Olive Trees Destroyed By Settlers In South Hebron Hills

[Purveyor]

Ta’ayush activists found 10 mature olive trees mangled on Saturday in an olive grove belonging to Palestinians from the village of at-Tuwani, in the South Hebron Hills. The settlers are from the illegal outpost of Havat Maon, a place known for settler violence and harassment.

This 3-minute video taken by an Israeli Ta’ayush activist speaks for itself. It surveys the devastation caused to an entire grove of olive trees, which constitutes the livelihood of the Palestinian residents of the area. Such an act is not only an intentional blow to their income and basic welfare, but a total lack of respect for the land and the life that grows on the land – the land that Jewish settlers and the state claim is so important and holy to them. Anyone familiar with Palestinian culture knows that destroying an olive tree is like destroying a human life.

According to a Ta’ayush activist who is regularly in the area and is involved in the legal cases against settlers, since the beginning of 2012, over 100 olive trees have been destroyed, just in the area of Havat Maon.

Over the years there have been countless cases of attacks by Havat Maon settlers on Palestinians, Israeli activists and Palestinian property, such as olive trees and sheep. I have seen children with my own eyes, no older than 8 or 9, who spend their Saturdays cursing at Palestinian children who pass by and even throw rocks, as their parents stand around and look on. This is the area where in 2004, IDF soldiers were instructed to escort Palestinian children on their way to school because of repeated settler attacks resulting in serious injuries.

MORE...

http://972mag.com/watch-olive-trees-destroyed-by-settlers-in-south-hebron-hills/52400/

[hollysmom]

1. this has been happening for so long and is really a form of genocide

You don't plant olive trees for your children you plant them for your grandchildren. It i a way of driving the Palestinians out of the area. It is a deliberate act

I am not going to link this because it is from a garden brochure I have at home

Olive Tree Cultivation & Care - The olive tree life cycle is as follows. From 0 to 7 years of age the tree is unproductive. From 7 to 30 years of age the tree grows with a constant increase in productivity. From 35 to 150 years the tree reaches maturity and full production. At 150 years the olive tree starts aging with a remarkable productivity for centuries and sometimes for thousands of years.

[LeftishBrit]

2. It is an awful thing to do, but hardly 'genocide'

[hollysmom]

3. Well, here is how I meant it

It is done to drive the families from their land. And when they are driven away, they no longer have a sustainable life style,. They have to live off hand outs - so from farmers to homeless beggers.

If it is olive trees, it is probably land that has been in the family for generations where the trees were nurtured as an investment in their family.

I guess I should explain in detail what I mean, but I never think it is so hard to see. Just living in the world in my own mind.

[holdencaufield]

4. Technically speaking -- it's "Arbourcide" NT

Last edited Mon Aug 6, 2012, 07:53 PM - Edit history (1)

[Swede]

6. I wonder what you call launching hundreds of rockets into civilian populations?

This is a detailed list of Palestinian rocket and mortar attacks on Israel in 2012 from the Gaza Strip.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel,_2012

[azurnoir]

7. The olive trees are in the West Bank

the rockets are coming from Gaza, perhaps you think rockets from Gaza justify what the settlers do in the West Bank? If not what was the point of your post should a list of Israeli air strikes and incursions in to Gaza with an accompanying casualties including Palestinian children be posted albeit I'm not too sure if wiki keeps such a list separately

[Ken Burch]

8. These are West Bank trees. The people who raised them had nothing to do with the missiles in Gaza

n/t.

[holdencaufield]

11. Not sure what this brochure is talking about

Yes -- it's very true that olive trees are productive longer than any other known variety of fruit tree. Carbon-dated olive trees still produce after 2,000 years.

However, based on my own experience, we have more than 50 olive trees on my father's farm, most olive trees become productive after four years and no variety I'm familiar with takes more than 12 years to bear commercial quantities of fruit.

Plant them for your grandchildren?

[hollysmom]

13. from the Bertolli web site

http://www.bertolli.com/canadese-e/olive_cae.asp?country=cae&lang=en

Olive trees have an incredibly long life span and reach maturity after 20 years. Between 35 and 150 years of age the tree produces the best olives. It is not uncommon for a tree to live up to 200 years. After the trunk disappears, a new shoot begins to grow again. This is why an olive tree seems eternal and continually "renewing".

Now the one I read earlier today said the best fruit was between 75 and 300 years, and another, the older the tree, the more prolific.

From perusing the grower sites, apparently there is no fruit for the first 7 years or so, so in this country people buy trees of that age. I have lived in my property for so long, I have been growing replacement trees from acorns, heh, but this is not normal for the U.S. i.e. if I notice a damaged tree, I start growing a replacement for the future, and replace trees that have either been cut or damaged by storms.

About the comment about planting for the grandchildren, that was from my old Italian neighbor, sadly it is too cold here to grow olives, .

[Ken Burch]

9. This song expresses what the olive tree means to Palestinians:

[holdencaufield]

10. I thought only Joan Baez sang songs to trees ... NT

[Ken Burch]

12. It's not a song TO a tree

it's a song about what those trees mean.

The point of destroying the trees is to immiserate Palestinians-and there's little evidence that anyone who had their trees destroyed or replanted on an illegal settlement was involved in terrorism.

It's simply something that shouldn't be done.