Palestinian Harvest Season Prior to the Theft of 1948 🫒

 

Prior to 1948, the harvest season in Palestine, particularly the olive harvest known as mawsim al-zaytoun, was a deeply ingrained and joyful cultural cornerstone, far more than just an agricultural event. It was a time when entire families and communities, from elders to toddlers, would gather in the groves for days or weeks of collective labor and celebration. Preparations began with the first September rains, believed to bring barakeh (blessings) for the year ahead. The work involved picking olives by hand or using small rakes and spreading tarpaulins beneath the ancient trees, many of which had been planted by ancestors generations before. The atmosphere was one of shared purpose, filled with conversation, laughter, singing, and storytelling. Meals, such as musakhan (sumac-spiced chicken) and mujaddara, would be prepared and shared in the shade of the trees, often accompanied by fresh bread and mint tea  🍵🫖

The celebration extended beyond the fields. After the harvest, the crops were taken to local olive presses, which operated around the clock, filling the air with the pungent aroma of fresh oil. The first taste of the new, gleaming green oil was a moment of great pride and satisfaction. Beyond olives, other important crops like wheat and barley were also harvested with community feasts, traditional dabke dances, music, and food sharing, reinforcing strong social bonds and a profound connection to the land. This annual cycle of planting and harvesting was central to the self-reliant subsistence economy of most rural Palestinian communities, symbolizing a deep, generational link to their identity and heritage that was celebrated with communal joy and unity    🌿🍈