Nothing Like Olive Trees

by Saheer Khoury
(Amery, Wisconsin)

I was born in Jerusalem but moved to the States when I was 5 years old. I went back to the West bank when I was 13 and lived in a small village.

My village is surrounded by olive trees and I spent many a days helping picking olives with my family and my husband's family. The trees are hundreds of years old - they are an incredible and magnificent tree!

When I would look at them from my roof top the branches would sway from the breeze from where I stood it would like a beautiful green ocean.

My family ran an olive mill in which the olives were ground by 2 - 1 ton round stones - my dad would run the mill and us kids would help. Olives and olive oil is the best and most healthiest food on this planet. The smell of the olives being crushed can not be imagined plus to watch the olive coming down hot and golden from the filter was awesome.
We would go and get fresh baked pita bread and put it under the running olive oil and eat (with a cup of hot tea) .....

6000 years old trees

by Youssef Hanna
(Beirut, Lebanon )

In a village in north Lebanon situated at 1200 meters above sea level called Bchealeh, there exist few olive trees dating back 6000 years. Here are two photos of the trees.

Oldest Olive Tree

I was born in Jerusalem, Israel. The oldest olive tree I ever saw was in Jerusalem, near the Garden of Gesthemene. The article mentions an old olive tree in "Palestine." Was this tree in the part of the old Palestine Mandate which was divided between Jews and Arabs, the Jewish part later becoming Israel, or in the Arab part later claimed by Jordan and Egypt?

Reply;

I don't know. I researched this a while back and don't remember if the exact location was given.
There are a number of olive trees that people think are the oldest ones alive, another example being "The Sisters" in Lebanon.