Jewish settlers today torched dozens of olive trees in the town of Beit Fajjar, near the West Bank city of Bethlehem, according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.
Hasan Breijieh, director of the Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority’s office in Bethlehem, said a group of Jewish settlers sneaked into a privately-owned Palestinian land planted with olive trees in an area north of Beit Fajjar and set the trees on fire.
Israeli Settlers burn 50 olive trees in Beit Fajar, south of Bethlehem https://t.co/4Sn4iSaVpf
— Joe Catron
#BidenEndTheBlockade (@jncatron) April 17, 2021
Breijieh added that at least 50 trees were burnt, causing serious damage to an important income-generating business for the landowner.
Settler violence against Palestinians and their property is routine in the West Bank and is rarely prosecuted by Israeli authorities.
“Jewish settler violence should not be analyzed separately from the violence meted out by the Israeli army, but seen within the larger context of the violent Zionist ideology that governs Israeli society entirely,” wrote Palestinian author and editor of The Palestine Chronicle, Ramzy Baroud.
Israeli settlers near Nablus are notoriously violent, attacking Palestinians and their property year round. During the annual olive harvest they focus on Palestinian farmers and their olive trees.#Palestine #Israel pic.twitter.com/UIAjBRSrN6
— Mondoweiss (@Mondoweiss) November 16, 2020
“Settler violence has long since become part of Palestinians’ daily life under occupation,” according to the Human Rights Group B’tselem. “Israeli security forces enable these actions, which result in Palestinian casualties – injuries and fatalities – as well as damage to land and property. In some cases, they even serve as an armed escort, or even join in the attacks”.
Between 500,000 and 600,000 Israelis live in Jewish-only settlements across occupied East Jerusalem and the West Bank in violation of international law.
(Palestine Chronicle, WAFA, Social Media)
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