed to Zatoun in Gaza City. The funds will be distributed at the cessation of hostilities.
It may be a small gesture yet, like buying olive oil, it serves an important symbolic purpose. It tells the people of Zatoun in Gaza that there is another Zatoun in North America which recognizes their dignity and situation. What the people of Gaza and all Palestinians seek most from the world is recognition. They need our recognition to help overcome the denial of grave historic injustices, and assert their claim to identity and human rights.
In closing, Zatoun wishes a true Zatoun community for the world.
Zaytoun in The Ecologist
Zaytoun on January 18th, 2009Zaytoun Olive Oil is mentioned in The Ecologist by Laura Sevier - Read her article ‘Drizzle with care’.
300 British Academics for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Zaytoun on January 17th, 2009300 Academics have written to The Guardian stating that:
‘We believe Israel should immediately and unconditionally end its assault on Gaza, end the occupation of the West Bank, and abandon all claims to possess or control territory beyond its 1967 borders. We call on the British government and the British people to take all feasible steps to oblige Israel to comply with these demands, starting with a programme of boycott, divestment and sanctions.‘
Read more here.
UK Human Rights Activist Reports From Gaza
Zaytoun on January 16th, 2009‘It was the hardest day of our lives’
Wednesday 14th January, 2009
In an escalation of the ground offensive in the south of the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces terrorised the population of Khoza’a, a small rural community east of Khan Younis. They entered the area at about 3.00am on the morning of Tuesday 13th January in an incursion lasting until Tuesday evening. This follows heavy missile strikes on Khoza’a in recent days, notably on Saturday 10th January.
According to a local municipality official, approximately 50 homes were bulldozed along with farmland, olive and citrus groves. The scent of lemons could faintly be determined whilst navigating the wreckage, emanating from so many mangled trees. A family explained how their home was demolished with them inside it. They sheltered in the basement as the upper storeys were destroyed. Later they realised the basement itself was being attacked and narrowly missed being crushed to death by escaping through a small hole in the debris.
Iman Al-Najar was with her family in their home when military D-9 bulldozers began to demolish it. They managed to escape and Iman then encouraged some of her neighbours to try to leave the vicinity. The group of women were instructed by Israeli soldiers to leave by a particular street. They had children with them and carried white flags, yet when they reached the street Israeli special forces concealed in a building opened fire on them and shot 50 year-old Rowhiya Al-Najar. The other women desperately tried to rescue her but the gunfire was too heavy and they had to flee for their lives. An ambulance was also prevented from reaching her and she bled to death in the street.
Meanwhile Iman and about 200 other residents whose homes had been destroyed had gathered near her uncle’s house which was protecting them to some degree from the shooting. However, this area in turn was also attacked. Iman described how the bulldozers began piling debris up around them, effectively creating a giant hole that they were standing in. They were literally about to be buried alive. By some miracle they managed to also escape from this situation by crawling on their hands and knees for about 150 metres. It was extremely difficult for them to move, especially with the injured and the elderly.
The terrified residents then sought sanctuary at a local UNRWA school. But when they got there missiles were being fired around it and they had to retreat. Finally they managed to leave the area entirely and walked several kilometres to where friends were able to pick them up. Iman’s 14 year-old brother Mohammed was missing for 12 hours and she feared he was dead. He had been detained by soldiers in a house along with a neighbour who had begged to be let out to find her children but was not allowed to do so. When the soldiers had shot Rowhiya Al-Najar, Mohammed said they had been singing and dancing and forced him to do the same. When he refused, they threatened to shoot him too.
“It was the hardest day of our lives,” repeated Iman over and over again. She had nothing left in the world but the clothes she was standing up in, but under the circumstances she was lucky to escape with her life. As in so many other parts of the Gaza Strip, the atrocities committed against civilians in Khoza’a amount to war crimes.
Missiles believed to contain white phosphor were deployed by the Israeli military during this attack. ISM volunteers photographed a fist-sized lump of flaming material found on the ground next to a burnt-out home. It was still burning from the previous day. The only way to extinguish it was to bury it, but it would instantly re-ignite if uncovered. It was giving off a thick grey smoke with a foul stench. Doctors at the Al Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which received 50 casualties that day from Khoza’a, described serious chemical burns and victims being covered in a white powder which continued to burn them. Many people were also suffering from serious breathing difficulties after inhaling smoke emitted by this weapon.
Dr. Ahmed Almi, a member of the delegation of Egyptian doctors who finally gained entry to the strip to support Gazan hospitals during the crisis, outlined some of the most serious cases. Four of them died in the hospital after doctors battled to save them. He commented that some of the injuries were so horrific they must have been inflicted by abnormal munitions. He gave the example of a man who had been shot and sustained a small entry wound but massive exit wound, 40-50 cm wide. 13 people were killed overall during this incursion according to medical sources.
Before the Israeli war on Gaza began, the ISM team here had been working with the farming community in Khoza’a, accompanying local farmers as they succeeded to access their land to plant winter wheat. The IOF had prevented them from reaching their fields, in some cases for over five years. Israeli soldiers shot at them, even during the ceasefire. The same ceasefire which Israel claims was broken by Palestinians.
