Reviewed file photo: olive flowers in Kaitouly, Jezzine; illustrative, not the Qrayeh festival — Photo: Jad Issa / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
In Qrayeh, Father Tony Chalhoub dreams of an olive festival to keep farmers on their land
The parish rents its groves to villagers and plans a harvest fair, postponed by the war.
In Qrayeh, a village in South Lebanon, the olive harvest has gone ahead despite the war, Aleteia reported. Father Tony Chalhoub, pastor of the Saint George parish, says farmers’ biggest problem is selling their crop: the Lebanese market is small and exporting to Europe is hard.
The parish owns olive groves and rents plots to villagers, who keep the fruit and the profit. Father Tony has long promoted an Olive Festival near the village’s restored old well, with olive-oil dishes such as manakish and labneh, direct sales by producers, and traditional songs and dances. The war has delayed it. “We are waiting for the situation to improve,” he said, hoping to grow it into a regional, even national, event.
Elsewhere in the south-east, La Croix reports that the Israeli occupation is cutting border villages off from part of their land. Parishes like Qrayeh’s show how the Church helps Christians stay rooted, one harvest at a time.
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