There’s rousing music, sunshine, smiles, coffee and three people harvesting olives. But the video's caption situates these charming scenes in a different, much more violent reality: "That took us a good four hours. We are asking you to come and showcase the land of Israel and harvest olives.” This footage was captured in the occupied West Bank.
David Kela, an illegal Israeli settlement, is identified as the scene's location in the post. This video, posted on September 28, 2026, shows three people gathering olives in the occupied West Bank and having a merry time doing it. It turns out, however, that an illegal settlement is identified in the video and the caption calls on people to come and "showcase the land of Israel".
To display this content from Instagram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement. The olive harvest officially began on October 15, 2026 and lasts until the end of November. In recent years, however, this period has become synonymous with an uptick in violence towards Palestinians, carried out by the Israeli army and settlers.
Because of this, many Palestinians began their harvest two weeks early this year to reduce the risk of violence. However, the violent reality hasn’t prevented some Israelis from taking to social media to present an image of a pleasant and convivial harvest, often with a message to social media users to come and join them. There are dozens of these posts on social media.
In this video, posted by @nehoraichushinski on October 11, 2026, a man gathers olives and watches gazelles as calm music plays. The person who runs this account often appears wearing a military uniform. The caption says: "We are harvesting olives before someone from the village overtakes us… And the gazelles have already come to see what’s left over for them." To display this content from Instagram, you must enable advertisement tracking and audience measurement.
Some settlements even have their own oil mills. Settler Elisha Yered shared a post inviting social media users to come and gather olives to make oil in Itamar, an illegal settlement, and Avihai, an illegal farm. In his caption, he calls on viewers to go and harvest olives "in the nearest orchard, located just behind the gate to your town” and calls on them to “reinforce the Jewish presence on our country’s land”, both nationalistic messages.
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