Our binational school enjoys the annual olive picking festival

On Thursday, October 25 Children and parents of the Wahat al-Salam - Neve Shalom primary school took part in the annual Olive Picking Festival.

This joyful festival includes both olive picking and various fun activities. The Arab and Jewish children learn about an ancient Palestinian tradition in a way that both children and parents can enjoy.

In the afternoon, the whole school community gathered outside to hear a few words from teachers about the day’s activities. The children were eager to begin. Together with their parents, they split up into class groups and headed off to pick olives at various locations around the village.

The beautiful scenery and sunny weather kept everyone in high spirits. The students were encouraged to work in teams and pick as many olives as they could. Parents cheered and supervised their children while they climbed the trees and filled their bags with olives.

The harvest lasted about two hours, after which everyone headed back to the school. There, various activities, all inspired by Palestinian tradition, awaited the children. These included creative uses of the olives they’d picked, such as olive pressing, oil painting, arts and crafts, as well as henna hand painting, music and dance. Arabic music could be heard all around and many of the children beat out a rhythm on the darbukah or "goblet drum".

Olive picking is one of the oldest Palestinian traditions and so the WAS-NS bi-lingual, bi-national school takes advantage of its natural setting to incorporate the annual event into the curriculum. Children and parents enjoyed a fun-filled afternoon that taught about Palestinian customs and brought the entire school community closer together.