Israeli forces uproot newly-planted olive trees near Bethlehem

Bethlehem – Ma’an – Israeli police and soldiers uprooted more than 100 newly-planted olive trees from privately-owned Palestinian land in the West Bank village of Al-Jab’a, southwest of Bethlehem.

According to witnesses, between 10am and noon on Thursday, Israeli personnel uprooted each of the young trees individually, along with plastic protective tubes and wooden stakes.

The trees had been planted by a crew of American and European volunteers last Sunday with a program organized by the Joint Advocacy Initiative (JAI) of the YMCA of Palestine.

A JAI campaign officer visited the land on Thursday, confirming to Ma’an that the trees had been uprooted and taken away.

The land is owned by a farmer named Abu Firas, who has documents dating to the Ottoman era proving ownership of the land.

After the planting session on Sunday, Israeli authorities declared the south of Jab’a, including the planted area, a “closed military zone.” The Israeli Civil Administration also, the same day, issued an order to “evacuate” or clear-cut the land. Abu Firas says he only found the printed evacuation notice on his land on Wednesday.

"Obviously, they don't want me to plant on my land, in order to steal it," Abu Firas said, according to a statement sent by JAI, complaining that he was not given the opportunity to challenge the order through legal means. He also fears that he will be forced to pay for the uprooting of his trees, as is mentioned in the evacuation notice.

Abu Firas says that until 2005, the Israeli military used his land to park military vehicles. When the army stopped this, he resumed cultivating the land.

A village of less than a thousand inhabitants, Jab’a lies in Area C of the West Bank, designated by the Oslo Interim Agreement to be under full Israeli military control. Much of the village’s land has been seized by the Israeli government.

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