Israel is working to destroy the Palestinian olive industry as part of its plan to uproot a people from their land, writes Emad Gad Over the last few days, Israeli military attacks on the Palestinian people have reached fever pitch as occupation forces have perpetrated attacks considered assaults on basic human rights, or crimes against humanity. Israeli attacks have not been limited to Palestinian activists or resistance fighters who conduct military actions against occupation forces or fire Qassam rockets on Israeli settlements, but have touched regular people, including women and children. In fact, these attacks have generally harmed civilians, turning their lives into hell. The global media has carried images of the assassination of children and mutilation of their bodies. For example, one Palestinian child on her way to school was shot in the head and killed, but that did not stop an Israeli officer from shooting her again to make sure she was dead and then riddling her body with 20 more bullets. Three days later, another Palestinian girl was killed as she sat in class at a school run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). When UNRWA protested, it was accused of smuggling weapons in its ambulances. The accusation was heatedly denied by the organisation, and ultimately the Israeli army was forced to apologise. These scenes were only a few examples of what occupation forces are doing to the Palestinian people. Taken in the context of the policy followed by occupation forces, they constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by occupation forces against a people fighting to liberate their occupied nation. Other Israeli practices aim to tighten the siege and eliminate all semblance of normal life in the occupied territories. One example was seen in the images carried by the Israeli media covering what is happening to Palestinian crops, particularly the olive harvest. Israeli occupation forces are working to destroy this important crop and wholly eliminate Palestinian agriculture as part of the plan to uproot people from their land and turn them into refugees who can be easily expelled, transferred, or otherwise forced to leave. Yehuda Litani addressed this issue in "Even the olives bleed", published in Yediot Aharonot online on 14 October. "The olive-picking season, which is beginning these days, has always been a unique moment in the life of the West Bank," Litani wrote. "During this period, all members of the family are recruited to help with the picking, even if they live far from their village. In the long lines before the olive presses, where villagers came wearing their best clothes, the internal politics of the village were played out. There, marriage matches were made, reconciliations effected, deals made, and new rumours transmitted. Until the mid-1990s, contractors and employers in Israel knew that most Palestinian workers would not show up for work during several weeks of the season because they would be too busy picking olives. "For Palestinians in the West Bank, the olive-picking season is not simply an ordinary agricultural season, but an olive festival. The annual harvest determines everything. If the olives are plentiful, it means that the coming year will be a good one; if the harvest is meagre, it means a slim year. The olive crop is the most important in the West Bank: the fruit and oil of the olive are not only used for food, but for the manufacture of soap, light, and warmth. Olive oil is still a negotiable currency in the West Bank; even today, commodities can be bought for a certain number of canisters of olive oil. "Both the first and second Intifada and the abysmal state of employment in the West Bank have increased many people's dependence on the olive crop in the area. Those Israelis who buy olive products at the grocery store will find it difficult to understand the importance of the olive crop to many Palestinians. They read in the papers that the olive-picking season in the West Bank has been limited to three days, instead of five weeks, and how villagers are prevented from reaching their crops because of the security wall. But they still think there are other things more important. On television they see settlers from Yitzhar picking olives from trees that do not belong to them and injuring a Palestinian who dared to come to his orchard. But they pay it no mind. What is behind this reaction? The Israeli army, which is supposed to protect the Palestinian population from the abuse of their contentious neighbours, is afraid of those who exercise real control over the region. As a result, it limits the olive-picking season to merely three days. This means that most of the fruit remains on the trees, to whither in a few weeks and fall. This means that the sole source of livelihood for many villagers will dry up, a result of settler violence and the silent consent of the legal authorities in the area. "This issue particularly, which may seem insignificant at first glance, could have provided an opportunity for a show of good faith towards Palestinians in the West Bank. A few dozen soldiers could have been allocated to guard the areas that witness trouble, and the number of days of the picking season could have been extended. But the apathy that has taken hold of us in recent years grows even greater when it is a matter of others suffering. "The olive war is an outgrowth of the battle between Israelis and Palestinians. Palestinians plant new olive trees on lands they fear may be confiscated, while settlers seek to uproot these trees, and ruin or steal the crop. It is a daily battle, and it is fraught within many symbols and emotions. It is a summary of the conflict between the two peoples. "My trees are crying," a resident of the Hossan village told me last year when Israeli bulldozers overturned his olive grove. He spoke as if talking about his children. The anthem of the International Brigade 15 in Spain's civil war contained the line, 'Everything is bleeding, even the olives.' Some 70 years later we can borrow this phrase to describe our own situation." There are dozens of examples that reveal the policy of persecution and harassment directed at Palestinians and the attempt to eliminate their source of livelihood and income by turning Palestinian farmers into refugees. Another example is the attempt by the Israeli army to destroy an orchard owned by an elderly Palestinian lady that happens to be located next to land confiscated by Israel, on which Israeli Minister of Defence Shaul Mofaz built his house. The Israeli army also poisons wells used for both drinking water and agriculture: Maariv reported on 30 June that occupation forces had bombed several wells in the village of Yamoun, near Jenin. This is in addition to the killing, and destruction of crops and lands perpetrated by settlers under the protection of occupation forces. There are dozens of examples indicating that acts committed by occupation forces and settlers in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip constitute crimes against humanity that should be tried before an international court. But Israel has become a nation above international law, protected politically by the United States, which uses its veto in the Security Council to forestall any attempt to provide international protection for the Palestinian people or demand that Israel honour international law and apply international resolutions. To read more about this issue, please visit the website of Arabs Against Discrimination ( www.aad-online.org ).
