Tag: Olive Trees - Page 13 - International Solidarity Movement

Photos: Israeli warplane strikes olive grove north of Gaza

29th October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Rosa Schiano | Gaza, Occupied Palestine

On the morning of Monday, 28 October, the Israeli air forces bombed agricultural land in the north of Gaza City.

The airstrike took place at 9:25 am. An F-16 fighter jet bombed an area planted with olive trees on Mukhabarat Street, near Soudanya.

The bombing created a huge crater. The land belongs to the Shohaber family, which produces oil from the olive trees. The family also owns a trucking company that transports materials from the Karem Shalom checkpoint into the Gaza Strip.

Hazem Shohaber, owner of the land, told me his house was damaged in the bombing. His family has only lived in the new home for three months.

“I was sitting behind the wall around the yard when the bombing took place,” Hazem said. “I was shocked. I was not able to do anything. Thank God my children were not on the land. They were in school. They usually play here.”

Hazem has three sons and three young daughters who were in school at the time of the bombing. The explosion cracked the walls of his house. All its windows, as well as those of adjacent buildings, shattered.

A few meters away from the bomb site is a primary school for girls.

“The girls were in class,” Hazem said. “They fled. The situation was terrible. Teachers could not calm them. The ambulances came. Everyone feared that children had died in the explosion.”

A few meters away from the bomb site is a primary school for girls.

“The girls were in class,” Hazem said. “They fled. The situation was terrible. Teachers could not calm them. The ambulances came. Everyone feared that children had died in the explosion .”

Hazem’s wife offers a cup of coffee. His daughter, Farah, age six, hides under the table, looking shocked. Who knows how many other children will do the same today?

The ceasefire of 21 November 2012 established that the Israeli military forces should “refrain from hitting residents in areas along the border” and “cease hostilities in the Gaza Strip by land, by sea and by air, including raids and targeted killings.”

But Israeli military attacks by land and sea have followed from the day after the ceasefire,, and Israeli warplanes constantly fly over the Gaza Strip. In areas by the Israel-imposed “buffer zone,”Israeli forces have killed seven civilians since the end of the “Pillar of Defense” military offensive. At least 124 others have been wounded.

These attacks against the civilian population of Gaza continue, but are met only with silence by the international community.

Illegal settlers prevent family from leaving their home and attack internationals whilst Israeli soldiers watch

Yesterday, 11th October at 7 pm, a group of settlers of the illegal settlement of Tel Rumeida surrounded the entrance of the Azzeh family property and built a wire fence to block the exit. Young settlers fixed the fence in place using plastic cable ties.

Hashem Azzeh and his family were about to leave the house when they found the gate blocking their way and the settlers confronted them saying they couldn’t go out that way any more. A group of Israeli soldiers were present but did not stop the action.

Two international activists arrived on the scene and were surrounded by settlers and physically and verbally attacked by them, one of them had water thrown over his camera and another was kicked. An international journalist also present was hospitalized after a settler threw bleach into her eyes. After more international activists arrived, they managed to remove the fence. Despite multiple appeals to the Israeli soldiers to prevent the settler violence by both the Azzeh family and the international activists, they took no action. Jewish Defense League leader Baruch Marzel, was left free to verbally attack Hashem Azzeh.

The Azzeh family has long been a target of settler intimidation and harassment. Last Thursday during the night settlers trespassed on the Azzeh family property and stole about 400 Kilos of olives from 40 olive trees. Hashem Azzeh had been prevented from starting his olive harvest pending a permit from the Israeli Civil Administration. Four days after his olive trees had been raided, he was suddenly informed by the administration that he should start his harvest immediately, but unfortunately he doesn’t have any olive trees left.

Settlers steal olives from 110+ trees in Abu Huwar

7th of October | International Solidarity Movement, Team Nablus | Deir Sharaf, Occupied Palestine

Some trees were left completely destroyed in Deir Sharaf, Palestine.

On the 5th of October, local farmers discovered that the olives from more than one hundred trees had been stolen, and that another ten trees had been damaged or destroyed. Abu Huwar farm, belonging to Yasser Fuqaha, Sidqi Fukaha, Mustafa Fuqaha and other farmers from the Meri family.

