Tag: Olive Trees - Page 17 - International Solidarity Movement

Olive tree planting in the village of Atuf, Jordan Valley

8th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Atuf, Jordan Valley, Occupied Palestine

By Team Nablus

On Monday 8 April the village of Atuf in the Jordan Valley, planted olive trees on their land accompanied by solidarity activists. The group planted twenty-five trees, dedicating them to prisoners and international activists killed by the Israeli authorities.

Palestinian activists planting an olive tree (Photo by ISM)

Just prior to the solidarity groups arrival the village reported that the army had come to the village taking pictures and examining maps. This is a regular occurrence for the village which is in the Jordan Valley, under full Israeli military control, and much of their land has been confiscated or they are forbidden to access it.

The village of Tamoun, just next door to Atuf once had 96,000 dunums but now have access to only 36,000. The land is taken by the Army for alleged security or military reasons and the illegal Israeli settlements of Begalot and Roi are both on stolen land from Atuf and Tamoun.

In addition to land confiscation the villages regularly suffer Army incursions and military activity. Once a week, since November 2012, villagers from Ras Ahmar, adjacent to Atuf and a mainly Bedouin population, are forced out of their homes from 4am until 5pm to allow the Israeli Army to undertake military training on their land. Villagers reported they use live ammunition and even fire rockets during this period. Ras Ahmar is home to 170 people, 22 families. With nowhere else to go they are forced from their beds to sit all day, in all weathers, until they are allowed to return.

Atuf, Tamoun and Ras Ahmar and villages like them are in the heart of the Jordan Valley, an area Israel is seeking to annex due to its rich resources and access to the water supply. Under direct Israeli control, Area C under the Oslo Accords, the Israeli authorities have been undertaking a systematic programme of ethnic cleansing, with many villages subject to demolition orders and regular army intimidation. In addition to this Israel seeks to extend its Apartheid Wall through the area, thus annexing the Jordan Valley, separating villages and farmers from their land, and effectively imprisoning a vastly reduced area of the West Bank.

Villagers from Aruf planting olive trees on their land (Photo by ISM) — Villagers from Atuf planting olive trees on their land (Photo by ISM)

Palestinian and international activists waving Palestinian flags (Photo by ISM)

Military order forcing Bedouin population out of their homes (Photo by ISM)

Israeli soldiers doing military training on Ras Ahmar's land (Photo by ISM) — Israeli soldiers doing military training on Ras Ahmar’s land (Photo by ISM)

Qusin villagers prevented from planting olive trees on their land by Israeli army

6th April 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Qusin, Nablus, Occupied Palestine

By Team Nablus

On Saturday 6 April villagers from Qusin, east of Nablus, accompanied by international and solidarity activists attempted to plant olive trees on land denied access to them by the Israeli Army. After successfully planting several trees, and proceeding closer to the military road that cuts through Palestinians lands, the Israeli Army prevented the group from planting any further trees and violently detained one person, dragging them across rocks.

Planting trees in Qusin (Photo by ISM) — Activists planting olive trees in Qusin (Photo by ISM)

The group were 40 strong and soguht to plant 50 olive trees on land near a military road just outside the village. After successfully planting several trees, which they dedicated to Palestinian prisoners killed by the Israeli authorities and international solidarity activists, in an area of land someway back from the road, the group proceeded towards the land next to the road.

Ten Israeli army soldiers and border police, accompanied by settler security, then approached the group, having just observed up to that point, and prevented farmers from planting the remaining trees. One person was violently detained, after being dragged across rocks and made to sit in the midday sun, despite protests by other members of the group. The soldiers also confiscated farm tools from the group. The person was later released and the tools were returned after protests from fellow group members.

The village of Qusin has been suffering as a result of wide scale land confiscation by the Israeli occupation. This was their fifth action, previous actions related to a quarry located on Palestinian land, where local illegal settlements are dumping rubbish some of which may be toxic according to samples of labels taken from the scene.

Qusin village is in Area B (Palestinian civilian control and Israeli military control), however the land the villagers attempted to access was in Area C, under full Israeli military control. This is as a result of the Oslo Accords and effectively divides the West Bank up into Bantustans, with the majority of the land under full Israeli military control and access to the land is regularly denied to farmers by the army.

Israeli soldiers preventing villagers from plating olive trees on their lands (Photo ISM)

Israeli forces on Palestinian land (Photo by ISM)

Farmers attacked by Israeli army and settlers, preventing them from planting olive trees in memory of Rachel Corrie

12th March 2013 International Solidarity Movement, Occupied Palestine

By Lisa Marchant

Olive tree with image of Rachel Corrie being planted in Asira (Photo by ISM)

Farmers peacefully planting olive trees in the land of Asira al Qiblya were today disrupted by Israeli soldiers who halted the planting. The presence of Palestinians on their own land also attracted the attention of illegal settlers from the nearby settlement of Yizhar, leading to them attacking Palestinians farmers and volunteers, throwing and catapulting stones. The army moved immediately to protect the attackers, shooting tear gas and rubber bullets at Palestinians.

