Placing flower memorial
 
The final day of the program began with a brief stop on the way to the olive-picking site, at the place where a 16-year old Palestinian boy was shot and killed by the Israeli Defense Forces earlier this month. The six members of Women to Women for Peace in Britain who have been participating in the program all week had prepared a flower memorial to place at the site, at which time the entire group observed a few moments of silence in memory of the child.
Farmer
The participants traveled to Nahalin village once again, this time to pick olives on property owned by the Safi family; Mohammed Safi and his mother Fatima (Im Safwat) were on hand to help out. Mohammed told us that the land was purchased by his Grandfather, who died in 1966. He also explained to everyone what was causing the excess growth of brush that was noticeable all across the field; sewage water from the settlement on the hill is being diverted to their land, causing the brush growth and also killing trees.
Nahhalin village
The village of Nahalin is currently surrounded by four different settlements: Asion, Bitan, Daniel, and Jabahout. These settlements are not only cutting off Nahalin from the surrounding villages, but they were placed in that particular location most likely to access the water resources in the valley. Mr. Safi told us that the village of Nahalin used to cover 24,000 dunams, and has now been reduced to less than 12,000 dunams because of all the settlement activity.
The group was also pleased to hear the announcement that participants Geeske Zanen and Jan Jongbloed from the Netherlands had purchased, in Beit Sahour the previous day, two brand-new ladders that they then generously donated to the program. Other participants in the group then gladly contributed to the purchase price.
Farewell party
After lunch, the group went to Shepherd’s field, and visited area gift shops. That evening, they celebrated the end of a successful week with dinner at The Tent restaurant at Shepherd’s Field.