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- 14 jan 2012
Jewish settlers uproot very old olive trees near Salfit
SALFIT, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers on Friday destroyed 100 very old olive trees, amongst them olive trees that locals believe to have existed since Roman times, between the villages of Jammain and Yasuf, causing rage amongst the local population.
Local sources said that settlers from Taffouh settlement cut down olive trees in the Mafqa’a neighborhood near Yasuf.
The sources said that one of the settlers of Taffouh who owns more than a hundred heads of sheep and who is known in the area as the shepherd of Taffouh is a constant source of aggression against olive trees in the area and he is thought to have incited other settlers to destroy those trees.
The sources said that the destruction of olive trees is part of the settlers’ plans to arrogate those lands after failing to stop the Palestinian farmers from tending their land.
http://fwd4.me/0kAs
Settlers Cut More Than 100 Olive Trees Near Salfit
A number of fundamentalist Israeli settlers cut on Friday more than 100 Palestinian Olive trees, including some ancient Roman trees that belong to residents of Yasouf and Jam’een towns, near the central Went Bank district of Salfit.
Local sources reported that the settlers came from the Tapoah illegal settlement, and started cutting the trees that are located in Al-Mafqa’a area, near Yasouf.
The sources specifically blamed one settler who owns more than 100 sheep, as he repeatedly harassed the residents and is believed to be behind incitement that led to the attack.
The settlers are attacking Palestinian orchards and lands in that area in an attempt to force the Palestinians out, so that they can expand the settlement.
Earlier on Friday, settlers attacked and punched two Palestinian youth in the southern West Bank city of Hebron. Soldiers, stationed at the area, kidnapped the two Palestinians; the settlers were not even detained.
http://www.imemc.org/article/62833 22 jan 2012, 11:25 , Respect -
Maria 20 jan 2012
OCHA says 'Legalizing' Settlement Outposts Can Provoke Violence
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) – The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in the occupied Palestinian Territory (OCHA) strongly criticized Friday Israeli attempt to give legal status to settlement outposts built in the West Bank without government authorization saying this move may provoke violence.
It said in its Protection of Civilians weekly report that many such outposts are located on private Palestinian land “forcibly taken over” by Israeli settlers.
“While the recent dismantlement of structures in settlement outposts is welcome, there are concerns over new initiatives aimed at ‘legalizing’ these settlement outposts under Israeli law that are being currently promoted, and partially implemented, both by the Israeli government and at the Knesset,” it said.
“These attempts to ‘legalize’ outposts reinforce an atmosphere of impunity and are likely to encourage further violence and encroachment on Palestinian land,” said OCHA.
It said in the report that Israeli forces and settlers injured 17 Palestinians throughout the West Bank during the past week.
Eight of the Palestinians sustained injuries in clashes with Israeli forces during raids on the village of Azzun, in the Qalqiliya area, and Madama in the Nablus region.
Another four were injured in clashes during a weekly demonstration against the closure of the main entrance to Kafr Qaddum village, also near Qalqiliya.
Israeli settlers physically assaulted and injured two Palestinians in Hebron and stoned and injured another man near Shilo settlement in the Ramallah region, said the report.
Settlers also vandalized 40 olive trees belonging to Palestinians near Kfar Tappuah settlement; stoned or set on fire eight Palestinian vehicles in the Salfit, Nablus, Ramallah and Hebron governorates; and wrote graffiti on the walls of a mosque in Deir Istiya, Salfit area.
“These incidents took place in the context of the ‘price tag’ strategy, after the Israeli authorities demolished 10 structures in an outpost near Kiryat Arba’ Israeli settlement on 11 January,” said OCHA.
The international humanitarian organization said the Israeli authorities had also demolished 12 Palestinian-owned structures, nine of which were related to a source of livelihood for Palestinian families, due to the lack of Israeli-issued building permits.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18749 3 feb 2012, 21:36 , Respect -
Maria 3 febr 2012
Americans to Run Across Palestine to Encourage Fair Trade
RAMALLAH, (WAFA) – A group of Americans from the State of Michigan will embark on Saturday on a 200-kilometer run across Palestine to raise funds and awareness for fair trade olive growers in Palestine, according to press release.
