The sight of Jewish settlers brutishly attacking Palestinian olive farmers in the West Bank sends shivers down the spines of the world's Arab and Muslim viewers, and well it should. The international media conveyed this horrific image of the ruthless settlers subjugating the hapless Palestinian farmers, though without any special condemnation -- all in a day's "work". Tut, tut. The escalation of violence by the Jewish settlers against the Palestinians during the olive harvest is symbolic of the rapacious nature of the Israeli state which, after all, has its roots in European settler colonialism. Ask Kenyans or South Africans what that means. The much maligned Jews of Europe fled to Palestine, only to unleash their pent-up frustrations and to butcher the defenceless Palestinians, the indigenous inhabitants of the land. "After the Holocaust, we can do anything!" As a military occupying power, the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) is obligated under international conventions and laws to ensure the safety and well being of the Palestinians in the occupied territories. Moreover, successive Israeli governments have repeatedly committed to ensuring that Palestinian olive farmers have access to their olive groves. Instead, the IDF stands idly by as the Jewish settlers uproot olive trees, steal the Palestinian olive harvest, harass, humiliate and murder Palestinian olive farmers. Even international human rights members who have commiserated with the Palestinian olive farmers have been subjected to the most savage physical abuse by the Jewish settlers. This happens every year like clockwork. Nothing seems to change except the level of despair and frustration of the Palestinians in the face of the cynical silence of the world, the sound of burning trees and the heartfelt wails of grieving mothers. The olive branch was chosen by the world as a symbol of peace. In Israel, it has become a symbol of repression and thuggery. Perhaps the Israelis will synthesise the chemical formula for olive oil and do away with the need for olive harvests whatsoever. Perhaps they will just ethnically cleanse all the olive farmers. Perhaps they will use some faux terrorism as a pretext to ignite a war, keeping in the back of the world's mind their cache of nuclear warheads in Daimona. The shivers will no longer be going down the backs of the Arabs if a halt isn't put to this abhorrent, despicable behaviour by so-called "settlers" under the watchful eye of the Uzi-toting IDF. In the face of Israeli-only roads, concrete monstrosities, electric barbed-wire fencing, innumerable roadblocks, and increasingly unprovoked thuggery, the Palestinians herded into reservations requiring the world's attention and support. Israel demands with impunity the right to exist on 78 per cent of Palestine, precious land stolen from the Palestinian people. But there is no sign that Israel would ever honour even this incredibly generous giveaway.
