Settlers increase attacks on Palestinians as olive picking season begins

Thursday October 09, 2008 01:18 by IMEMC News

Several Palestinian villagers stated that the olive picking season has resulted in the increase of extreme Israeli settlers attacks against them and against several other Palestinian villages.

The northern part of the West Bank, the district of Nablus was the main target by the settlers, especially in areas close to the settlements of Alon Moreh, Itamar and Yitzhar.

In an unprecedented statement, Ghadi Shamney, the Israeli General in charge of the West Bank Israeli army brigades, affirmed that the settlers have significantly increased their attacks against Palestinian residents and have even attacked Israeli soldiers.

Shamney added that in the past, the attacks were carried out by dozens of settlers but now hundreds of settlers are carrying out these attacks. He also said that this was a very serious issue and claimed that most of the settlers in the West Bank were not violent.

“We are talking here about hundreds of settlers who are carrying out these attacks. There are nearly 300.000 settlers living in West Bank settlements.”

Resident Ahmad Awwad from Awarta village near Nablus said that residents started picking their olives trees three days ago. They deliberately chose to pick the olives during Jewish feasts because most of the settlers would be on vacation away from the settlements.

“Some of our orchards are very close to settlement outposts. We cannot pick our olive trees while the settlers are present; they always attack us." Awwad added, “Every year, we are prevented from picking hundreds of olive trees because they are adjacent to settlement outposts, especially on the hills.”

Residents Shihada Khalaf from Aseera Al Qibliyya village said that the settlers did not only attack the orchards but also attacked the village and sabotaged properties in it while the army did not intervene.

Khalid Mansour, a local activist against the wall and settlements and head of field operations in the Palestinian Agricultural Relief, said that efforts were being conducted to organize a campaign that includes large number of volunteers. This will include internationals and several institutions in order to help the villagers pick their olive trees and provide them with the needed tools such as ladders and blankets to be placed under the trees, boxes and other tools.

west bank | israeli settlement | news report saed at imemc dot org