Haniyeh donned a baseball cap as he plucked green olives, while Fayyad wrapped a traditional peasant's scarf around his head and climbed a ladder in the West Bank village of Iraq Burin. Olives are a staple of Palestinian cooking, used for food and oil, and Palestinians are sensitive about their trees, which can live for hundreds of years. The olive tree is also viewed as a symbol of the Palestinians determination to remain in their homeland.Collectively, Palestinians own about 15 million olive trees, according to Salah al-Baba of the Palestinian Agricultural Ministry.