At first, about 15 soldiers and police stood on the hill between us and the settlement, and allowed us to continue the harvest. A short while later, some 20 settlers gathered above us, some of them armed. The settlers began to advance toward us shouting and cursing. At that point, the senior officer approached and requested that we leave the hillside to avoid clashes. Since we had almost completed the harvest in that location, we complied. A short while later, the district Army Commander arrived and demanded that we entirely evacuate the area on the grounds that it was a 'closed military zone'... After discussing this with the villagers, we agreed to leave out of concern for their welfare.
Our request that the security forces disperse the settlers and allow the villagers to complete their harvest was jeeringly denied... "Let them harvest their olives when there's a Palestinian state", said the Commander.
Documenting this event were a Canadian TV crew and a reporter from [the Israeli newspaper] Yediot Aharonot. An Italian TV crew arrived late, but interviewed the village residents and peace activists...The action was reported on the radio, and participants were interviewed on [Israel's popular] midday radio news magazine.
We subsequently learned that the village has another large orchard to which they do not have access. We decided to consider holding another action, and we discussed what to do in the event of attacks by settlers or reactions by the Israeli army.
We also decided to lobby Knesset members to use their good offices to
enable Palestinians to harvest their olives in locations where they are
threatened by settlers.
End report by Yaakov Please Continue...
Our request that the security forces disperse the settlers and allow the villagers to complete their harvest was jeeringly denied... "Let them harvest their olives when there's a Palestinian state", said the Commander.
Documenting this event were a Canadian TV crew and a reporter from [the Israeli newspaper] Yediot Aharonot. An Italian TV crew arrived late, but interviewed the village residents and peace activists...The action was reported on the radio, and participants were interviewed on [Israel's popular] midday radio news magazine.
We subsequently learned that the village has another large orchard to which they do not have access. We decided to consider holding another action, and we discussed what to do in the event of attacks by settlers or reactions by the Israeli army.
We also decided to lobby Knesset members to use their good offices to
enable Palestinians to harvest their olives in locations where they are
threatened by settlers.
End report by Yaakov Please Continue...