Yesha: Some of the trees felled by Palestinians

[Behind the Aegis]

The Yesha Council of settlements reiterated its contention that in at least some of the cases where olive trees have been cut down, the perpetrators are Arabs and left-wing activists. Left-wing organizations were taking advantage of planned pruning of trees to slander the settlers, the Yesha Council also said yesterday.

A few days ago, the secretariat of the settlement of Maon in the southern West Bank harshly condemned the cutting down of trees. "As settlers and farmers," the statement said, "our way is not to destroy and uproot but to build and plant."

Yesha Council spokeswoman Emily Ambrusi said pictures from the groves clearly showed the trees had been pruned, which farmers told the Yesha Council is done every few years to improve the trees. "These actions are carried out in a relatively dry year," Ambrusi added.

Yesha Council chairman Bentzi Lieberman demanded a few weeks ago that the Israel Defense Forces and the police thoroughly investigate the uprooting of trees in the village of Salem, in order to "identify the real perpetrators." Leiberman said at the time that in the village of Salem and in another incident, "there are certainly many questions at the scene that suggest a suspicion of Palestinian provocation."

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[mike_c]

1. right-- sez Haaretz....

:rofl:

[Behind the Aegis]

4. .

:eyes:

[tinnypriv]

9. Ha'aretz

Is one of the most prestigious newspapers in the world (for news and editorial; just look at the work of Eldar, Levy and Benn).*

Ha'aretz is simply reporting the claims of Yesha - it isn't saying whether they are false or not (and the newspaper is no friend to these clowns, it recently run a harsh editorial on the outposts for example).

---

*. For disclosure, I should mention that I have been harshly critical of the paper when it has suppressed items from the English edition.

[pelsar]

2. oh boy....

"there are certainly many questions at the scene that suggest a suspicion of Palestinian provocation."

yea....its called living there. Some of these settlers........messianic judiasim, like any "i've got god on my side" syndrom means "anything goes"

this is a time for scotty to 'beam them up" and send them to planet xineaeaeard

[Tom Joad]

3. Some trees are taken from Palestinians and sold to Israelis.

So it is true that they are not always destroyed.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2002/11/28/woliv28.xml
Israel's Defence Ministry is investigating reports that Palestinian olive trees uprooted to make way for a security fence are being sold illegally to rich Israelis and town councils, sometimes for thousands of pounds each.

The illegal trade in olive trees has flourished as Israeli contractors, supported by armed guards, clear Palestinian agricultural land where an 80-mile electronic fence is being built to seal off the West Bank.

Thousands of olive trees have been dug up to make way for the 150-ft wide barrier and security zone. Its route usually passes inside Palestinian territory, not along the old pre-1967 border, and thousands of Palestinian farmers say their livelihood is being taken away.

Sale of the olive trees emerged after the owner of a contracting company offered two reporters from a popular Israeli newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, 100 large olive trees for £150 each.

[tinnypriv]

5. Yesha

The same organisation that likes to joke about how former PM Rabin ordered the IDF to "break the bones" of the Palestinians. Yeah, credible.

When are these idiots changing their name? Last I looked the v'aza part was a tad outdated.

[Behind the Aegis]

6. I see...

...so you have definitive proof that the claims are false?

[eyl]

7. Even if their claims are true

- and I suppose they might be, partially, even without positing malice on anyone's part - I don't see it matters much. One tree being uprooted by these idiots is too much.

[tinnypriv]

8. No

But keep knocking over those straw men. It's noble work you're doing.

[Behind the Aegis]

11. No straw man...but...

...you keep on avoiding.

[eyl]

10. From JPost

Settler council claims film clip shows Palestinians cut their own olive trees

In an attempt to clear the name of West Bank settlers blamed for the destruction of Palestinian olive trees, the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea, Samaria and Gaza on Tuesday released film footage to several local TV stations, including Channel 10, which ran a clip of Palestinian farmers pruning their own trees near Yitzhar.

The settlers claimed that the film footage was proof that in many cases the Israeli security authorities were quick to blame the settlers without investigating the situation thoroughly.

What the council failed to state was that the footage had been filmed by a security head of one of the settlements in the region two years ago.

More

[barb162]

12. Thanks eyl, clarifications and updates on this story are important

"Shilo hinted that there appeared to have been an increase in incidents ever since Israel announced its willingness to compensate the Palestinian farmers. She added that council members had been informed by the Olive Tree Growers Association that once every two years olive trees have to be heavily pruned back to their trunk in order to encourage a better olive harvest the following year."