A religious ruling by Israeli Rabbi Dov Lior has drawn renewed attention to Palestinian farmers’ access to their olive groves in the occupied West Bank. The ruling, issued on Friday, permits Israeli settlers to take olives from Palestinian land.
Lior argued that harvesting the crop expresses Jewish ownership of the land. He also claimed Palestinians did not acquire the land from Jewish owners and therefore lacked a right to it or its produce. His position was not confined to fields near settlements; it also extended to Palestinian areas farther away. These are the rabbi’s religious and political claims, not a legal determination of land ownership.
The statement comes during the annual autumn olive harvest, an important source of income for many Palestinian families. Farmers have faced assaults, restrictions on reaching their groves, damage to trees and theft of crops during the season. Such incidents can deprive households of both their harvest and earnings.
The ruling has intensified concern among Palestinians that religious arguments are being used to justify taking property and agricultural produce. For farmers, the immediate issue remains whether they can safely reach their land and gather the olives they have cultivated.