The olive trees were being planted in the vicinity of an Israeli military tower, recently built on a hill above Asira al Qiblya. Because of this, soldiers hassled farmers throughout the day, with an escalation of hostility mid-morning, when around 20 soldiers approached and demanded that farmers should stop planting trees and leave the land, despite the fact that the Palestinian owner of the land notified them that he wished to continue farming. The commander advised that the village should contact the Israeli district coordination office (DCO) to request permission – if permission was granted, he intimated, then the farmers would be allowed to access their land unhindered.

However, the villagers of Asira al Qiblya know this not to be the case. Just last week, access was requested and granted for three days through the DCO – despite this, a shepherd grazing his herd on the land during this “permitted time” was ordered to leave the land and was severely beaten by soldiers. It is clear that the outcome for villagers is the same whether permission is granted by Israel or not.

After a long confrontation with soldiers, farmers moved further down the hill to continue planting in an area arbitrarily deemed acceptable by the Israeli commander. At this point, around twenty masked settlers from Yizhar arrived and proceeded to attack the farmers from their vantage point higher up the hill – throwing stones by hand and with slingshots. Yizhar settlement is widely considered one of the most violent settlements in the West Bank, and all villages in its vicinity face regular attacks.

Yizhar settlers attacking farmers (Photo by IWPS)

Palestinian youths moved to fend off the settler attack, but the Israeli army intervened on behalf of the attackers, shooting tear gas and rubber bullets at the villagers of Asira, until both the Palestinian villagers and settlers left the area. No injuries or arrests were reported.

At the end of the day only around ten olive trees had been planted due to interruptions from the army and settlers – farmers were also not optimistic that the young trees would be allowed to remain on their land and suspected that either the army or settlers would destroy them. However, they refuse to relinquish access to their land despite these setbacks and will continue planting trees in the area.

The olive trees planted today were donated by the International Solidarity Movement to replace Palestinian trees destroyed by Israeli forces and settlers during previous years – a common occurrence throughout the year. They were planted in memory of ISM activist Rachel Corrie as the tenth anniversary of her death approaches. She was crushed to death with an Israeli army bulldozer in Gaza in 2003 whilst protesting non-violently in solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Resist the land grab: donate a tree

29 January 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus, Occupied Palestine

For more than a decade the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) has supported Palestinians during the olive harvest, a task which continues to be challenging.

We regularly support farmers by accompanying them to fields and planting olive trees in areas of high risk of settler attacks and army harassment. As part of our continuous support to the grassroots struggle, we are going to plant olive trees in the villages around Nablus, starting now. For this, we need your support.

Hundreds of thousands of olive trees are located near illegal Israeli colonial settlements, making the trees as well as the farmers a sure target for settler violence. On average, around 10,000 trees are destroyed each year. Before the olive harvest had began in 2012, farmers had to deal with the devastating effects of arson. According to the United Nations, more than 870 trees were vandalised in the first week of October’s harvest.

Working near settlements is much more than a source of livelihood: it is a form of non-violent resistance. Planting and harvesting olives is a continuous affirmation of Palestinians’ historical, cultural and economic connection to their lands and a rejection of Israeli efforts to seize them.

Villages around Nablus have seen an increased level of violence and harassment by settlers and the army. ISM activists in Nablus have spent recent months working in villages around Yizhar, the most violent settlement in the West Bank. The village of Urif has been under regular attacks by settlers and army, including settler attacks around the school which is located on the very edge of the village. Madama has also seen some extremely violent scenes involving shepherds being assaulted whilst working their lands around the settlement. Asira, another village which surrounds Yizhar, has just been the victim of yet another outrageous land grab. The village of Burin gets attacked from settlements on two sides. We want to help these villages resist by planting olive trees around the most dangerous land around Yizhar settlement.

We want to start by planting around 1000 olive trees and for this we urgently need your help. An olive tree costs $4 to $11, depending on it’s size (the bigger the tree the sooner olives can be harvested). The more money we can raise, the more and bigger olive trees we will be able to plant. Any amount you can donate helps. Please donate now so that we can start start planting. All funds raised will be used entirely for the purchase of new trees.

Please help spread the word. Join the event on Facebook.

Olive planting in Madama as part of international day of action

9 February 2013 | International Solidarity Movement, Nablus, Occupied Palestine

Today was the International Day of Action for the Boycott of Israeli Agricultural Products, with corresponding actions all around the world. ISM-Nablus decided to show support for the people of the village of Madama by planting olive trees together with activists from the Yamen Culture and Social Center and farmers from the village.

Madama is a village of about 644 hectares and a population of 2500 people. Madama is located next to Yizhar, has been the frequent target of attacks by the settlement, including cutting down hundreds of trees and beating farmers. Settlers have fired upon villagers and, since 2011, three people have been killed. As is common throughout the West Bank, the settlement has seized lands from nearby villages, up to 100 hectares, and continues to do so. One of the most horrific stories coming out of Madama recently is that of the Nasser family who are being forced off their land near Yizhar.

Today a group of seven international activists joined the villagers of Madama to plant trees. The action was a success! In just a few hours the team planted the whole area they intended too. Of course, this triggered a visit by the Israeli Occupation Force, although today they chose not to interveen.