A local factory worker reported that he had seen two buses loaded with settlers pull up and unload next to the farm, in the night between the 3rd and 4th of October. About 150 metres into the field the olives had been swiftly picked from the trees, leaving small amounts on the tops, and the damaged trees bore markings from sharp-edged cutting tools. Yasser Fuqaha reported that the amount stolen from him represented about three quarters of his expected total yield, a devastating blow to his income. This attack precipitated the start of the olive harvesting season, and puts pressure on the local farmers to start harvesting the olives before they have reached optimal ripeness.

Abu Huwar has not had an easy run over the years. The local Palestinian farmers reported that, in 1996, the part of the olive grove that was on the other side of the hilltop (itself the location of an illegal settlement) had been completely uprooted by radical settlers and moved into various places on the other side of the 1967 Israeli border. Also, in the period 2000-2008, the farm and surrounding farmlands had been closed off from Palestinians by the Israeli military.

A national symbol, the olive tree represents the most essential source of income and sustenance for many Palestinians. The destruction of olive trees and theft of its yields is a serious crime and a huge loss for the local farmers.

48 young olive trees destroyed in South Hebron Hills

4th October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Operation Dove | Qawawis, Occupied Palestine

The destroyed olive trees (Photo by Operation Dove).

Yesterday morning, 3rd October, Palestinians discovered 48 olive trees destroyed alongside bypass road 317 near the South Hebron Hills area village of Qawawis.

The olive tree grove belongs to Ali Shetat from Qawawis and had been planted six years ago. At 10 am yesterday morning the owners, several internationals and B’tselem staff members gathered near the destroyed trees, waiting for the police. After 20 minutes the Israeli police and army arrived on the scene and documented the incident.

On May 10, 62 olive trees were cut during the night in a field next to bypass road 317, near the village of At Tuwani. On a small wall near the olive grove the slogan “price tag for those who steal” was found. The “price tag policy” (Hebrew: מדיניות תג מחיר) is, according to B’tselem, the name given to “acts of random violence aimed at the Palestinian population and Israeli security forces” by radical Israeli settlers.

The number of Palestinian-owned trees uprooted and damaged in the South Hebron Hills area from the beginning of 2013 now stands at 139. This is a substantial increase over 2012, when 101 olive trees were damaged.

Just in the last two months and right before the olive harvest season, 22 olive trees were destroyed in this area.

Olive trees are an essential resource for the Palestinian community in the South Hebron Hills area, and their damage causes serious economic loss.

Palestinians celebrate the reclaiming of their land

4th October 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus Team | Burqa, Occupied Palestine

An olive tree being planted on the newly reclaimed land

On Thursday the 3rd of October, a large group numbering around a 100 people, consisting mainly of Palestinians from the village of Burqa and the surrounding areas, as well as a smaller contingent of international activists and the press, celebrated the Palestinians’ reclamation of their land by planting olive trees on the ground of the former illegal settlement Homesh, situated on a hilltop next to the village.

Upon arriving at the site, there was an initial briefing encompassing both a short history of the area, statements made by the locals concerning their grievances over the many types of harassment that had originated from the settlement over the years, as well as their hopes for the future usage of the land. This was then followed by the planting of around 40 olive trees in the area, an act which everyone present was invited to share and assist with.

The illegal settlement of Homesh was ordered to be evacuated by the Israeli state in 2005. Despite the evacuation of the illegal settlement, the land itself was not returned to its rightful owners. As part of the Disengagement Plan, it was declared a closed military zone. This ruling was heavily enforced for Palestinians, meaning that they could not enter the hilltop, but periodically it has been blatantly overlooked with regards to Israeli settlers celebrating holy days and other events on this Palestinian land. Furthermore, in addition to reports of continued Palestinian harassment by illegal settlers, petitions had been made by Israelis to re-build the settlement since its evacuation.

In spite of the settlement being established contrary to international law, the practical return of the land was still dependent upon a formal petition to the Israeli judicial system. The legal proceedings were thus initiated in 2010 and reached the Supreme Court by the end of the year, finally terminating in the annulment of the military zone by 2013. In 2008, pre-empting the petition and final verdict, Palestinians along with Internationals tried to reach the hilltop to plant olive trees on the land, but were violently stopped by the Israeli army, who fired stun grenades and tear gas canisters in its attempts to end the demonstration.

The planting of the olive trees was more than a symbolic act, commemorating and celebrating their final victory over the illegal settlement. The growing of the trees also marks the return to using the land for Palestinian agricultural activity.