Transcript
The dangerous struggle to preserve the Palestinian olive and date harvest
From NPR · Episode page · Watch on YouTube
· 2 min · 388 words · 4 timestamped sections
This is the full, timestamped transcript of "The dangerous struggle to preserve the Palestinian olive and date harvest", an episode of NPR published November 11, 2025 (2 min, about 388 words). It mentions 14 people, works and ideas, including Jordan, Palestinian Olive Harvest, West Bank, Israeli soldiers, olive press.
What is discussed, and when
Notable quotes from "The dangerous struggle to preserve the Palestinian olive and date harvest"
Welcome to the Palestinian Olive Harvest in the West Bank. It's a beautiful setting and usually it's a time where families come out for a couple of days and enjoy the weather and enjoy the.
about Palestinian Olive Harvest · atWe drove near the lowest point on the earth's surface for the date harvest. We are Woo! We're along the Jordan border, the border with Jordan, and we're on a forklift going up into this date tree.
about Jordan · atHouse scans each and every date for quality control. Aliyia Katib is deputy CEO of Rift Valley Farms, a Palestinian womenrun business packing about 10 million dates this season.
about Rift Valley Farms · at
Who and what is mentioned in this episode?
People
- Israeli soldiers — Person · 1 mention · first at
Footage shows some of the settler attacks have been in the presence of Israeli soldiers not stopping the violence. In a separate incident, this is what we saw as we were driving through olive groves.
- Aliyia Katib — Person · 1 mention · first at
Leave. Nearby, a date farm and packing house scans each and every date for quality control. Aliyia Katib is deputy CEO of Rift Valley Farms, a Palestinian womenrun business packing about 10 million dates this season.
Companies & orgs
- Israeli settlement — Company · 1 mention · first at
Also face challenges. They're next to the border with Jordan right next to an Israeli settlement and with army patrols here. And they say that last year as they were tending to…
- date farm and packing house — Company · 1 mention · first at
Soldiers came, beat up his brother, searched their car, and ordered them to leave. Nearby, a date farm and packing house scans each and every date for quality control. Aliyia…
- Rift Valley Farms — Company · 1 mention · first at
Products & tech
- olive press — Product · 1 mention · first at
This olive press turns olives into oil.
- organic dates — Product · 1 mention · first at
We have both organic dates and conventional dates from the Jordan Valley of Palestine. We ship to Europe, to Australia, to New Zealand.
- conventional dates — Product · 1 mention · first at
We have both organic dates and conventional dates from the Jordan Valley of Palestine. We ship to Europe, to Australia, to New Zealand.
Concepts & topics
- Palestinian Olive Harvest — Concept · 1 mention · first at
- Gaza war — Concept · 1 mention · first at
She says since the Gaza war broke out, there's been high consumer demand abroad for Palestinian dates.
Places & events
- Jordan — Place · 3 mentions · first at
- West Bank — Place · 1 mention · first at
Welcome to the Palestinian Olive Harvest in the West Bank. It's a beautiful setting and usually it's a time where families come out for a couple of days and enjoy the weather and enjoy the experience. But the Palestinian olive.
- Jordan Valley — Place · 1 mention · first at
We have both organic dates and conventional dates from the Jordan Valley of Palestine. We ship to Europe, to Australia, to New Zealand.
- New Zealand — Place · 1 mention · first at
Conventional dates from the Jordan Valley of Palestine. We ship to Europe, to Australia, to New Zealand.
Full transcript with timestamps
Welcome to the Palestinian Olive Harvest in the West Bank. It's a beautiful setting and usually it's a time where families come out for a couple of days and enjoy the weather and enjoy the experience. But the Palestinian olive harvest has now become one of the most dangerous in recent memory because Israeli settlers have been attacking olive harvesters. They've been cutting down trees. They've been opening fire. Footage shows some of the settler attacks have been in the presence of Israeli soldiers not stopping the violence. In a separate incident, this is what we saw as we were driving through olive groves.
Oh my god. Two teenage Israeli settlers coming out to the road facing us. One holding a long object. Settlers have attacked Palestinian olive farmers in their cars this season. Our Palestinian driver backed up and drove away. This olive press turns olives into oil. But this year, families are scared to access all their trees, so they're not bringing as many olives. Here from the high hilltops where the olive trees are, we drove near the lowest point on the earth's surface for the date harvest. We are Woo! We're along the Jordan border, the border with Jordan, and we're on a forklift going up into this date tree.
All right, we're going to do each one very care Oh, wow. They just slip right off the branch. Look at this. Beautiful. I mean, you can literally eat them right off the tree. Just like the olive harvesters, these guys picking dates also face challenges. They're next to the border with Jordan right next to an Israeli settlement and with army patrols here. And they say that last year as they were tending to their date trees, soldiers came, beat up his brother, uh, searched their car, and ordered them to leave. Nearby, a date farm and packing house scans each and every date for quality control. Aliyia Katib is deputy CEO of Rift Valley Farms, a Palestinian womenrun business packing about 10 million dates this season.
We have both organic dates and conventional dates from the Jordan Valley of Palestine. We ship to uh to Europe, to uh Australia, to New Zealand. She says since the Gaza war broke out, there's been high consumer demand abroad for Palestinian dates.
Questions about this episode
What is discussed in "The dangerous struggle to preserve the Palestinian olive and date harvest"?
In order: 0:00 Jordan, Aliyia Katib, conventional dates, date farm and packing house.
What is mentioned in this NPR episode?
14 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Jordan, Palestinian Olive Harvest, West Bank, Israeli soldiers, olive press, Israeli settlement. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.
How long is "The dangerous struggle to preserve the Palestinian olive and date harvest"?
The episode runs 2 min; the transcript is about 388 words in 4 timestamped sections.
More from NPR
About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated November 17, 2025.