The runners will start their activity from Hebron in the southern edge of the West Bank and run across Palestine to the north in five days.
Sponsored by the Palestinian Fair Trade Association, the goal of this run is to encourage fair trade between West Bank farmers and their American counterparts as well as to raise awareness of the problems facing Palestinian farmers under Israeli occupation.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18887
About the Run Across Palestine
Run Across Palestine from Stone Hut Studios on Vimeo.
On The Ground, in partnership with the Palestinian Fair Trade Association, is thrilled to announce a new, philanthropic event, The Run Across Palestine, (RAP) for February 2012. The event will raise funds and awareness for the fair trade olive farmers of Palestine.
Click here for our map & itinerary, meet our team of runners and media, see the latest updates right here and be sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Funds raised from RAP will have several immediate impacts including purchasing and planting thousands of olive trees, and provide scholarships for the children of Palestinian olive farmers. All this is designed to reestablish sustainable olive growing practices in a place who’s history, economy, culture, and identity is rooted in the ancient olive tree.
The Run Across Palestine will use the same model that On The Ground developed for the successful Run Across Ethiopia.In 2011, On the Ground organizedthe Run Across Ethiopia – a multi-stage 250 mile running expedition which raised over $200,000 to build 3 schoolsand multiple education projects in farming communities in Ethiopia.
During the next few months, a team of endurance runners will be selected. These dedicated athletes will each be tasked with raising part of the $100,000 target of the RAP before the run begins.
The run will span the West Bank of the Palestinian Territories, from Hebron to Jenin. Participants will run from one olive growing community to another, and sleep on farms at night, using established relationships with the Palestinian Fair Trade Association, and other organizations involved with the immediate survival of farm communities.
The setting for the run is the birthplace and confluence of many of the world’s religions. Many people only know this geographical area of the world as an ongoing media sidebar to the decades of struggle for peace in the Middle East. The run seeks to transcend the daily news stories and address the the visible and hidden impacts from the loss of traditional farmlands for the individual farmers and their families.
A media team will accompany the runners, and transmit daily multimedia reports, to schools, community groups and individuals throughout the world.Olive trees have been used to represent peace for thousands of years. The Palestinian Fair Trade Association has a statement that sums up the project, “At its heart, Fair Trade is about connecting people across the Globe in a spirit of equity, trust and openness.”
This is the foundation of our work here at On The Ground, and the Run Across Palestine will seek to enlist the support of the world community for these hard-working farmers.
Join On The Ground in this incredible journey. You can do this by volunteering your time on the project, helping us to fundraise, donating to the project, or by creating an event in your community.
• Help us fundraise for RAP!
• Donate to this project!
• Learn about the trees program and scholarship program
• Hear some of the olive farmers stories
• Become a sponsor for RAP
http://onthegroundglobal.org/projects/run-across-palestine/about/...Read more 5 feb 2012, 19:25 , Respect -
Maria 5 febr 2012
Witnesses: Israeli forces uproot olive trees in Qalqiliya village
QALQILIYA (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces uprooted olive trees in the village of Kafr Qaddum, east of Qalqiliya, on Sunday.
Witnesses told Ma'an that tanks and soldiers arrived in the village and began digging up land to order to expand the nearby Israeli settlement of Qedumim.
Dozens of villagers tried to stop military forces from destroying their land, but were held back by soldiers.
Israeli forces clamped down on a weekly non-violent demonstration on Friday in the Qalqiliya village.
On Jan. 30, Israeli forces detained five men from the village, locals told Ma'an.
Kafr Qaddum holds a weekly protest against the decade-long closure of the area's main entrance.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458030 7 feb 2012, 11:03 , Respect -
Maria 7 febr 2012
EU Helps Olive Farmers with €2.2 million program
JERUSALEM, (WAFA) - The European Union (EU) has launched a €2.2 million program to support farmers dealing with olive and olive oil production in the occupied Palestinian territory including the Israeli-controlled Area C of the West Bank, an EU press release said Tuesday.
The project will improve the livelihood and food security of poor rural families by supporting both the institutional development of the Ministry of Agriculture in creating a business-conducive environment in the sector and producers along the whole olive and olive oil value chain.
