WEST BANK-OLIVE TAPENADE West Bank women turning green olives into spreadable eating delight

Record ID: 565688

  • Title: WEST BANK-OLIVE TAPENADE West Bank women turning green olives into spreadable eating delight
  • Date: 10th December 2014
  • Summary: KAFR RAI, WEST BANK (DECEMBER 9, 2014) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WOMEN PICKING OLIVES OUT OF CONTAINERS VARIOUS OF WOMEN DRYING OLIVES AND WEIGHING THEM LOGO OF PROJECT READING IN ARABIC, ENGLISH: "FROM GROVE TO MARKET OLIVE OIL PROGRAMME" (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HOUSEWIFE AND MEMBER OF WOMEN ORGANIZATION IN KAFR RAI, HALA SBEIH, SAYING: "Thank God who gave us this blessed tree in Palestine, which from its oil and olives we make a lot. I think no country has the same taste of our olives and oil. We like showing the world this Palestinian product." VARIOUS OF WOMAN PUTTING OLIVES INTO MACHINE VARIOUS OF WOMAN MOVING OLIVE TAPENADE INTO LARGE POT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) HOUSEWIFE AND MEMBER OF KAFR RAI WOMEN ORGANIZATION, SUHA WALID, SAYING: "The olive tapenade project is part of the 'From Grove To Market Olive Oil Programme' in which we pickle, grind, fill and pasteurize olives, and after that we export it to the Gulf and other Arab countries as well as selling it in the local market." VARIOUS OF WOMAN ADDING OLIVE OIL TO OLIVE TAPENADE WOMEN SCOOPING OLIVE TAPENADE WOMAN MOVING OLIVE TAPENADE TO MACHINE VARIOUS OF WOMAN FILLING OLIVE TAPENADE INTO GLASS JARS VARIOUS OF WOMEN PUTTING LABELS ON JARS (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROJECT MANAGER IN OXFAM, MUSTAFA ETMAZI, SAYING: "In this location we chose a new product for the country, which is not known in Palestine. Olive tapenade or olive butter is a product well known in Europe and is in high demand. In the beginning we had an obstacle which is how to train the women for this project, so we invited a French expert to train the people how to work and she helped us in the designs of the needed machines. After that we imported the machines from Turkey and trained the women on how to use them." GLASS JARS WITH GREEN OLIVE TAPENADE ON DISPLAY CLOSE ON PICTURE OLIVES ON BANNER FOR PROJECT (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) PROJECT MANAGER IN OXFAM, MUSTAFA ETMAZI, SAYING: "For this project our institution helped this organisation to produce and put suitable labels for the local market as well as helping them in marketing through local exhibitions and campaigns. They also participated in international exhibitions, and now they export this product to foreign markets." ROAD SIGN READING IN ARABIC, ENGLISH: "KAFR RAI" ENTRANCE TO VILLAGE VARIOUS OF OLIVE TREES IN VILLAGE
  • Embargoed: 25th December 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: West bank
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6WLTZ2KZY44BFA7X2YCCR29LL
  • Story Text: The olive trees of the Palestinian Territories an iconic symbol of the land and its people, but for a group of Palestinian housewives the olives are more than just a symbol.
    Women in the West Bank village of Kafr Rai rely on the fruits of the trees to make their living - by turning it into a spreadable paste, or tapenade.
    "Thank God who gave us this blessed tree in Palestine, which from its oil and olives we make a lot. I think no country has the same taste of our olives and oil. We like showing the world this Palestinian product," said Hala Sbeih, one of the women working on the project.
    The team of women were trained and funded by Oxfam to process their local olives and produce the green olive tapenade, which they export to the Gulf and other Arab countries.
    "The olive tapenade project is part of the 'From Grove To Market Olive Oil Programme' in which we pickle, grind, fill and pasteurize olives, and after that we export it to the Gulf and other Arab countries as well as selling it in the local market," said Suha Walid, another woman working on the project.
    The program works with olive farmers' cooperatives across the Palestinian Territories to improve farming practices and open local and international markets to their products.
    Oxfam project manager Mustafa Etmazi said the organisation wanted to start producing a product that was not yet being produced in the Palestinian Territories but could be sold internationally.
    "In this location we chose a new product for the country, which is not known in Palestine. Olive tapenade or olive butter is a product well known in Europe and is in high demand," Etmazi said.
    "In the beginning we had an obstacle which is how to train the women for this project, so we invited a French expert to train the people how to work and she helped us in the designs of the needed machines. After that we imported the machines from Turkey and trained the women on how to use them," he added.
    Oxfam also helped fund the initiative and provide training.
    "Our institution helped this organisation to produce and put suitable labels for the local market as well as helping them in marketing through local exhibitions and campaigns. They also participated in international exhibitions, and now they export this product to foreign markets," Etmazi said.
    An estimated 10 million olive trees dot the Israeli-occupied West Bank, thriving in the arid climate and covering 45 percent of all agricultural land in the region.
    According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Palestinian Territories, thousands of olive trees have been uprooted, burned or chopped down in recent years by Israeli settlers, with over 6,800 vandalised in the first six months of 2013.
    Palestinian authorities said 800,000 trees have been destroyed since the 1967 war.
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