Drowning 220 Olive Trees in Sewage in Deir al Hatab village in Nablus Governorate

Violation: drowning tens of dunums with sewage and ruining 220 olive trees.

Location: Deir al Hatab village.

Date: October 26, 2010.

Violators: Alon Moreh colonists.

Victims:  27 Palestinian farmers from Deir al Hatab.

 

With the beginning of every olive picking season, Israeli colonists residing in the West Bank escalates their aggressions against the Palestinians and their farms. Even the “blessed” olive tree has not been spared of the colonists brutality.

 

The olive trees have been targeted by torching, uprooting, cutting, or spraying it with toxic materials that cause its inevitable death. The current olive picking season has been full of different attacks against the Palestinian fields, especially those located nearby the Israeli colonies.

 

Alon Moreh colonists were more innovative than their peers, launching a totally different attack against the trees. They pumped huge amounts of sewage waters, the product of the colony houses and factories, towards the Palestinian fields in Al Jaghob area in Deir al Hatab. Al Jaghoub is one of the forbidden areas that are unreachable for the Palestinians.

 

Deir al Hatab residents have been suffering from the colony sewage since its establishment. The sewage is pumped into two different, but parallel, paths that cover a distance of 1 km before joining; the sewage flow isolates 50 dunums of the Palestinian farms.

 

In the morning of October 26, 2010, 27 Palestinian farmers were feeling extreme excitement and looking forward to see their lands that they were prevented from seeing for no apparent reason; and that they are only allowed to get to it one day only during a year.

 

The only reason is that the Israelis designated it is a closed “military zone” because it is located nearby Alon Moreh colony. The farmers showed up in the early morning hours, patiently waiting for the moment they are allowed to go into their lands. Surely, the Israeli soldiers kept stalling and did not allow the farmers in before 9 o’clock.

 

The were shocked to see the sewage water produced by the colony soaking more than 120 dunums of olive fields in Wadi al Jaghoub area nearby the Alon Moreh.

 

The sewage caused the destruction of 220 50-year-old olive trees. The stems, branches, and leaves of the trees were dry and dead. It is obvious that the sewage pumping has been taking place for a long time, rendering the soil and trees useless. As usual, the Israeli colonists benefited from the fact that the Palestinians are not allowed into their lands to inflict as much damage as possible.

 

  

 

The sewage turned more than 120 dunums to a bio hazardous area, sewage pools spread around the area defiling more than 140olive trees rendering their produce unusable for human consumption. Besides, the horrible smells spreading in the area. However, the owners whom have not seen their lands for a year were persistent to enjoy being there despite all that.

 

 

 

‘Abdul Kareem Husein stated to an LRC observer: “it is not the first catastrophic attack on olive fields in Deir al Hatab; many other attacks were reported during the last couple of months.Such attack shows the viciousness of the Israelis and shows their hatred to this blessed trees. We informed the Israeli Occupation Police who promised to follow the case; however, the truth is that the Israeli Police and Army encourages the colonists actions by allowing them to spread more mobile houses and establishing a military outpost, near the village, designated for their protection.”

 

The tainted fields were the property of a number of Palestinians including Anis Ismael, Fawwaz Husein, Saleh Husein, Yacoub Husein, ‘Ali Husein, Mustapha Husein, Aref Husein, Mohammad Odeh, Hamed Odeh, Lutfi Odeh, Nawwaf Umran, Ahmad Hammad, Mohammad Hammad, Rajeh Odeh, Irsan Odeh, and Hasan Odeh.

 

The village is located 5.5 km to the east of Nablus city. Its total area is 10875 dunums including 318 dunums of built up area inhabited by 2213 people according to the PBS statistics of 2007. It is surrounded by a number of Palestinian villages including Tallouza, ‘Azmout, Beit Dajan, and Salim. Israeli colonies confiscated more than 390 dunums of its land so far.