2019-11-18_Time

10 Time November 18, 2019

TheBrief News

This summer, 48-year-old dylan Jones

walked into a gallery in his hometown of

Caersws, Wales, and was drawn to a collec-

tion of photos depicting the olive harvest in a

small West Bank village—the gray skies and

golden landscapes, the piles of purple olives,

the men and women reaching toward the tree

branches. A few months later, Jones was on a

plane, headed to join a global brigade of vol-

unteers who assist Palestinian farmers during

the October-November harvest season.

In the West Bank and Gaza Strip, 45%

of agricultural land is planted with olive

trees, with the olive-oil industry making up

a quarter of the region’s gross agricultural

income. Groves are often passed down

through families, and the olive tree—which

has symbolic value across Islam, Christianity

and Judaism —represents peace and resilience

for Palestinians. But it has also become a

political flash point. In September, after

Benjamin Netanyahu promised to formally

annex the Jordan Valley, the Israeli Civil

Administration (ICA) ordered the uprooting

of hundreds of olive trees there. Clashes

between settlers and Palestinians often

manifest in the targeting of farmers. More

than 800,000 Palestinian olive trees have

been uprooted by Israeli authorities and

settlers since 1967, according to one study.

In 2006, the Israeli high court unanimously

SPACE

Long-distance deliveries

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) are receiving a surprising treat:

a resupply rocket launched Nov. 2 is bringing the team an oven designed to work in zero gravity,

along with a supply of chocolate-chip cookie dough. Here, other unusual space supplies.

ÑAlejandro de la Garza

SPACE SLICES

In a 2001 promotional

stunt, Pizza Hut

sent a pizza to

the ISS on board a

Russian spacecraft.

The company paid

about $1 million

for the delivery,

and to paste its

logo on the side

of a rocket.

COSMIC COMIC

Comedian Stephen

Colbert was one of

the celebrities to

have a digital copy

of his DNA brought

to the ISS in 2008

on an “Immortality

Drive” containing

human genes—just

in case we ever

need to start over.

FAR-OUT FLIES

A 2015 cargo

rocket to the ISS

contained, among

other things, a load

of live fruit flies so

scientists could

study how spaceflight

affected their

immune systems and

“the risks of in-flight

infections.”

NEWS

TICKER

October hiring

strong despite

GM strike

U.S. hiring remained

strong in October,

with employers

adding 128,000 jobs,

according to Nov. 

Labor Department

figures. Those numbers

might have been even

higher if not for the

recent General Motors

strike, which caused

economic pain across

the Midwest.

Iran moves

further from

nuclear deal

Iran announced on

Nov. 5 it will begin

injecting uranium gas

into 1,044 centrifuges,

in the country’s latest

move away from

the landmark 2015

nuclear deal since

the U.S. withdrew

last year. The new

development, which

Iran said is reversible,

could bring it closer to

being able to make a

nuclear weapon.

Jersey City

deals Airbnb

a blow

In a Nov. 5 referendum,

Jersey City, N.J., voted

overwhelmingly to

crack down on large-

scale Airbnb operators

by banning hosts who

rent out entire homes.

The vote came amid

concerns that investors

were cashing in at the

expense of locals by

renting thousands

of residences to

tourists and driving

up housing costs.

granted a petition to allow Palestinian farm-

ers safe access to their olive groves during the

harvest. “Our policy is to allow Palestinians to

get every last olive from every last tree, even

if that tree is in the middle of a settlement,” an

ICA spokesperson told the Los Angeles Times

when the decision was announced. The ways

in which the ruling has not been upheld, or

has proved ineffective, have fueled a global

response, based on the idea that foreign vol-

unteers can provide a protective, deterrent

presence during the harvest. “Their impact is

multidimensional,” says Baha Hilo, a founder

of To Be There, one of many groups that re-

cruit volunteers. “It’s about understanding,

bearing witness and buying time so that fami-

lies can harvest as much as they can.”

Mahir Shtewi, 52, who owns olive groves

in the West Bank village of Kafr Qaddum,

says they help, but only so much. Last year,

he arrived at his field with a group of British

volunteers to find more than 20 of his trees

cut down. “It’s like seeing your children cut

down in front of you,” he said. “This land is as

dear to my heart as my own children are, but

I swear—sometimes I wish I had never inher-

ited it because of all of these incidents.”

Thirteen years have passed since the Is-

raeli promise to allow Palestinians the right

to pick every last olive. To many, it seems a

pipe dream. Still, every year, civilians from

around the world try to improve its chances.

“There must have been around 20 of us from

many different countries,” Dylan Jones wrote

in a text message toward the end of his time

in the West Bank. “An unofficial United Na-

tions in the trees.” —noor ibrahim

POSTCARD

In the West Bank,

olive trees draw

defenders from afar