29th, October 2008
See more photos of the group day
After two days of visiting other cities, we today returned to our main purpose of the trip; helping Palestinian farmers pick olives! In order to get to our fields in the village of Al-Numan we had to pass through the Bethlehem Terminal. As we reached the other side of the terminal, a yellow plated bus was waiting to take us to Al-Numan.
Al-Numan is a village just outside Beit Shour, but due to the construction of the Wall we had to drive around in order to get to the field. In 1967 Al-Numan was annexed by Israel, leaving the population of the village without Jerusalem ID cards. Israel sees them as "illegal citizens" of Israel as they are living inside Israel but with a green Palestinian ID card. When the wall was being constructed in 2003, the people of Al-Numan asked to be either included inside the Wall or to be given Jerusalem ID's. None of their wishes was granted, and today the village is suffering from severe constriction on movement, the kids having to pass through metal detectors on their way to school and constant military orders on house demolition.
When we first reached the fields, the sun was shining, but the weather quickly changed and we were picking olives in rainy and windy weather for a while. The farmers on the other hand were of course very happy about the rainfall of the last few days. Lorentza, a former volunteer in Beit Sahour and with long experience with the situation of Al-Numan shared her knowledge about the village with us. On the field, we enjoyed a traditional Palestinian lunch, Maklobe, prepared by some of the women of the village. 
After crossing the nearby checkpoint on foot, we went over to Badil in Bethlehem. There, Hazim gave us an introduction about the issue of Palestinian refugees and about the current situation in Palestine. After the briefing, we discussed different topics concerning Palestine, and also what we as internationals can do. As Karl said; the more I learn the more I would like to do! Boycott Coca Cola!
Leaving Badil, we went to see an olive press; The Cooperative Society of Pressing Olives in Beit Jala. The cooperative was established in 1963 and is a co-op of about thousand members.
There we saw the process of turning olives into olive oil. As we were been given a briefing about the process by Nadi Farraj, the YMCA Women Training Program Agricultural consultant, the rain came down so heavy that it was so hard to hear what he was saying!
After a long day of picking olives, visiting Badil and the olive press, people were ready for going home to their families for a nice, relaxing evening.
Gloria will have the last word of today; this has been a week of revelation.
