Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has
condemned violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians harvesting
their olives as a “dangerous escalation”.
There have been several reports of attacks in recent days, a week into the yearly olive harvest.
But settlers have accused Palestinians of burning their own olive groves and then blaming them.
Mr Abbas criticised Israel for failing to stop the attacks, but the army says it is working to protect Palestinians.
Millions of olive trees across the West Bank provide a livelihood to many Palestinians.
“We condemn the attacks against our Palestinian people and the
harassment by the settlers and army during the olive harvest in more
than one place in the West Bank,” said Mr Abbas, in comments published
in Israeli newspapers on Monday.
He said he would fund the planting of a million trees, calling on Palestinians to green the West Bank with olive groves.
‘Vocal and disruptive’
On Monday, the Palestinian-led International Solidarity Movement said
more than 100 settlers had blocked roads near the West Bank town of
Qalqilya and had been throwing stones.
They said four people, three internationals and one Israeli citizen,
had been arrested “after being attacked by settlers” while helping
Palestinian farmers pick olives.
In an incident filmed by the Associated Press on
Saturday, a Palestinian photographer and a British woman were punched
by settlers in the West Bank town of Hebron before the Israeli military
broke up the scuffle.
The Israeli military criticised the Palestinians in the
area for going out to harvest their olives without coordinating the
timing with them.
Under measures which the Israeli military says are
aimed at reducing clashes, Palestinians in some areas must harvest
their olives according to a timetable agreed by Israeli and Palestinian
authorities.
The Jerusalem Post on Saturday quoted an unnamed “top
Israeli Defence Forces official” as saying this year’s harvest was one
of the most violent in recent years, with 20 clashes so far.
The settlers’ Yesha Council has said that while “a few
very vocal, very visible and very disruptive Jews… allegedly carry
out actions against the Arab olive groves”, the number involved is
“tiny” and the damage minor compared to “vandalism and theft against
Jewish farms elsewhere”.
The tensions come against a backdrop of a rise in
violent incidents between Palestinians and settlers in the West Bank
this year.
Israel has settled about 450,000 of its citizens in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since it occupied the areas in 1967.
Settlements, which are heavily guarded by the Israeli army, are
considered illegal under international law, though Israel disputes
this.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/middle_east/7679399.stm
Published: 2008/10/20 09:13:45 GMT
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