The military and the police arrived and detained (arrested?) a settler who, in full view of the soldiers, had fired his rifle and hit a rock about twenty feet away from us. The Palestinians were nearby, yelling to the soldiers that they needed to harvest their olives. The soldiers said they were leaving but that they were declaring this a closed military zone and that the police would arrive soon to arrest us. We were quietly sitting in a line. One of us tried to negotiate with the soldiers, to no avail. The military them forced the villagers to leave, actively pushing many of them. We held our ground, then finally decided to leave for the day.

In the evening we met with the villagers and talked about what to do next. They told us that nothing had worked, so far. The village is surrounded by settlements that take more of its land each year. The villagers are prevented from harvesting, but if the villagers don't harvest the orchards, the land is ruled "unused" and is confiscated by the settlers.

We began talking about how we could return to the fields tomorrow, for a major harvest action. The feeling of solidarity was powerful, with peasants (in modern and traditional dress), young and old trading ideas with the internationals and Israeli peace activists. The villagers were risking a lot, but they were willing to take a chance and follow our recommendation to do a direct action. This was to be a totally nonviolent action-no stone throwing, and completely peaceful and silent.