On February 27th, York Fair Trade Forum arranged a special viewing of the film “The People and the Olive” at York’s City Screen cinema. The film is a powerful documentary about the daily struggles and joys of Palestinian farmers and a dedicated group of Americans who ran the first ever Palestinian Ultramarathon.

The event was followed by a Q&A session with Monica Wustemen from the York Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Taysir Arbasi. Taysir is the Palestine Director of Fairtrade exporters Zaytoun, and he told us how Fairtrade has made a difference to the livelihoods of olive farmers from the ancient groves in Palestine.

Small farmers in Palestine have been amongst the most affected by the ongoing Israeli occupation, relying solely on the struggling local economy whilst contending with checkpoints blocking their access to raw materials, agricultural lands and markets.

The event was co-organised with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, and Fairer World ran a stall selling Zaytoun products.