At the institutional level the project will support all relevant public and private bodies in order to facilitate private investment. On the ground the project will provide technical assistance to farmers to overcome current production limitations, increase the availability and improve the management of water, and enhance the processing of the olive oil.
The three-year project is in line with the recently approved Palestinian Agriculture Sector Strategy and is implemented by Oxfam GB and PARC/ADA, said the press release.
“Through our continuous work with Palestinian farmers, we have witnessed a true improvement in their production capacity regardless of the difficulties they face. The results achieved so far are rewarding and Palestinian olive oil has reached new markets across the world,” said John Gatt-Rutter, acting EU representative.
This new EU investment in the sector builds on previous initiatives and is in line with the national strategy for the development of agriculture as well as with other donors’ interventions.
Previously, Oxfam with EU support worked with 31 cooperatives/producer groups (approximately 2500 individuals including almost 900 women) to increase the productivity of their orchards and quality of their olive oil and connect the farmers to external markets, particularly Fair Trade markets.
Previously the Agricultural Development Association (ADA/PARC), co-funded by the EU, worked to increase the income of small olive producers and processors in vulnerable rural areas; this improved the income and standards of living for 1240 small olive producers within 13 - both newly established and existing - organic certified cooperatives and processors and 7 mills.
In addition, the Palestinian farmers’ production capacity increased to reach around 730 tons of organic olive oil which has been marketed to the local and international markets.
Agriculture is an important sector of the Palestinian economy due to its high share of GDP, its contribution to total exports, and as provider of both long-term and temporary employment.
Agriculture remains a vehicle for improving food security, driving economic growth, and – significantly – can be a shock absorber for the population in times of crisis.
Within the sector, olive and olive oil production is among the most important. Olive groves represent more than half the total cultivated land in the occupied Palestinian territory, with approximately 10 million trees, and a potential for export to international markets.
The EU has consistently been supporting Palestinian rural development – with particular attention to the most vulnerable population. The olive oil sub-sector, the treatment of waste water for reuse in agriculture and the livestock sector are among the main areas of intervention.
In the coming years - through its food security program - the EU will invest € 16 million in these areas.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18920
Israeli Forces Uproot Olive Trees North of Hebron
HEBRON, (WAFA) – Israeli forces Tuesday uprooted more than 25 Olive trees planted a week ago during a solidarity campaign with Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, according to local activist.
Media spokesman of the popular committee against the Wall and Settlements, Yoused Abu Maria told WAFA that Israeli soldiers uprooted Olive trees that were planted last week in Khallet al-Kutli, an area north of Karmei Tzur.
Israeli soldiers and settlers set up new caravans in confiscated land belonging to Palestinians inside Karmei Tzur, north of Beit Ummar.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=18917
Farmers, internationals plant olive trees near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma'an) -- Local farmers and international volunteers planted olive trees in the Bethlehem village of al-Khader on Monday as part of an ongoing advocacy initiative to protect Palestinian land.
The Alternative Tourism Group and the YMCA-YWCA began the olive planting program on Feb. 4, and it will last until Feb. 13.
On Monday, the group planted over 500 olive trees on agricultural lands belonging Ahmad Mousa, who owns 7,000 square meters, and Abdul-Hakim Salah, who has 15,000 square meters.
Sixty international activists from 10 different countries arrived at the field at 8 a.m. to start planting 3-4 year old olive saplings.
Israeli military vehicles arrived at the village lands but there were no reports of confrontations.
The Olive Tree Campaign distributes over 9,000 trees annually to Palestinian farmers across the West Bank whose land is under threat of confiscation, or who cannot access their land due to Israeli restrictions.
Since 1967, 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted by Israeli forces, resulting in a loss of around $55 million to the Palestinian economy, according to a report by the Palestinian Authority Ministry of National Economy and the Applied Research Institute of Jerusalem.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=458411 11 feb 2012, 11:31 , Respect -
Maria 10 febr 2012
Jews, Palestinians Plant Trees Together in West Bank
By Akiva Novick, Y Net News,
In joint effort to block hazardous dust, settlers and Palestinians come together to plant grove
School children from the Efrat settlement and residents of the neighboring Palestinian village of Jurat al-Shama planted trees together in an initiative that promoted co-existence in the West Bank, Yedioth Ahronoth reported Wednesday.
