Unlikely Survivor in Post-Islamic State Wasteland: Olive Trees

Khorsebat (or Khorsebad) is a village in ruins about 10 kilometers from Mosul. The only business in the area are two men selling olives and olive oil on Nov. 23, 2016 in Khorsebad, Iraq. (H.Murdock/VOA)

Historically symbolic of peace, civilization and honor, olives still grow in areas otherwise devestated by IS militants and wars near Bashiqa, Iraq on Nov. 23, 2016. (H.Murdock/VOA)

Peshmerga soldiers taste olives for sale outside Bashiqa, Iraq on Nov. 23, 2016. (H.Murdock/VOA)

"There's no deity but Allah (Arabic for The God) and Muhammad is His messenger"; "Islamic State will remain, God willing, and expand" are some of the slogans still sprawled on bombed out buildings in recently re-claimed lands near Bashiqa, Iraq on Nov. 23

Villages and towns that have been re-captured by Peshmerga and Iraqi forces surrounding Mosul are almost all in ruins, and many remain uninhabited in Khorsebad, Iraq on Nov. 23, 2016. (H.Murdock/VOA)

Peshmerga soldiers pull out after purchasing olives formerly only available to IS militants, because local people could not afford the luxury under their rule on Nov. 23, 2016. (H.Murdock/VOA)