Settlers Steal Olive Harvest, Attack Palestinian Farmers in West Bank

Israeli settlers stole on Sunday, October 15, olive pickings from dozens of trees belonging to Palestinian farmers from the occupied West Bank districts of Ramallah and Nablus.

Ghassan Daghlas, an official who monitors settlement activity in the northern West Bank, told Ma’an Palestinian news agency that dozens of Israeli settlers raided Palestinian lands in Ramallah and Nablus under protection of armed Israeli forces, and stole olives from dozens of Palestinian trees.

Jewish settlers in the act of stealing olives from a Palestinian owned grove on October 15, 2017

Jewish settlers in the act of stealing olives from a Palestinian owned grove on October 15, 2017 (Photo: Rabbis for Human Rights)

Daghlas told Ma’an that Israeli settlers stole the pickings of more than 65 olive trees in the Nablus-area village of al-Sawiyeh and the Ramallah-area village of al-Janiyeh.

According to Rabbis for Human Rights (RHR) the settlers, from the illegal Zayit Raanan outpost, were arrested by Israeli military “following the swift intervention of the head of the field department of Rabbis for Human Rights, Zakaria Sadah, who informed the security forces.”

In another incident, also on Sunday, settlers attacked Palestinian farmers from the Nablus-area village of Qaryut. RHR said that Israeli security forces arrived at the scene and apprehended the assailants. “It is a relatively unusual day when security forces manage to arrest extremist Israeli lawbreakers in two incidents against West Bank Palestinians,” RHR said, adding, “Violations against Palestinian farmers are not properly addressed by the Israeli security and/or law enforcement authorities.”

“The arrests on October 15 demonstrate that the Israeli security forces do indeed – should they want to – have the capacity to act against hate crimes,” the RHR statement concluded.