NEW YORK (PC) - A disaster is facing the Palestinian olive farmers and as a result the downfall in another sector of the Palestine society, the agricultural, the backbone of the Palestine national economy. But a few seem to care about the environmental impact of the Israeli occupation.
One distinct ecological balance on ancient agriculture land is disrupted and partly destroyed by Israel with probably fatal future consequences. There are plenty of examples that strengthen such an argument: the eroding of large farmland areas, the draining of water resources, the destruction of roads, new construction of bypass roads, uprooting of ancient olive trees, Uprooting of old landscapes, the artificial divide of land and property, the building of concert walls and wired fences, ambush snares and deadly traps.
Now the UNEP, the U.N. Environmental Programme, is preparing for a desk study on the Palestinian Territories. A study of the casualties and the damage already done is indeed necessary, and hopefully it will not be too late to prevent a coming disaster for the agricultural environment on Palestinian territories.
"While environmental damage is a common consequence of war, it should never be a deliberate aim," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message marking the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.
One distinct ecological balance on ancient agriculture land is disrupted and partly destroyed by Israel with probably fatal future consequences. There are plenty of examples that strengthen such an argument: the eroding of large farmland areas, the draining of water resources, the destruction of roads, new construction of bypass roads, uprooting of ancient olive trees, Uprooting of old landscapes, the artificial divide of land and property, the building of concert walls and wired fences, ambush snares and deadly traps.
Now the UNEP, the U.N. Environmental Programme, is preparing for a desk study on the Palestinian Territories. A study of the casualties and the damage already done is indeed necessary, and hopefully it will not be too late to prevent a coming disaster for the agricultural environment on Palestinian territories.
"While environmental damage is a common consequence of war, it should never be a deliberate aim," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a message marking the International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.