Olive production in Palestine

Olive trees are a major agricultural crop in the Palestinian territories, where they are mostly grown for olive oil production. It has been estimated that olive production accounted for 57% of cultivated land in the OPt with 7.8 million fruit-bearing olive trees in 2011. In 2014, an estimated 108,000 tonnes of olives were pressed producing 24,700 tonnes of olive oil - which contributed US $10.9 million in added value to the crop. Around 100,000 households rely on olives for their primary income.

The olive tree is seen by many Palestinians as being a symbol of nationality and connection to the land, particularly due to their slow growth and longevity.

The destruction of Palestinian Olive trees has become a feature of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, with regular reports of damage by Israeli settlers.

Olive trees have been cultivated in the region for many thousands of years, with some evidence of olive groves and olive oil technologies dating to the Chalcolithic period, between 3600-3300 BCE. Later in the Bronze Age, olive fruits were widely traded as shown by the Uluburun shipwreck - which may have been carrying an olive shipment from Palestine.

Olives and olive oil had a significant role in all of the major religions which developed in the region. In the Jewish scriptures, olives were seen as part of the blessings of the promised land and were a symbol of prosperity. In the New Testament, the Mount of Olives has an important role and the anointing with oil is part of Christian and Islamic religious practice.

In the period between 1700 and 1900, the area around Nablus had developed to be the major area for olive production, and the olive oil was used in lieu of money. The oil was stored in deep wells in the ground in the city and surrounding villages which was then used by merchants to make payments.

By the late 19 century, cash crops in the region were being rapidly expanded to the extent that by 1914 there were 475 thousand dunam of olive groves (about 47.5 thousand hectares or 112 thousand acres) across the area that is now Israel and the Palestinian territories.

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Wikipedia