Around half of the Awarta village's olive trees are located near the Itamar settlement. The villagers, already suffering economically because of the intifada, say it will be a disaster if they are not able to harvest those olives. A few of the villagers work as shepherds, but olives are their main source of income and the trees, which produce fruit only every other year, sustain them for two years. The rest of their time is taken up with pressing, processing and selling the olives.

Olives account for up to 20% of Palestinian agricultural output and just under 5% of its GDP. The Palestinian Authority says the olive harvest was reduced by 80% in 2001, mainly due to Israeli military action - an economic loss of $10 million. Since October 2000 soldiers and settlers have uprooted or burned 200,000 olive trees.
The harvest season continues until the end of November.

Jessica McCallin
for the Sunday Herald:
http://www.sundayherald.com

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