The event, held on the Jewish holiday of Tu B'Shvat, aimed to block the hazardous dust that is being disseminated by a nearby tree-processing plant.
The factory's owner and a resident of Jurat al-Shama, Abu-Taled, relented recently to residents' complaints and built a stone wall that blocked the dust; but the barrier proved bothersome to both the Palestinian and Jewish residents of the area.
When a new traffic circle was installed at the entrance to Efrat recently, Mayor Oded Ravivi decided to level the land between the plant and the settlement, and replace the wall with a small forest.
We met with Abu-Taled, and agreed to plant a grove on Tu B'Shvat in order to block the dust," Ravivi said. "Abu-Taled was very enthusiastic, and promised to bring friends and employees.
"This is how we could fulfill the mitzvah while also tightening our ties and work towards peaceful co-existence," he said, refering to the Jewish custom of planting trees on the nature-oriented holiday.
According to Ravivi, the sides are currently considering the possibility that Efrat security personnel would guard the factory at night, as part of the effort to cultivate a neighborly relationship.
http://fwd4.me/0tB6 16 feb 2012, 21:51 , Respect -
Maria 16 febr 2012
Jewish settlers burn Palestinian car, cut trees
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers burnt a Palestinian car in Laban village to the north of Ramallah and damaged other property in a pre-dawn raid on Thursday, local sources said.
Ghassan Daghlas, monitoring Israeli settlement activity north of the West Bank, said that the settlers wrote insulting slogans against the prophet and provocative slogans against the Palestinians.
He added that other groups of settlers cut an unspecified number of tees in Madma village and 15 olive trees in Burin village.
Daghlass said that the settlers’ attacks escalated with the start of 2012, adding that the Israeli occupation authority gives a blind eye to such attacks.
He said that a state of anger was sweeping the Palestinian villages as a result of those attacks, adding that he expected more such attacks in the near future in view of the stalemate in the political settlement process.
http://fwd4.me/0ugZ 23 feb 2012, 12:41 , Respect -
Maria 23 febr 2012
Israeli Bulldozers Raze Land, Demolish Water-Well
HEBRON, (WAFA) – Israeli bulldozers Thursday razed 30 dunums of Palestinian-owned cultivated land and demolished a water well in Surif, a town northwest of Hebron, according to official sources.
Surif mayor Mousa al-Sha’er told WAFA that Israeli bulldozers accompanied with soldiers razed 30 dunums, demolished a water well and uprooted more than 750 productive trees including almond and olive trees.
Israeli forces claimed that the land was state-owned despite the fact that it is included within the structural plan of the town, added Sha’er.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=19083
- 27 febr 2012
Nablus village stoned, clashes with settlers
NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Dozens of Israelis threw stones at a Palestinian house near an illegal settlement in the northern West Bank on Monday, witnesses told Ma'an.
Umm Ayman Sufan said more than 40 residents of Yitzhar settlement pelted her house with stones and bottles, before cutting down olive trees surrounding the home.
Her house, south of Burin village in the Nablus governorate, lies just a few dozen meters from the settlement. The group left when Palestinians came down from Burin to her house, she said.
In a separate incident, Israelis from the settlement on the other side of the village, Bracha, approached the village from the east earlier Monday, and clashes broke out with residents, PA official Ghassan Daghlas said.
No injuries were reported.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=463692 8 mar 2012, 10:49 , Respect -
Maria 8 mrt 2012
Norwegian Olive Planters Accused of Being Nazis
On Wednesday March 7, A group of 11 Norwegian students and their teacher from Oslo have been insulted and threatened off the land of Palestinian farmer Yassin Da'doua in Beit Iskaria in the southern part of the Westbank where they were helping the farmer to plant olive trees.
The group had just started the planting of 200 olive trees when the leader of the radical settler organisation 'Women in Green', Nadia Matar, arrived with two other Israeli settlers who started taking photos of the young Norwegians. Nadia Matar raised her voice and told the Norwegian youth that "your grandparents have killed my grandparents in the holocaust and now you are helping the Arabs to steal our land. This is the land for the people of Israel. You are helping the wrong people. You are like the nazis."
