IOF Forces Palestinian Farmers to Leave Their Lands in Nablus

Nablus, 19 Muharram 1438/20 October 2016 (MINA) – Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) forced Thursday afternoon Palestinian farmers to leave their agricultural lands east of Nablus.

Local activist Asid Murad affirmed that Israeli forces brutally stormed the land and prevented the farmers from picking their olive harvest, the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) reported.

The Israeli measure aimed to provide protection for scores of settlers who broke into the area to perform provocative Talmudic rituals.

Olive season is one of the main links that connects Palestinians to their lands and embodies their resilience and identity.

According to Palestinians, Palestine and olives are synonyms in the Palestinian lexicon.

The Palestinians’ harvesting of olive trees is confronted with the Israeli settlers’ theft, arson and vandalism of their trees.

These settlers also confiscate olive trees and assault the Palestinian farmers to prevent them from reaching their fields.

Such Israeli practices aim to wipe out the Palestinian culture, represented by the deeply-rooted olive trees, especially as the Israeli occupation forces have uprooted around 1.5 million Palestinian olive trees since 1967.(T/P008/R07)

Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)