Israeli settlers start fires amid West Bank harvest
64 replies, posted
[img]http://d.yimg.com/a/p/afp/20101016/capt.photo_1287223635214-1-0.jpg?x=400&y=249&q=85&sig=JaMOOEi_EundwQ6I97RhBg--[/img]
[quote]FARATA'A, Palestinian Territories (AFP) – Thick black smoke billows from the olive grove under the gaze of Israeli soldiers as Palestinian farmers use branches to try to beat out the fires lit by Jewish settlers.
It's olive harvest time in the occupied West Bank.
The firebombers swooped down from Havat Gilad, a wildcat Jewish settlement unauthorised even by the Israeli government.
Encircled by barbed wire, the makeshift dwellings glower down on the surrounding Palestinian olive plantations from a hilltop in the northern West Bank.
"We were gathering the olives when the settlers arrived. One of them started a fire," says olive grower Shaher Tawil.
He points to a bearded man wearing a T-shirt and a Jewish kippa or skullcap, now safely behind an Israeli military barrier.
"When we saw the flames, we called the fire service but the soldiers wouldn't let them come any closer to prevent clashes with the settlers," the old man says.
The young Israeli conscripts, visibly embarrassed and restricted by their uniforms in the oppressive midday heat, finally let the fire-truck through after about an hour, by which time the flames have already been well-fanned by the wind.
At last the fires are put out, as again the soldiers look on.
Tawil says that last week settlers from Havat Gilad harvested the fruit of 800 trees belonging to his family.
"Every year they steal our olives and burn our trees," he says.
The Havat Gilad settlers are among the most hardline in the West Bank and believe they have a God-given right to land they know by its Biblical name of Samaria.
For them, the villagers in whose midst they have set up home are not "Palestinians" with a right to a state alongside Israel but "Arabs" who are interlopers on Biblical Jewish land.
The settlers are wont to quote a saying by one of their spiritual and ideological gurus, the late rabbi Mordechai Elyahu.
"This land is the birthright of the people of Israel. If a gentile plants a tree on my land, the tree and its fruit are mine."
[b]A few hours earlier, in the village of Azmut near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, a group of youths from the settlement of Elon Moreh, four kilometres (two and a half miles) away, dispersed Palestinian olive harvesters with shots in the air, witnesses said.
The settlers said they had come under attack first.
"We began the harvest at 7 am. At 9 am while we were having breakfast, they turned up with these automatic weapons," said Pauline Marechal, a 57-year-old Frenchwoman.
"They began firing in the air. The children were screaming and crying. The settlers were chanting: 'Out. Out'," [/b]said Marechal, an activist with the Palestinian solidarity group, Darna, which helps villagers with the olive harvest each October.
"Every year, it's the same thing," she said. "They come with their ladders and their tea urns and they steal the olives."
A report released by aid organisation Oxfam on Friday said attacks and other acts of harassment by Jewish settlers against Palestinian olive farmers "are common and often increase during the time of the harvest."
The group said that the olive sector, "which contributes up to 100 million dollars (71.4 million euros) in yearly income for some of the poorest Palestinian communities, could bring a brighter future for the Palestinian economy, provided its full potential is realised."
It said that about 45 percent of farmland in the West Bank and Gaza is given over to olive cultivation, with approximately 10 million trees.
The Israeli army says it does all it can to protect Palestinian olive growers. So far this year there have been no casualties at least. But neither have the police made any arrests.
[/quote]
This stuff sort of reminds me of those Indians vs. Pioneer stories I read in my History Book.
Why am I not surprised?
Damn assholes.
Glad to see those terrorist crops have been destroyed, keep up the good work Isreal. I bet they were growing weapons there.
[QUOTE=ZekeTwo;25476705]Glad to see those terrorist crops have been destroyed, keep up the good work Isreal.[/QUOTE]
One down, but they still have the terrorist railings and flares to deal with.
Those crops almost blew up those settlers good thing they spontaneously combusted in the nick of time
That's not funny, guys. That's, to some people, the only source of income they'll make for a year.
[QUOTE=69105;25476845]That's not funny, guys. That's, to some people, the only source of income they'll make for a year.[/QUOTE]
And now those terrorists will starve to death, for the good of the Jewish people.
Shalom
Now they are burning crops? No way can someone Justify this.
[QUOTE=Yusuf;25477451]Now they are burning crops? No way can someone Justify this.[/QUOTE]
I bet you are new to Facepunch.
[QUOTE=Baldr;25477624]I bet you are new to Facepunch.[/QUOTE]
Well, it's not so much justifying as it is "LA LA LA I CAN'T HEAR YOU".
[QUOTE=Yusuf;25477451]Now they are burning crops? No way can someone Justify this.[/QUOTE]
Crops of mass destruction.
War approved.
