nice to see them doing this rather than building rockets and suicide belts!

The article fails to report that the Israeli government has been providing technical assistance to the West Bank Arab farmers through seminars and training, helping them to navigate the requirements for organic produce abroad and encouraging them to pursue organic and other options. Israeli companies and trade shows have reached out, invited West Bank Arab farmers to attend agricultural expos in Israel and helped them to connect with customers. Import of WB Arab agricultural produce into (and through) Israel occurs regularly and pumps hard currency into the West Bank economy. The AP adopts the anti-Israel narrative here, and completely ignores the significant efforts of the Israeli government in support of these farmers.

but wow! weird, so far the first 3 comments do not call for annexing, deportation, bla bla etc.. Are you guys from israel or just internationals? well I am glad you are okey with our existence :p

If we are ever going to see progress toward peace we need to assist Palestinians with a true economy. This cannot be based upon boycotts against either side but rather a true stand alone commerce system. We are post- Intifada -- no exhuming of Arafat will bring his tactics back. The Palestinians need to throw off outside interests who profit mightily from keeping you impoverished. Even the World Bank has been a dirty dealer. If Palestinians renounce the conflict and follow their obligations under the Roadmap they will find the sort of reconstruction support Germany had after WW2. We want you to progress in this direction very much! Btw I am not an Israeli but I am a businesswoman very involved there who has spent plenty of time in Israel and the WB Btw no 3, thanks for that info-didn't know. Ynet, how about a story on that angle?

The olive trees just grow the olives with no inorganic intervention required. What "new" innovation is that? That's how it's been done for thousands of years. They're just capitalizing on the trend of "organic". As stupid as the anti-cholesterol trend when fruit products and the like would tout "CHOLESTEROL FREE" on their labels, when there was never an issue in the first place. It's a pretty low-tech thing, olive-farming. Spread blanket, shake tree, gather blanket and go. By all means, cash in on "organic". The fly-blight larvae wouldn't even flavor the oil significantly anyway. ...and if you did opt to douse the flies with some illegal doses of something or other, you think that "Palestine Free Trade" will tell and "check soil for chemical levels". That's cause ain't nothin' sprayed in the soil, baby. "Pass! The soil is organic!" (by the way, I don't know if you are aware, but scientifically ALL soil is organic).

it's the hardest job in the world there is. After making music.

Palestinians and Israelis both should visit Google® and look up John Jeavons, Ecology Action of the Mid-Peninsula, and the Biodynamic French Intensive Method of growing vegetables, grain, and trees. Get Jeavons's books, "How to grow more vegetables.. . .", latest edition I know of, 2006. After but a few years, the users of this method could increase their yields almost incredibly. I have seen it done in California. It works.

A few sources: * COGAT web site (July 2012) - Israel's Civil Administration paid for a $100M biological pest control project among WB Arabs. This allowed West Bank Arabs to eliminate pesticides, which allows them to farm organically and charge higher prices for their crops as discussed in the article. In the same document, a COGAT officer commented that "We are constantly trying to provide [Arab Farmers] with the relevant knowledge on all agricultural topics." Agricultural seminars, training, high-tech pest eradication projects and technology transfers have been going on for years. * The COGAT site (last week) documents a meeting between Israeli and PA agriculture officials to increase olive oil exports and other cooperative efforts. Spain's olive production has dropped this year, making this year a golden opportunity for West Bank Arab growers to break into new European markets. Israel is trying to help them to do that. We don't see any of this in wire service reports about WB agriculture, do we? * The COGAT web site summarizes other agricultural assistance. Projects during the last 6 months alone include Israeli attempts to eradicate the Date Palm Weevil, the delivery of Foot and Mouth Disease vaccines to protect PA livestock, a joint attempt to create a fish farming industry in the PA and so on. * In addition, Israel hosted 100s of West Bank Arab farmers and companies (including Canaan Fair Trade, which is mentioned in the article) at the Agro Mashov international agriculture exposition in 2012. Israel's Minister of Agriculture hosted the PA Minister of Agriculture at the event. The goal was to help PA farmers and ag exporters to connect with importers from all over the world and initiate relationships that would facilitate their export businesses. The visit was mentioned in a number of online news sources earlier this year. These efforts only "scratch the surface."

But how about you guys and your relatives in all the Arab countries surrounding Israel accept Israel's existence?? Israel has never denied your existence!

You would be surprised by the amount of people agree with cooperation between the 2 sides if your government just stop talking with the bunch of thieves in the PA (abbas and his gang). I can talk regarding westbank now and tell you #10 that 99% of westbankers already visited israel (for work, tourism, academic, industry ,..) those 99% know that israel exist and its strong. We know that, if you will keep telling us why hamas or some arabic country does not recognize israel, we will accomplish nothing. Its an internal matter between normal PEOPLE living in westbank and israel, it can start economically, industry, etc, and by time of such cooperation the people will see that each other side is normal people just like them. if we keep argue in politics, we either dont want to do something, or we wont be able even if we want.

I take my hat to you. My best friends was from Gaza, and we used to work at a hotel in Tel Aviv. Now, as an high net-worth entrepreneur in Australia, I returned in 1999, to purchase 3 large manufacturing factories in Jordan for $10 million, wanting to transfer my management expertise to the Jordanians and Pals, but Arafat, Abbas and Fatah were not interested in feeding you nice people. Fatah commenced the Intifada, and I nearly lost my life just because I genuinely wanted to you go grow out poverty. Like Syria, you need to fight against the cancer that is Abbas backed by the EU and the NIF, and once you break free, I will guarantee you that Israel will be there for all you people and I would love for the Pals to have the same GDP of Israel. and we will host your kids in Tel Aviv, looking after them like ours.