Olive Tree Initiative

Every year the Israeli state destroys thousands of Palestinian olive trees. For the settler movement, this is a key tactic to try to push the indigenous Palestinian population from their lands. The logic is simple: take away their means to survive, and they will ultimately leave the land. Each year as the Israeli settler movement grows in power, the some 80,000 to 100,000 Palestinian families that heavily rely on the olive tree industry are put at risk of new waves of violence and destruction of their property and livelihood. With these families largely abandoned by the international community, Youth of Sumud and solidarity activists provide much-needed support.

When trees are uprooted, burnt, and destroyed, Youth of Sumud and our partners, the Good Shepherd Collective, help to re-plant those trees as an act of resistance. We also identify communities with lands that need to be cultivated to stop settler encroachment and work the lands to keep a Palestinian presence in strategic areas. This work is absolutely essential to Palestinian grassroots nonviolent resistance.