Olive Picking Season and a Time for Reflection
October in Jordan is about olive picking, a cherished tradition that unites families and communities. It’s the season where we gather to harvest olives, producing the golden olive oil that has been part of our culture for centuries. While the rest of the world might focus on Halloween or Breast Cancer Awareness Month, in Jordan, October holds a deeper meaning tied to our connection with the land.
This year, however, the olive picking season is overshadowed by the tragic reality unfolding just across the border. As we harvest olives in Jordan, our Palestinian neighbors endure a genocide in real-time, with the world watching silently. Israel’s systematic destruction of Palestinian lives, homes, and crops is more than just an act of aggression—it’s an attempt to erase a people and their history. The burning of olive trees, nurtured for generations, is symbolic of this larger violence.
In Jordan, we stand as one with Palestinians, sharing their pain and their heritage. As we pick our olives this October, we do so with the weight of knowing that the same trees, sacred to both Jordanians and Palestinians, are being destroyed. But just as olive trees are resilient, so too are the people who care for them. Let this October be a reminder of our shared strength, our connection to the land, and our unwavering commitment to justice.
The olive tree is more than a plant—it is a symbol of survival and endurance, standing tall in defiance of those who seek to destroy. In harvesting olives, we are not just continuing a tradition; we are preserving a piece of history, one that cannot be burned away.
