Sindyanna News

1. A day of volunteering in the Roha Lands, December 4, 2004.

In cooperation with WAC, Sindyanna initiated a day of volunteering in the Roha Lands near Wadi Ara. Youth from Wadi Ara, Nazareth, Haifa and Tel Aviv came to the olive groves of Abed al-Raouf Jibrin to help him harvest. The fresh air and pastoral landscape gave strength to inexperienced hands, so that the buckets filled quickly, while green and black olives mounted in heaps on the plastic sheeting that was spread beneath the trees.

During a break, the volunteers heard from engineer Suleiman al-Fahmawi, head of the Committee for Defense of the Roha Lands. He talked of the long hard struggle against confiscation. The Roha Lands, consisting of 22,000 dunams (5500 acres), were privately owned by families in Um al-Fahm and neighboring villages. After numerous confiscations, only 700 dunams remained. In May 1998, the government declared them a closed military area. The villagers quickly organized and established the committee for defense of the lands. It undertook a public campaign in Israel and abroad. Al-Fahmawi explained: "According to Israeli law, if land is not worked for three years straight, the state can confiscate it for public purposes. We understood that if they did not allow us to enter the lands, the three years would pass and the state would then be able to take them. The campaign this time was extremely tough. On September 4, 1998 we set up a protest tent on the lands and received solidarity delegations. We lived there for more than twenty days. On September 27 we suffered a brutal attack by the army on the high school at Um al-Fahm. Pupils were injured. One lost an eye. In the end, as a result of our determination and the pressures from here and abroad, an agreement was signed that permitted the farmers to continue working their lands. In effect, this prevented confiscation."

Asma Agbarieh, the WAC Coordinator in Um al-Fahm, also spoke to the volunteers. She stressed the connection between concern for the working class and the struggle for Arab national rights.

Hadas Lahav, the Director of Sindyanna, drew the connection between the struggle for keeping the lands and the production of quality olive oil.

2. Visit from "Green Action" and "Turnabout"

On Sunday, December 26, Sindyanna's production center at Majd al-Krum had a visit from "Green Action" and "Turnabout," non-profit groups that work among the weaker sectors in the Jewish and Arab populations. Speakers from both groups emphasized the importance of educating people about Fair Trade. Itamar Hamiel of Green Action pointed out that Israel is a unique combination of the third world and the first. His group's task consists largely of buying Palestinian products and selling them in the Israeli market. He expressed appreciation for Sindyanna's groundbreaking action as the first Fair Trade organization in this country. The Turnabout members showed special interest in Sindyanna's work among women.

3. Change in Olive Oil Production

The olive harvest is almost over, and we have purchased most of our oil. There was a bumper crop this year, and we have been able to secure olive oil of superb quality. Anticipating a sharp rise in orders, especially from Fair Trade organizations, we have bought a machine for the semi-automatic sealing of bottles. This will raise our production speed while ensuring a clean, hermetic seal.

4. Products from the West Bank

On December 14 Sindyanna received a new shipment of olive-oil soap from Nablus: 30,000 bars. We have also received a ton of za'atar from the West Bank. See the article in this issue, "The Za'atar Express." "end"