On 17 October 2020, Shaker a-Tamimi (70), a father of ten from the Jabal Jales neighborhood in central Hebron, went to an olive grove he and his brother own. The grove spans 20 dunams [1 dunam = 1,000 sq. meters], and the settlement outpost of Givat Gal was established right next to it. When Tamimi and his family got to the grove, they discovered that all the trees had already been harvested, and went home empty-handed.
In a testimony he gave B’Tselem field researcher Manal al Ja’bari on 24 October 2020, Tamimi discussed the theft of his olives:
The settlers do as they please in our land: walk around with soldiers guarding them, put up shacks, raise livestock and even plant trees in the part that’s close to the settlement. It isn’t the first time they’ve stolen our olives. The military doesn’t allow me into the land without prior coordination, but I ignore that demand and go there whenever I want. It’s my land. I bought it about 40 years ago.
About two weeks ago, we went to the grove to check on the trees, and they had a reasonable amount of olives on them. A week later, we went back and discovered there were almost no olives left. The remaining amount wasn’t worth the work. We went home empty-handed.
We used to harvest about three tons of olives, which can yield 30 jerricans of olive oil and pickled olives. It was enough for my family and for my brothers’ families. We also gave some to friends. This year, we will have to buy olive oil and olives.