[QUOTE=BBKF;25477668]Crops of mass destruction.
War approved.[/QUOTE]
Palestine is in the Axis of Evil.
Oh for fuck's sake :doh:
Israel isn't helping itself at all and now it can't even control its own people or just doesn't care at all.
Not gonna get into it, but I don't really know the credentials of Philippe Agret.
[QUOTE=Neolk;25479918]Not gonna get into it, but I don't really know the credentials of Philippe Agret.[/QUOTE]
[url]http://www.anti-semitism.net/terrorist-flotilla[/url]
Found this nifty site when I googled his name lol. Seems to be the owner or some what related to it.
Why doesn't the PA kick these guys out? They claim to have a decent security force now but they still let these guys live in peace.
[QUOTE=Devodiere;25479979]Why doesn't the PA kick these guys out? They claim to have a decent security force now but they still let these guys live in peace.[/QUOTE]
They honestly can't.
As I said, I'm not getting into it, but I need a reason to believe this Philippe Agret or some pictures that aren't just of burning crops....
[QUOTE=Devodiere;25479979]Why doesn't the PA kick these guys out? They claim to have a decent security force now but they still let these guys live in peace.[/QUOTE]
Carpet bombs and the settlers are generally just nationalistic idiots who don't realize imperialism will never come back while we're stuck on this dirt ball.
[QUOTE=Neolk;25480019]As I said, I'm not getting into it, but I need a reason to believe this Philippe Agret or some pictures that aren't just of burning crops....[/QUOTE]
Who know? Honestly your gonna have to do some research and shit to find out lol.
[QUOTE=Swilly;25480045]Carpet bombs and the settlers are generally just nationalistic idiots who don't realize imperialism will never come back while we're stuck on this dirt ball.[/QUOTE]
The carpet bombs are nationalistic? I wasn't aware there was such thing as an actual carpet bomb either.
They aren't aproved by the PA, they aren't aproved by Israel, they are criminals and terrorists, how is it so hard to actually do something? If they try to arrest them and they resist, they are militants and it should be perfectly acceptable to shoot them. If the PA security force turns out to be outgunned by a few settlers (lol), they [i]should[/i] be able to get support from Israeli troops as they are supposed to be ensuring peace there too. If Israeli troops won't touch it, go over their heads.
[QUOTE=Devodiere;25480122]The carpet bombs are nationalistic? I wasn't aware there was such thing as an actual carpet bomb either.
They aren't aproved by the PA, they aren't aproved by Israel, they are criminals and terrorists, how is it so hard to actually do something? If they try to arrest them and they resist, they are militants and it should be perfectly acceptable to shoot them. If the PA security force turns out to be outgunned by a few settlers (lol), they [i]should[/i] be able to get support from Israeli troops as they are supposed to be ensuring peace there too. If Israeli troops won't touch it, go over their heads.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, I could see the mistake there with the carpet bombs. I was just placing my doubt on whether or not Israel would actually say, "Okay, fine they were using weapons and terrorizing your people." Any action the PA may take may end up with some sort of horrible diplomatic situation or they feel that way.
[QUOTE=Swilly;25480166]Sorry, I could see the mistake there with the carpet bombs. I was just placing my doubt on whether or not Israel would actually say, "Okay, fine they were using weapons and terrorizing your people." Any action the PA may take may end up with some sort of horrible diplomatic situation or they feel that way.[/QUOTE]
Fuck em. Public support does not make criminal acts legal and they still should be convicted. Whether the PA arrests them and then turns them over to Israeli authorities or Israel does their job and goes in themselves doesn't matter, the reactions would be similar and it doesn't matter.
[QUOTE=Devodiere;25480194]Fuck em. Public support does not make criminal acts legal and they still should be convicted. Whether the PA arrests them and then turns them over to Israeli authorities or Israel does their job and goes in themselves doesn't matter, the reactions would be similar and it doesn't matter.[/QUOTE]
Should America gun down Illegal Immigrants?
[QUOTE=Yusuf;25480258]Should America gun down Illegal Immigrants?[/QUOTE]
I never suggested gunning them down for no reason, if they got into a firefight then they are allowed to shoot back and if they actively kill security forces, they are militants and force should definitely be taken. As for America and illegal immigrants, if they come into the country and start burning everything, why shouldn't the same action be taken?
[QUOTE=Devodiere;25480194]Fuck em. Public support does not make criminal acts legal and they still should be convicted. Whether the PA arrests them and then turns them over to Israeli authorities or Israel does their job and goes in themselves doesn't matter, the reactions would be similar and it doesn't matter.[/QUOTE]
I'm all for the PA taking the brass balls and point a long rifle barrel infront of the settlers' faces. I just don't want Israel retaliating leading to more civilian blood shed and probably to a civil war with guerrilla warfare.
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