When the army arrived the soldiers told the group to stop planting trees because it is prohibited to plant on Stateland. The farmer has documents both from the Ottoman period and from the Israeli court that state he is the private owner of the land. More soldiers arrived as well as the civil police, the boarder police, riot police and a representative of the Israeli Land Authorities.
When some of the Norwegian students continued planting trees, the army decided to arrest one of the Palestinian youth, the nephew of the farmer.
By this time the Norwegian students were overwhelmed by the number of army and police and the aggressiveness of the settlers. "How can they call me a nazi? My grandparents fought the nazis during the second world war," said one of the students.
The commander in chief told the coordinator of the Olive Tree Campaign that the farmer and his family could stay on the land but the Norwegians had to leave. The bus was then escorted back to Bethlehem by an Israeli police car. On the way the farmer called to tell that the remaining olive trees and the tools had been confiscated by the army.
A team of 3 Israeli laywers from the 'Rabbis for Human Rights' is currently on the case.
Women in Green
Women in Green is a registered non-profit organization founded in 1993, and is not affiliated with any political party. According to the group's website, the movement is "dedicated to the security and Jewish heritage of historic Israel". It is opposed to a two-state solution; that is, the creation of a Palestinian state alongside, and mutually recognizant with, Israel. The group particularly opposes the return of land captured in1967, and aggressively supports Israeli settlement of those territories, which it proposes should be annexed.
Ruth and Nadia Matar, co-chairwomen of Women in Green, argue in Transfer of Arabs is the Only Solution for Peace that Arabs in the "Holy Land" are descended from relatively recent immigrants, and favor their "transfer" to the neighboring Arab countries from which, the Matars claim, they originate. They maintain that the United States and the E.U. could use the aid they provide (and political pressure) to help resettle Arabs, and that co-operation from surrounding Arab states would be required as well. They insist that "Fair payment can be made to those Arabs who agree to leave the Holy Land", and that "Arabs who wish to remain can do so, provided they agree to be a citizen of a Jewish State."
Women in Green's political activism extends to the United States, where it maintains several chapters, which hold demonstrations and fundraisers every year.
From their website www.womeningreen.org :
We act out of our firm belief in the central role of Eretz Israel for the future of the Jewish People. Today, more than ever, we must actualize our possession of our land. In addition to our usual activities of education and hasbara as to the right of the Jewish people to its Biblical Homeland, Women in Green is also behind the struggle for a Jewish Shdema and the Yibaneh fund for building and planting in the hills of Judea. One of the places where Women in Green plant trees to safeguard Israel's Statelands, is Netzer; in the heart of Gush Etzion, between Elazar and Alon Shvut.
The area referred to as Netzer in the last sentece, in the heart of the Gush Etzion settlement block, is the location where farmer Yassin Da'doua has his lands where the Norwegian group was invited to plant trees.
http://fwd4.me/0w16 12 mar 2012, 17:36 , Respect -
Maria 12 mrt 2012
Jewish settlers destroy dozens of trees in Beit Ummar
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- A big number of Jewish settlers stormed the village of Beit Ummar, to the north of Al-Khalil, on Monday and uprooted olive trees and destroyed grapevines.
Eyewitnesses said that the settlers came from Beit Ayin settlement and destroyed trees belonging to Salibi family in Beit Ummar.
They said that the settlers arrived to Wad Abul Reesh to the north of the village at the early morning hours and started destroying the trees. They said that settlers launch similar raids every now and then to terrorize the farmers and force them to abandon their land.
http://fwd4.me/0wId 13 mar 2012, 19:38 , Respect -
Maria 13 mrt 2012
Jewish settlers steal 250 olive trees
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers uprooted and stole 250 olive saplings in Sa’eer village in Al-Khalil province on Tuesday, local sources said.
The land research center in Al-Khalil said in a press release that the settlers robbed the olive and almond seedlings in Seer area to the east of the village.
The center quoted Mohammed Shalalde, one of the land owners, as saying that the settlers uprooted all 250 seedlings, which were planted only last Thursday, in addition to 150 others, which the Israeli occupation forces had forced them to leave on the land.
http://fwd4.me/0wNE 15 mar 2012, 09:46 , Respect -
Maria 15 mrt 2012
Local official: Army uproot olive trees in Nablus village
NABLUS (Ma’an) -- Israeli forces uprooted olive trees in the Nablus village of Beit Dajan on Thursday, a local official said.
