West Bankupdated 48m ago3 min read
Israeli Settlers Burn Olive Trees And Expel Farmers Near Qalqilya, Volunteers Say
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Settlers set olive trees on fire and expel farmers east of Qalqilya. Palestinian farmers and international volunteers report daily danger and monitoring.
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Olive harvest under threat
Palestinian farmers in southern Nablus gathered olives between the area of Al-Murabba and the town of Burin south of Nablus while foreign solidarity volunteers joined the harvest to monitor what happens on the ground daily. British volunteer Maya Wax, who described herself as Jewish, said standing alongside Palestinians represented a humanitarian stance for her as “settler attacks are increasing,” and she added that groups had had to finish picking early because of these attacks. American citizen Carla McKeiray described the picking atmosphere as frightening, saying news arrived about settlers near the farmers and that one of the groups heard gunfire, prompting her to gather the harvest and tools quickly and leave for fear of theft.
Ryan Redmond said their presence carried risks but stressed that Palestinians faced them daily, and he said accompanying them and picking olives with them provided tangible support and enhanced the sense of safety in the fields. American volunteer Philip Moore described what is happening in the West Bank as going beyond the hardships of the olive season to what he called a “racial cleansing,” saying fear drives farmers to harvest fruit in the early morning hours and quickly.
Surge of attacks and deaths
AP News described Israeli settlers as leading a surge of attacks on Palestinians’ olive harvest in the occupied West Bank, with Israeli forces blocking a road preventing Palestinians from reaching groves to harvest olives in Turmus Ayya.
Abbas Milhem of the Palestinian Farmers’ Union said, “In the past, harvesters would enjoy a month of singing and fixing tea and coffee in their groves. Now the journey is full of pain and risk,” as olive groves became a site of friction.
Yesh Din said olive trees have been destroyed and olives stolen in over 325 incidents of settler violence this harvest season, which began in late September, and the group said over 130 incidents involved physical assaults on harvesters.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, “The clear goal is to drive communities off their land,” as AP reported that the olive harvest drew activists, diplomats, rabbis, journalists and others who sought to document attacks and intimidation.
AP reported that at least four Palestinians have been killed this season, whether by settlers or Israeli soldiers, and it said Netanyahu praised settlers as “heroic” and vowed to “destroy the terror infrastructure and establish more and more settlements.”
Fear, displacement, and solidarity
Anadolu Ajansı reported that settlers torched olive trees east of the city of Qalqilya while the Israeli army forced Palestinian farmers to leave their lands and prevented them from continuing to harvest in the area. Anadolu Ajansı said local sources told it that settlers entered the area of “Al-Shiba’at” belonging to the lands of Imatin village east of Qalqilya and set fire to olive trees, and it added that Israeli forces forced farmers picking olives in the area of “Al-Jabal” to vacate their lands. Anadolu Ajansı also cited the Palestinian Committee Against the Wall and Settlements as documenting 409 attacks targeting olive farmers, their trees, lands, and agricultural equipment in the West Bank from October 1 to 21, and it said 317 of these attacks were carried out by settlers compared to 92 by the Israeli army.
In Jalud near Nablus, Rabbi Toba Spitzer said, “It was our second day picking olives,” and she described how her families back home started sending worried messages asking whether she was all right. Spitzer said the group heard screams from the village and people shouted, “The settlers are attacking the school,” and she said she and her fellow volunteers were very frightened because “we know that if settlers come into the village and see us, they won’t spare us.”