1st, November 2008
See more photos of the group day
Today the bus took us to the village of Nahhalin where we would spend the morning picking olives. Baha, the Tree Campaign coordinator informed us on the bus about the situation in the area. It is very green and beautiful, and full of pine trees and olive trees. Unfortunately Israel is trying to built new and expand existing settlements there, and the area will be affected. As we were driving through the area we felt sad and provoked at the same time knowing that what we were seeing would maybe not last for long.
When we arrived everything went very well, we did not face any soldiers or settlers. The weather was also good, and some even decided to stay in the shadow to pick olives to prevent any sun damages on their skin. The farmer's family was with us the whole day and the group and the family cooperated very well. "Today is a wonderful day to pick olives. I prefer to stay here and enjoy the sun and people's company than to do sightseeing", said Elizabeth from Switzerland. She got so inspired from the work on the olive fields that she is thinking of coming back for the olive tree planting next year.
We finished the work, then we were served lunch by the family. It was good to eat after working the whole morning, and as always, people chatted and laughed. We also got a chance to speak to the farmer's family.
After lunch we got all our things, went on the bus and drove to Badil. Badil is a center that focuses on Palestinian refugees. They do mainly research related to Palestinian refugees, and legal issues as well. They also work with youth training programs, organize the return award and do community projects. The presentation we had come for focused on the history of the Palestinian refugees, and their current situation. People found it very interesting, and Norwegian Marianne thought it was interesting to learn more about the refugees. "I reacted on what was told about pushing the Palestinians out of Palestine. The Israelis have the time and resources to wait as long as they want".
After our visit to Badil we moved on to an olive press to see the process of making olive oil. Unfortunately there was quite a lot of noise because of the machines. After the visit to the olive press we went back to the hotel. Here people decided to relax and go to a restaurant, or to go to a lecture at the AIC.