Village council head Naser Abu Jesh told Ma'an that Israeli military jeeps accompanied by bulldozers damaged trees in the eastern part of the village on the pretext that it is a military zone.
The land is owned by Jamal Abu Kanan.
Beit Dajan is located directly opposite the illegal Israeli settlement of Hamra.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=468137 18 mar 2012, 09:46 , Respect -
Maria 17 mrt 2012
Jewish settlers cut off hundreds of olive trees in Nablus village
NABLUS, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers cut off hundreds of fruitful olive trees in Duma village, south of Nablus city, on Friday night, local sources said.
Ghassan Daghlas, monitoring Jewish settlement activity north of the West Bank, said that settlers from Yish Kodesh, near to Duma, destroyed 220 olive trees in Lahf area to the west of the village.
He said that the trees were owned by five citizens in Duma village
http://fwd4.me/0wct 18 mar 2012, 22:00 , Respect -
Maria 18 mrt 2012
Report registers escalation in targeting olive trees in West Bank
NABLUS, (PIC)-- The national bureau in defense of land and to resist settlement said that Jewish settlers and soldiers have escalated their targeting of olive trees in West Bank land over the past week.
It said in a report on Saturday that Israeli occupation forces and Jewish settlers used bulldozers and other means to uproot hundreds of olive trees in the West Bank areas especially in Salfit, Nablus, and Al-Khalil.
The report said that Israel ignored a report prepared by ambassadors of the European Union to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah that criticized attacks on Palestinian citizens and land, and accelerated settlement activity and Judaization of Jerusalem.
It noted that the government of Benjamin Netanyahu announced numerous settlement projects in the West Bank and occupied Jerusalem the latest of which was approving the construction of 50000 new housing units in occupied Jerusalem over the coming decade.
http://fwd4.me/0wfA 22 mar 2012, 15:52 , Respect -
Maria 22 mrt 2012
Israelis Destroy Agricultural Land near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM, (WAFA) – Israeli army bulldozers destroyed a large area of Palestinian agricultural land in the town of Al-Khader, south of Bethlehem, a local activist said Thursday.
According to the area coordinator of the popular committee against the settlements, Ahmad Salah, a town resident was shocked when he got to his land located near the settlement of Daniel to find out that all 20 dunums planted with olive and almond trees were destroyed.
He said the Israeli army and settlers prevent land owners from working on their land that is located near the illegal settlements and then destroy and uproot whatever trees were planted there.
He said the purpose behind such action is to drive away the Palestinian landowners in order to expand the nearby settlements.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=19351 24 mar 2012, 19:33 , Respect -
Maria 24 mrt 2012
Committee: Settlers uproot 85 olive trees near Bethlehem
BETHLEHEM (Ma’an) -- Settlers uprooted dozens of olive trees in the Bethlehem village of al-Khader on Saturday, a local anti-separation wall committee said.
The group of Israelis destroyed 85 olive trees in a field belonging to Khader Ali Au Ghalyoun, committee coordinator Ahmad Salah told Ma'an.
The settlers, according to Salah, have been illegally living on hilltop called Ein el-Qassis for more than ten years, during which time they have committed multiple assaults on local farmers.
Settler attacks in the West Bank against Palestinians increased by more than 50 percent in 2011, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
In 2011, around 10,000 Palestinian owned trees were destroyed by settlers, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs reported.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said that there were no reports of the incident.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=470655 3 apr 2012, 13:41 , Respect -
Maria 29 mrt 2012
Israel Seizes Thousands of dunums of land, Uproots Thousands of Trees, says Report
Marking the 26th anniversary for Land Day, the PLO said on Tuesday that Israel has so far this year seized 3626 dunums of land, uprooted 2418 trees and is planning to build 1805 housing units in West Bank settlements.
The PLO’s international relations department said in the report that Israel seized 3626 dunums in order to build the apartheid wall and to expand settlements.
It said 1235 dunums were seized around Jerusalem to build national gardens and 1639 were confiscated in Jerusalem and other villages.
The report also said that Israel is planning to build 1805 new housing units in settlements, 995 of which are going to be built in Jerusalem and 810 in the West Bank.
