The olive tree permanent target of Israeli settlers vandalism For Palestinians olive tree is a national symbol of steadfastness and attachment to the land. For the whole world an olive branch is a symbol of peace. However, the olive tree has become a permanent target for Israeli settlers vandalism. The most recent settlers attack against olive trees was in Yatta town in al-Khalil, when settlers from Susia settlement outpost uprooted on Friday (14-3-2014) thirty olive trees planted only four years ago. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had reported that the number of settlers’ attacks targeting olive trees has noticeably increased where approximately 1,429 olive trees have been uprooted during January 2014. Israeli settlers hatred against everything Palestinian is widely expressed in targeting Palestinian olive trees and seedlings on daily basis throughout the West Bank especially that the olive tree reflects thousands of years of Palestinian history and civilization. In this context, the Palestinian researcher in settlement affairs Khaled Maali said that the number of settlers attacks has doubled comparing to the beginning of 2013. In Salfit, 1,000 olive trees belonging to Palestinians were damaged or destroyed by Israeli settlers in January, he clarified. Israeli settlers attacks, including stealing, cutting, torching and uprooting Palestinian olive trees, have been daily escalating, aiming to impose a status quo in Salfit by forcing Palestinians to leave their lands in favor of settlement expansion, he added. For his part, Palestinian official in charge of the settlements file in the northern part of the West Bank Ghassan Douglas confirmed that Israeli attacks against olive trees have been noticeably escalating in the beginning of 2014 particularly in Palestinian villages in southern Nablus. Palestinian farmers in Qasra and Qaryout villages, south of Nablus, have complained of settlers repeated and escalated attacks against their olive trees. Under the protection of Israeli forces, settlers attack Palestinian farmers, prevent them from cultivating their land and harvesting their own crops, one of the farmers said. Palestinian official statistics indicated that hundreds of olive seedlings have been recently uprooted in Turmusayya town, north of Ramallah, by Israeli settlers from Shilo and Adi Aad neighboring settlement outposts. Israeli authorities and settlers have uprooted millions of olive trees in the period from 1976 to 2006 (source: Status of the Environment, Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ), 2007). SOURCE| Palestinian Information Centre Maha
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 11:20:27 +0000
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