For me, the video above shared by Richard Medhurst on X, depicts the heartless brutality, the pure evil at the core of the Zionist colonial project.
These were Richard’s comments when he posted the video:
Richard Medhurst@richimedhurst Sep 23
"My olives, my olives"
Israelis uprooting olive trees with chainsaws and bulldozers.
Only a colonizer with no attachment to the land could be so cruel.
The olive tree is sacred to Palestinians.
Olive trees and the Palestinian identity: the sacred connection
By Maha el-Sheikh
RAMALLAH, Sunday, October 1, 2023 (WAFA) – The Palestinian people share an intimate bond with the olive tree, whose roots date back to thousands of years ago. To them, the olive tree symbolizes their deep connection to the land, peace, and security, while also holding a sacred status in various religious traditions.
Olive trees blanket over 575,000 dunams (approximately 142,000 acres) of Palestinian land, constituting around 85% of fruit-bearing trees. In a good year, they yield about 33,000 tons of olives, with a reduced production of 7,000 tons in less favorable years.
Since 1967, the Israeli occupation has been responsible for the destruction of 800,000 olive trees through uprooting and burning, employing increasingly extreme methods such as saturating trees with wastewater and spraying toxic substances onto the roots, resulting in complete devastation. Suspicious objects resembling landmines have also been planted by the occupation, and iron bars have been embedded in farmers' lands to sabotage vehicles and agricultural machinery.
The PLO Wall and Settlement Resistance Authority documented 140 Israeli attacks during the first half of this year, leading to the uprooting, damage, and poisoning of 8,340 olive trees. These attacks were concentrated mainly in the Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governorate, where 35 incidents were documented, followed by Nablus Governorate with 33 incidents, and Hebron Governorate with 24 incidents.
In 2022, there were a total of 354 Israeli attacks targeting olive trees, resulting in the uprooting, damage, and poisoning of 10,291 olive trees. Nablus Governorate witnessed 93 attacks, followed by Bethlehem Governorate with 52 attacks, and Hebron Governorate with 49 attacks.
In addition to restrictions faced by farmers due to Israeli settlements, about 90 Palestinian population clusters own lands adjacent to 56 settlements and numerous outposts. Many farmers cannot access their lands due to the Israeli authorities' obstructive policies aimed at squeezing Palestinian farmers and converting their lands into buffers zones that they cannot cultivate, paving the way for eventual Israeli seizure.
Thousands of dunams of olive orchards lie behind the Israeli segregation barrier or are encircled by settlements, where owners endure severe attacks and destruction, including land seizure, uprooting, burning, breaking, theft, and flooding with wastewater. Farmers lose an average of $45 million annually as a result of these Israeli attacks, according to the National Bureau for Defending Land and Resisting Settlements.
The isolation caused by the separation barrier and proximity to settlements affects approximately 7% of the total olive orchards' area. Owners need permits to access their lands, which are granted for limited and short periods to a few farmers, often at inconvenient times, such as plowing permits issued on rainy days when plowing is impractical.
Ramez Ebeid, the Director of the Olive Department at the Ministry of Agriculture, explains that permits for entering lands isolated by the Israeli segregation barrier are limited in duration and scope, issued to only a few farmers, and sometimes at inconvenient times, such as plowing permits on rainy days when plowing is not possible.
Furthermore, he says that Israel often refuses to grant permits to owners of lands very close to settlements, adding that the resulting lack of weed cultivation, pruning, and clearing can lead to more than a 50% loss of olive tree productivity if farmers manage to harvest the olives.
Someone using the moniker, Nutty and Sappy posted the following comment below Richard’s post on Twitter/X.
The Theft of Sweet Golden Nectar ♦︎ The theft of our heart Palestine
Nutty and Sappy on Twitter/X • September 24, 2024
For years, the sweet golden nectar of olive oil arrived from my mother and brother, a gift that connected me to the land where my roots run deep.
Every bottle held more than oil—it held memories, tradition, and the essence of the Palestinian people who have lived in harmony with the land for centuries. But now, that precious connection has been violently severed.
My share of that sacred olive oil has been stolen by an evil that knows no respect for history or humanity.
Israeli IOF soldiers tear down olive orchards that have stood since the time of Jesus. These olive trees, ancient symbols of life and peace, are being barbarically cut down to make way for settlements built on injustice and theft.
What’s even more tragic is that these trees have survived countless invasions throughout history—the Greeks, the Romans, the French—yet none of them dared to harm these sweet olive trees. They understood their significance.
Through centuries of war and occupation, these olive trees stood strong in the land of Palestine. Even conquerors, who came and went, respected their sacred presence. The Greeks, with their philosophy and might, passed through, yet they never touched the olives. The Romans, with all their empire’s power, built cities and roads, but they never dared to cut down these trees, rooted in Palestine’s ancient soil. The French Crusaders, too, swept across the land but left those olive orchards standing.
And now, in modern times, they are being wiped out by an army with no respect for history, culture, or humanity. Each tree cut feels like a betrayal, not just of the land, but of everything these trees represent.
The olive tree is a witness to history, a symbol of resilience, and a lifeline for the people. The golden nectar it produces has sustained generations.
For the barbaric Zionist Israeli forces to cut down these trees is to sever a connection that runs through the heart of every Palestinian.
But mark my words, they will never succeed, because our roots run deeper than any depth they could reach.
My heart cries for every leaf that has been torn down. ]
The agony that stabs through every Palestinian’s heart with each tree destroyed is a wound that may never heal.
[The Bold font is as it was used in the original tweet.]
In the following video a family continues a generations old tradition of tending to an ancient olive tree. Said to be some 5,000 years old, it is the oldest olive tree in Palestine.
The family does everything that it possibly can to protect their magnificent olive tree from Israeli soldiers and illegal settlers who want to destroy it.
Blanche commented on the video as follows:
“Palestinians, the indigenous people of this land, have a deep reverence for nature. They have preserved this land and all of the holy structures on it for millennia The genocide forces on the other hand do nothing but destroy. This dichotomy tells you everything you need to know about this conflict.”
Please pray for peace for Palestine and the Middle East. 🙏
"My olives! My olives!