The report also stated that Israeli forces and settlers uprooted and destroyed during the last three months 2418 tree in the West Bank, most of the were olive trees. A large number of trees were transferred to the settlements.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=19411
Israeli occupation to raze water wells in Al-Khalil villages
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) served water wells demolition notices to a number of Palestinians in villages near Al-Khalil on Thursday, local sources said.
Ibrahim Makhamre said that IOF troops handed him the demolition notice of his only water well south of Yatta town in Al-Khalil province.
Hussein Ghnumait said that he received demolition notifications of his water wells in Khirbat Abu Mousa to the west of Sourif town also in Al-Khalil province.
Meanwhile, Jewish settlers uprooted a number of olive saplings near Beit Hagai settlement, south of Al-Khalil, on Wednesday night.
Local sources said that the saplings are owned by Tobasi family in Rehiya village.
http://fwd4.me/0xOY 8 apr 2012, 08:54 , Respect -
Maria 2 apr 2012
Olive Oil Production Lower in 2011, Says Statistics Bureau
The quantity of oil extracted in the Palestinian Territory in 2011 fell by 12.6% compared with 2010 to reach 20,754 tons, a report by the Palestinian Central of Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) said Monday.
The total quantity of olives pressed in 2011 was 93,565.7 tons; of which 19.5% were located in Ramallah and Al-Bireh governorate and 17.5% in Nablus governorate, said PCBS.
While the value added of olive pressing activities in 2010 totaled $8 million, it totaled $7 million in 2011 while intermediate consumption and output of olive presses totaled $2.5 and $9.5 million respectively.
A total of 272 olive presses were operating in the Palestinian Territory, of which 240 were fully automatic presses and 32 were half automatic and traditional presses, added PCBS.
The results show that 1,326 persons participated in olive pressing activities in 2011, of which 70.8% were waged employees with compensation totaling $1 dollars.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=19433 8 apr 2012, 08:54 , Respect -
Maria 3 apr 2012
IOF soldiers bulldoze land, damage olive trees near Yatta
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) bulldozed Palestinian agricultural land and uprooted olive trees, some dating 30 years back, in Um Nir to the east of Yatta town south of Al-Khalil on Tuesday.
Ratib Al-Jibour, the coordinator of the popular committee in Yatta, said that IOF soldiers bulldozed 50 dunums of land owned by the Jibour family and uprooted olive trees and saplings.
He said that the soldiers brought workers with them to uproot the olive trees, and removed saplings out of the area in a bid to “conceal the crime”.
Jibour opined that the Israeli occupation authority wants to evict inhabitants of the area in a bid to control it in view of its strategic location.
Meanwhile, IOF soldiers stormed Yatta at dawn Tuesday and delivered a summons to liberated prisoner Zeid Abu Fanar for questioning at the intelligence headquarters in Etzion to the north of Al-Khalil, eyewitnesses told the PIC.
Abu Fanar was released from Israeli jails only a month ago.
http://fwd4.me/0xhs
Israel Raze Agricultural Land near Hebron
Israeli army forces Tuesday razed agricultural land in Khirbet Um Nir, a local east of Yatta in southern Hebron and demolished two water wells, according to a local activist.
Rateb Jabour, from the local Popular Committee against the Settlements, told WAFA that an Israeli military unit accompanied with an officer from the Israeli civic administration razed around 50 dunums of Palestinian-owned agriculture land planted with olive and almond trees.
The Israeli forces also demolished retaining walls and two water wells in the land, added Jabour.
The area around the town of Yatta has been repeatedly targeted with demolitions of residences and tents, as well as razing agricultural land to deport the area residents for settlements expansion.
http://english.wafa.ps/index.php?action=detail&id=19447
IOF soldiers bulldoze land, damage olive trees near Yatta
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Israeli occupation forces (IOF) bulldozed Palestinian agricultural land and uprooted olive trees, some dating 30 years back, in Um Nir to the east of Yatta town south of Al-Khalil on Tuesday.
Ratib Al-Jibour, the coordinator of the popular committee in Yatta, said that IOF soldiers bulldozed 50 dunums of land owned by the Jibour family and uprooted olive trees and saplings.
