Colonists steal olive harvests from Palestinian farms

Ramallah: Residents of the Israeli colony of Shavei Shomron, west of Nablus, have stolen the harvests of olive farms privately owned by the Palestinian villagers of Deir Sharaf.

Villagers have vowed to sue the Israeli colonists, as well as the Israeli occupation forces for not preventing the theft, and plan to bring the matter before Israeli courts. Palestinian farmers wait a whole year to harvest their olive farms, and that harvest is the main source of income for these families. “Hundreds and even thousands of olive trees on Palestinian farms have been harvested by the Israeli colonists who were given permission to harvest the olive trees over the past weekend,” said Ghassan Doghlous, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) official who oversees the Israeli colonial activities in the northern areas of the West Bank.

“The Palestinian farmers and their families have been granted permits via the Palestinian-Israel Civil Affairs Liaison Office to harvest their olive trees, which are located beside the Israeli colony of Shavei Shomron,” he told Gulf News. “Despite those official permits, the Israeli occupation forces prevented these families from approaching their own lands to collect the olive harvest.”

Doghlous noted that the occupation forces denied the Palestinian farmers access to their farms on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, telling them to return later. When they did return on Monday, they were horrified to find that all their olive trees had already been harvested.

“Dozens of Palestinian families were shocked to find that their olive trees had been harvested, and immediately accused the residents of the nearby colony of stealing their produce. They vowed to report the crime to the Israeli authorities, and to ensure that the thieves are prosecuted,” he said.

Doghlous said that officials had taken no steps to prevent this crime.

“The Israeli government and occupation forces are fully aware of the crimes of the colonists, but do not take the initiative to stop this aggression against the Palestinian people and their private properties,” said Doghlous. “Palestinian farmers demand compensation for what has been stolen from them by colonists who have made no attempt to deny the accusations. Furthermore, the case is easy to prove, as the entire area is under strict camera surveillance.”

The occupied West Bank is home to 150 Israeli colonies officially established by the Israeli government, as well as about 100 outposts which colonists established on their own, and later applied to have legalised in terms of Israeli law. Colony building on Palestinian land is illegal under international law, which strictly prohibits the establishment of colonies on occupied territories.