Destruction of Palestinian olive trees is a monstrous crime - The Ecologist
▻http://www.theecologist.org/blogs_and_comments/commentators/2986170/destruction_of_palestinian_olive_trees_is_a_monstrous_crime.html
The uprooting and cutting down of over a million olive and fruit trees in occupied Palestine since 1967 is an attack on a symbol of life, and on Palestinian culture and survival, writes Dr. Cesar Chelala. A grave crime under international humantarian law, the arboricide is also contrary to Jewish religious teachings.
During the last few years, Palestinian olive trees - a universal symbol of life and peace - have been systematically destroyed by Israeli settlers.
“It has reached a crescendo”, stated a spokeswoman for Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organization monitoring incidents in the West Bank. “What might look like ad hoc violence is actually a tool the settlers are using to push back Palestinian farmers from their own land.”
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Over the last 40 years, over a million olive trees and hundreds of thousands of fruit trees have been destroyed in Palestinian lands. The Israel Defense Forces have been accused of uprooting olive trees to facilitate the building of settlements, expand roads and build infrastructure.
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