He said that the soldiers brought workers with them to uproot the olive trees, and removed saplings out of the area in a bid to “conceal the crime”.
Jibour opined that the Israeli occupation authority wants to evict inhabitants of the area in a bid to control it in view of its strategic location.
Meanwhile, IOF soldiers stormed Yatta at dawn Tuesday and delivered a summons to liberated prisoner Zeid Abu Fanar for questioning at the intelligence headquarters in Etzion to the north of Al-Khalil, eyewitnesses told the PIC.
Abu Fanar was released from Israeli jails only a month ago.
http://fwd4.me/0xhs 14 apr 2012, 07:29 , Respect -
Maria 13 apr 2012
Settlers uproot olive trees near Yatta
AL-KHALIL, (PIC)-- Zionist settlers uprooted, on Friday, about 100 olive trees near the town of Yatta, in al-Khalil city southern the occupied West Bank, and ejected the land's owners.
Ratib Al-Jibour, the coordinator of the popular committee in Yatta, said that a group of settlers, from Ma'oun settlement, uprooted no less than 100 olive trees owned by Jebril Mousa Reb;i in Kherobeh area east Altawana village, bulldozing 10 dunums of the land, according to Quds Press Agency.
He added that a group of settlers pursued shepherds in that area and international activists who came to film the settlers' brutality, and when they had reached Altoana village they started throwing stones on the residents' houses under occupation police and army protection.
Jibour said that such brutal and barbaric settlers' practices are aimed at evicting inhabitants of the area in a bid to control it, urging national and international human rights organizations to immediately intervene to put an end to such practices that prove the settlers' arrogance supported by the occupation government.
http://fwd4.me/0yPR 16 apr 2012, 10:38 , Respect -
Maria 15 apr 2012
Israeli settlers injure three Palestinians, uproot dozens of olive trees in two separate incidents
On Thursday and Friday in the West Bank, groups of armed Israeli settlers attacked Palestinians and their property. In the northern West Bank on Thursday, armed Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian farmers, injuring three; and in the southern West Bank Friday, a group of settlers destroyed a Palestinian olive grove by chopping down all of the trees.
The incident on Thursday took place in the village of Yanun, near Nablus, where Palestinian farmers were working on their land when several Israeli settlers came onto the land and attacked them. One of the settlers involved in the attack was identified as Matan Fogel, the brother of an Israeli man who was murdered along with his family in the settlement of Itamar last year in an attack that was blamed on local Palestinians.
Fogel and the other settlers called the Israeli military to assist them in dispersing the Palestinian farmers. When the military arrived, soldiers fired tear gas at the Palestinians and abducted five Palestinian farmers, according to local sources.
The Israeli settlers claimed that the Palestinian farmers initiated the attack, and injured two settlers with farming tools. The settlers were all armed with military-grade weapons. None of the Palestinians involved in the incident were armed.
In the attack on Friday, Israeli settlers from the settlement of Maol, near Hebron, entered an olive grove near the village of Kharoubeh and chopped down trees belonging to local Palestinian landowner Jebril Mousa Khalil, according to the Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements.
Palestinian shepherds and international non-violent activists who were in the area came to the olive grove to try to stop the destruction, and were chased by the settlers to Tuwani village. According to eyewitnesses, the settlers ran after the activists and shepherds and threw stones at them and at Palestinian homes.
Israeli troops then arrived in the area to ‘protect the Israeli settlers’, as they are mandated to do – even when the settlers are the ones engaging in acts of violence.
Israeli settler attacks increased by 50% in 2011, and have continued to increase in the first months of 2012, although official numbers are not yet available.
http://www.imemc.org/article/63307 17 apr 2012, 10:06 , Respect -
Maria 16 apr 2012
Jewish settlers chop off 250 olive trees
RAMALLAH, (PIC)-- Jewish settlers chopped off 250 Palestinian olive trees in the village of Beitello to the west of Ramallah on Monday, local sources said.
Fawzi Bazar said that he was stunned at seeing the olive trees cut off when he went to tend his field along with members of his family on Monday morning.
He said that settlers in a nearby Jewish settlement frequently attack his land and other nearby lands.
He said that the settlers want the Palestinian farmers to leave their land in order to facilitate its annexation to their settlement.
http://fwd4.me/0yYs