The Olive Tree, the Olive Branch, and Decolonized Healing: A Palestinian Perspective
The olive tree is a living embodiment of memory, resistance, resilience, and home for Indigenous Palestinians. With deep roots, olive trees have been nurtured across generations, often planted by ancestors whose hands tilled the earth long before the concept of nation-states or colonial borders existed. They are among the oldest trees in the world, some estimated to be thousands of years old, and they bear witness to a history of profound connection to land, culture, and community.
The olive branch, likewise, is globally recognized as a symbol of peace, but for Palestinians, it carries an even deeper meaning. It represents the hope for peace, the right to resist erasure, and the commitment to survive and thrive despite ongoing displacement, violence, and fragmentation.
The Olive Tree: Symbol of Steadfastness (Sumud)
In Palestinian culture, sumud (صمود) — steadfastness — is a core principle. Olive trees display incredible resilience to drought and unfriendly landscapes. They symbolize the steadfast spirit of the Palestinian people, who have bravely faced generations of colonization, apartheid, and attempts at erasure. When occupying forces uproot these trees, it goes beyond environmental damage; it strikes at the heart of identity, community, ancestry, and connection. This destruction is a violent attempt to disrupt the deep-rooted ties between the Palestinian people and their homeland. Palestinians persist. Replant and nurture seedlings and protect ancient groves with their lives. Thus, the olive tree became a powerful symbol of survival, connection, and resistance against erasure.
The olive trees and their harvest profoundly express Palestinian culture, serving as a vital symbol of community, tradition, and resilience. The annual olive harvest is not merely an agricultural event but a rich cultural tapestry interwoven with singing, dancing, gathering, and cooperation practices.
As families and communities come together in the orchards, the atmosphere buzzes with excitement and camaraderie. Harvesting olives transforms into a celebratory ritual that honors ancestral ties and shared heritage. Singing traditional songs, often passed down through generations, reverberates through the groves, creating a soundtrack that echoes the joy and hardship of the Palestinian experience. Each note sung reflects a deep connection to the land and one another, reinforcing the cultural identity that thrives amidst adversity.
Dancing also takes center stage during the harvest. People engage in folk dances that embody unity and joy, drawing from a repertoire rich in history and significance. These dances celebrate the land's bounty and serve as a powerful expression of collective spirit and resilience. The rhythmic movements, often accompanied by laughter and storytelling, create a vibrant atmosphere that fosters bonds amongst the community.
Moreover, the olive harvest emphasizes cooperation and community engagement. Neighbors come together to share in the labor-intensive process of picking olives, a practice that strengthens social ties and cultivates solidarity. This collaboration transcends mere toil; it becomes a vital act of resistance against displacement and erasure, reminding everyone involved of their shared commitment to the land and each other.
Gatherings around the olive trees foster connection among families and within the broader Palestinian community. These moments are crucial to cultural preservation, where stories are exchangeable, and the younger generations learn about their heritage. They understand the olive tree's significance in their identity as a symbol of steadfastness and resilience.
In this way, the olive trees and their harvest are deeply embedded in the fabric of Palestinian culture, illustrating the essence of community and the celebration of life. Through singing, dancing, gathering, and cooperating, the harvest becomes a powerful cultural expression, interlinking the past with the present and reinforcing the hope for a flourishing future.
The Olive Branch: A Call for Justice, Not Just Peace
The live branch embodies the intimate and sacred connection to justice. True peace cannot exist without the recognition of historical harm, the honoring of indigenous rights, and the restoration of dignity. Palestinians do not extend the olive branch from a place of surrender but from a place of principled, resilient hope — a hope rooted in liberation rather than assimilation or erasure.
Healing Through a Decolonized Lens
Decolonized therapeutic work seeks to disrupt dominant paradigms that view trauma only through an individualistic or Eurocentric lens. Instead, it honors that many wounds are collective, systemic, and historical. It recognizes that for Palestinians (and other Indigenous peoples), trauma is not just personal — it is inherited, political, and ongoing.
Incorporating the symbols of the olive tree and olive branch into therapeutic work serves several purposes:
Rooting Clients in Collective Strength: Like the olive tree, individuals can anchor themselves in their ancestral wisdom, community ties, and inherited resilience. Healing goes beyond moving on from pain; it honors the full complexity of survival and identity.
Reclaiming Narratives: Decolonized therapy invites clients to tell their stories in ways that resist dominant narratives of victimhood or pathologization. The story of the olive tree teaches that survival is resistance and that continued existence is a radical act.
Healing as Reconnection: Just as Palestinians return to their olive groves year after year to harvest, tend, and celebrate, decolonized healing practices emphasize reconnection — to self, to community, to land, and to lineage. Healing is cyclical, collective, and rooted in relationships.
Centering Justice in Healing: True therapeutic work cannot remain neutral in the face of injustice. A decolonized framework holds space for anger, grief, rage, and hope; it recognizes that healing connects to struggles for justice and liberation.
The Olive Tree as a Guidepost for Healing
In the face of ongoing personal, intergenerational, and colonial violence, the olive trees remind us:
To root deeply, even when the soil feels unstable.
To bend but not break, even under immense pressure.
To bear fruit, even after seasons of drought.
To replant and rebuild, even when destruction feels overwhelming.
For Palestinians and all people engaged in healing from colonial, racial, and systemic trauma, the olive tree and the olive branch offer enduring lessons. They remind us that healing is not passive. It is an act of resistance, courageous, political, and sacred.
