What is it about?

Palestinians dominate the olive oil sector in Israel. How did they respond to the creation of the State of Israel and deal with policies they considered harmful to their present and future in the new country? Palestinians, especially those in the Galilee, mobilized and protested even at a time of extreme vulnerability for their community.

Featured Image

Why is it important?

The voices of Palestinians from this time period have largely been lost to history. The Israel State Archive has preserved extensive documentation from the early state period that historians had not yet examined. There are both political and linguistic reasons for this closure and silencing. This article uses both Arabic and Hebrew to paint a comprehensive picture of relations between Palestinian citizens and Israeli state bureaucrats in the late 1940s and early 1950s, when Israel had just been created, in the wake of the British Mandate and the Palestinian Nakba.

Perspectives

The question of Palestinian olive cultivation has only increased in importance in recent years as people around the world have come to recognize the benefits of healthy fats and the advantages of the Mediterranean diet. The olive sector in Israel offers an example of how states should not shape policy, and how citizens can effectively respond to policies that threaten their livelihoods.

Jeffrey Reger
Georgetown University

Read the Original

This page is a summary of: Olive Cultivation in the Galilee, 1948–1955: Hegemony and Resistance, Journal of Palestine Studies, August 2017, University of California Press,
DOI: 10.1525/jps.2017.46.4.28.
You can read the full text:

Read

Contributors

The following have contributed to this page