UAWC launches a voluntary work week for the olive harvest campaign in the Gaza Strip
The Union of Agricultural Work Committees launched on Saturday a voluntary work week for the olive harvest campaign in the Gaza strip; students, academics and faculty members from the Agricultural college of Al-Azhar University, and volunteers from UAWC participated in the campaign, which comes under the title of “Our Olive tree is Our Homeland”.
Saa’d El-Deen Zyadeh, Director of the Grassroots, Policies and Advocacy department at UAWC, talked about the importance participating this campaign, noting that it will continue until Thursday of the same week, targeting lands planted with olive trees. Zyadeh stressed on the fact that this event comes in the framework of preserving the authenticity of this tree, and supporting the farmers’ resilience on their lands, in addition to promoting the voluntary work culture in the Palestinian society.
Dr. Ahmad Abu Sha’ban, Dean of the Agricultural college at Al-Azhar University, said that the participation of the students aims to promote the culture of voluntary work between them, and also to promote extracurricular activities and practicing what they learn in lectures on the ground.
One of the students expressed his happiness with helping the framers in harvesting the olive trees, he also added that it is an expression of gratitude to these farmers whose lands have been bulldozed many times by the occupation’s forces since it is very close to the border with the occupied territories.
The owner of the land, Rushdi El-Badawi, thanked UAWC for the gesture in supporting the farmers, and which emphasizes our right to this land, despite the sabotage and constant bulldozing of the land by the occupation’s forces.
El-Badwi added: “They bulldozed my land three times, but I will keep planting it despite everything”
UAWC continues to support farmers at every possible chance and in all of the areas of their work, to emphasize their rights, and to strengthen the farmers’ steadfastness in the face of the Israeli occupation which tries by all means to destroy the agricultural sector.
This campaign comes as part of “Defending Farmers and Fishermen’s Rights” project which UAWC implements in partnership with the Norwegian People’s Aid.