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
