Israeli colonists Burn Hundreds of Trees and Tens of Agricultural Dunums in Nablus and Tulkarem Governorates

Israeli colonists Burn Hundreds of Trees and Tens of Agricultural Dunums in Nablus and Tulkarem Governorates
Introduction:
The olive tree  is considered to be one of the most important pillars of the Palestinian economy and culture. The Palestinian care of the tree has intensified during the years of the Second Intifada as it was seen as a viable alternative economic resource especially in light of the on-going Israeli siege and closure. Despite of all the challenges, destruction and uprooting campaigns, the olive tree stayed steadfast atop the Palestinian mountains and hills as a symbol of Palestinian resilience in the face of the brutal Israeli occupation.
In turn, Israeli occupation forces and colonists realize the importance of the olive tree to its Palestinian owners and, as such, tried to destroy and burn the largest number of this blessed tree as a mean to obliterate the eternal tie between the Palestinian and his land.
 
The summer season of each year witnesses a wave of fires set by colonists and the Israeli occupation forces in Palestinian lands with the deliberate goal of pushingforcing Palestinians off of their lands; Israeli forces set these fires usually through firing light flares into Palestinian field which causes the dry weeds to be engulfed in fire. As for the colonists, they form gangs of arsonists whose main goal is to set the largest number of fires in Palestinian olive tree and wheat fields. It is worth pointing out that Palestinian farmers wait patiently for the summer season as to harvest their crops which they worked very hard to reap.
 
The summer season of 2010 was no different than the previous summers as a large number of the villages and towns of the northern West Bank witnessed a wave of arsons that caused a financial disaster to the Palestinians owning the targeted fields. The colonists targeted the Palestinian lands close to their colonies andor outposts while Israeli occupation soldiers prevented Palestinians from putting out the fires and delayed them from reaching it under the pretext of safeguarding the Israeli colonies. In turn, the fires spread beyond the control of the Palestinians and caused irrecoverable damages to their fields.
 
Massive Losses Caused by Colonists Under the Protection of Israeli Occupation Forces:
Israeli colonists went on a rampage in the northern parts of the West Bank throughout the summer months (May, June and July) of 2010. All told, 425 olive trees, 35 almond trees, 17 cactuses, 7 fig trees, 16 grapevines, 4 apricot trees and 24 peach trees were damaged andor burnt. In addition, 50 dunums were burnt including 24 planted with wheat, 10 dunums planted with barely and 16 dunums planted with other crops. The affected lands belong to 207 Palestinian farmers.
 
Attacking Palestinians and their Properties in Order to “Get Closer to God”:   
The attacks and violence carried out by the Israeli colonists against Palestinian property and persons stem from the indoctrination process implemented in the religious schools attended by these colonists. The colony of Yitzhar has one of these famous schools which issued a religious decree that called for the killing of Palestinians as a way to get closer to God. As such, all of the riots, vandalism, arsons and murder are all acts “accepted by God”. These acts usually come in waves and are widespread causing carnage, misery and devastation to the victims of such inhumane acts.   
 
The following table lists all of the incidents of arson and fires that were instigated by the Israeli colonists and occupation forces in the northern parts of the West Bank over the summer months of 2010. The information was provided by the Nablus Directorate of Agriculture in addition to field work by the Center.  
 
No
Village
Location
Perpetrators
Date
Damages
Affected Farmers
1
Azmout – Nablus
Parcel 7 Piece 45
Light flares fired by occupation forces
June 9th, 2010
20 olive trees
11
2
Azmout –Nablus
Parcel 7 Piece 38
Light flare fired by occupation forces
June 9th, 2010
30 olive trees
9
3
Kufr Qallil – Nablus
Parcel 6
Yitzhar colonists
June 7th, 2010
40 olive trees, 25 almond trees, 2 beehives and 10 cactus trees.
8
4
Kufr Qallil – Nablus
Parcel 7 Pieces 80, 84, 106.
Yitzhar colonists
June 7th, 2010
40 olive, 10 almond, 7 fig, 50 grape vines, 4 peach and 7 cactus trees.
13
5
Til – Nablus
Parcel 16 Piece 45
Gil’ad Zoher colonial outpost
June 7th, 2010
10 dunums of barley and 10 dunums of wheat
 
6
Iraq Burin – Nablus
Parcel 1
Sound and teargas bombs fired by occupation forces
June 18th, 2010
2 dunums of wheat.
1 farmer
7
Asira Al Qiblia – Nablus
Parcel 3 in the area of Al Amayer and Al Shi’eb.
Yitzhar colonists
June 2nd, 2010
177 dunums planted with olive trees and crops
35 farmers
8
Deir Sharaf – Nablus
Parcel 4 near Shevi Shomron checkpoint
Light flares fired by occupation forces.
June 13th, 2010
14 dunums used for grazing.
3 farmers
9
Barqa – Nablus
The main road
Light flares fired by occupation forces.
May 25th and June 13th, 2010.
7 dunums
4 farmers
10
Burin – Nablus
South region – the area of Marah Al Sheikh Khalil
Yitzhar colonists
June 7th, 2010
45 dunums planted with olive trees
13
11
Burin – Nablus
Khallet Al Sawari
Barakha colonists
7th of July, 2010
250 olive and 24 almond trees and 11 grapevines
9
12
Far’ata – Qalqilia
Parcel 15 Piece 10 in the area of Al Wad Al Shami
Gil’ad Zoher colonial outpost
June 11th, 2010
11 dunums planted with olive trees and 12 dunums planted with wheat.
18
13
Al Lubban Al Sharqi – Nablus
The area od Wadi Al Oyoon
Ma’ale elbona colonists
July 9th, 2010
6 dunums planted with olive trees
2
14
Einabous – Nablus
North of the village
Yitzhar colonists
June 7th, 2010
49 dunums planted with olive trees and 14 dunums used for grazing and 16 dunums planted with vegetables
41
15
Orief – Nablus
The area of al Harayeq, north of the village
Yitzhar colonists
June 7th, 2010
53 dunums planted with olive trees and 21 dunums of grazing lands
36
16
Kufr Al Lubbad – Tulkarem
The main road
Light flares fired by occupation forces
July 12th, 2010
13 dunums of grazing lands
4
 
The following are some fire scenes taken by the Palestinian Ministry of Agriculture: 
 
Tel Village
Burin Village

AzmoutVillage


Urif Village

 

Einabus lands

 
Iraq Burin
 
 
  
 

  Prepared by
The Land Research Center
LRC

Categories: Settlers Attacks