West Bank olive groves become battleground

[ConsAreLiars]

Eighty-year-old Rasmia Awase had left the best olive trees until last. She and her family had already harvested most of their crop when they went to a small plot near their home in Luban a-Sharqiya on Saturday morning.

Here were 40 trees that Awase had planted and tended herself, and they were now, two decades later, at their peak – the most productive of all the trees, which support 37 members of the extended family.

But Awase found that someone had got there before them and had chopped down the trees, leaving stumps in the ground and branches scattered about the plot. The family blame hardline Jewish settlers from the nearby Eli settlement.

"I was in shock, I lost my mind," she said. "I planted these trees with my bare hands, I gave them 20 years of hard work – and they are all gone." Each day of her long life was worse than the one before, she said with her eyes watering.

More at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/oct/24/west-bank-olive-harvest-attacks

[Webster Green]

1. Mutherfuckers!

I hate this fucking planet. :thumbsdown:

[Dick Dastardly]

28. Then leave the planet and dont let gravity hit you in the ass on your way out.

Maybe you could try some of these class M planets.

Ceti Alpha V- Harsh enviroment perfect for someone who is looking for a survival challenge and a world to mold.

Magna Roma - A Class M planet in the FGC 892 system which is discovered with a human society modeled after the ancient Roman Empire of Earth.-Pax Romana

Omicron IV - Planet whose ancient population was wiped out by nuclear war. Gary Seven's computer compared Earth's Cold War of the late-20th Century to that of the situation of Omicron IV. - You can hate this planet all by your lonesome.

Qo'noS - The main capital world of the Klingon Empire. It is also referred to as Kronos (an alternative transliteration), Klinzhai, or Kling. -You can kick some ass

Triskelion - Planet in the M-24 Alpha system, with three suns, controlled by three entities who capture slaves and make them fight in gladitorial games for their entertainment.- Vegas Baby



Here are 2 that may be a good fit for you....


Everyone is fully assimilated and equal here. No jelousy or conflict between them and all work as a cooperative for the good of all. Its a socialist paradise I tell ya !!!!!

Borg Prime - The homeworld of the Borg (speculative). The exact location is unknown, but most likely deep in the Delta Quadrant where the Borg control a huge empire, however it is not the center of governance, that is located in their unicomplex.




On this planet the ignorance and self delusion is so comforting and mandatory. No need for facts and reality to get in the way of blissful ignorance. !!!!!

Vadris III - Gamma Quadrant planet where an isolated race resides who believe they are the only intelligent species in the universe.




Now if you go here I may join you!!!!!!!
No need to martyr yourself and all the virgins you could want......:evilgrin: :toast:

Taresia - Planet located in the Delta Quadrant and is a Class M populated by 90% females. Inhabitants are referred to as Taresians.




Hope this helps

[ProgressiveMajority]

2. Typical settler behaviour

I wouldn't put anything past settlers. They poison wells, cut down olive trees, poison livestock and steal. Anyone supporting settler movements should be considered as supporting terrorists.

[ConsAreLiars]

3. They do this with a wink and a nod and a thumbs up from the state of Israel.

How many who object to such atrocities and acts intended to result in ethnic cleansing are jailed, maimed, murdered or even brought into court by the IDF and occupying forces? And how many among those who resist?

Those facts underline the blatantly obvious underlying truth, that the settlers are a part of an expansionist policy that is supported by the armies of the expansionist state, and that the seizure of land and destruction of the means of livelihood of the original inhabitants is one part of the pogrom.

[Jefferson23]

4. Israel needs to hold a rally for sanity too...couldn't hurt. n/t

[ConsAreLiars]

5. "chopped down the trees, leaving stumps in the ground and branches scattered about the plot."

Some would want you to believe that these events do not occur, that they are merely clumsy prunings by clumsy farmers or staged by "leftists." Denialists and propagandists. More from the report in the OP:

According to Oxfam, which is trying to help Palestinian olive farmers realise the economic potential of their crops, some families are too frightened to pick the fruit. "We have seen a lot of olive groves burning and trees which have been chopped down," said the charity's Catherine Weibel. "People are clearly very stressed and worried, always afraid the settlers are coming."
...
In recent weeks, there have been numerous reports of trees being stripped of their fruit overnight. Rabbis for Human Rights claimed that the olives from about 600 trees near the settlement of Havat Gilad were stolen before their Palestinian owners could harvest them. Police confirmed they were investigating the alleged theft.

The police had received 27 official complaints about sabotage since the beginning of this year's harvest, said a spokesman, Micky Rosenfeld. Sixteen Israelis had been questioned. "There are a number of ongoing investigations into damage caused in the past few weeks," he said. "We are working to prevent incidents on the ground. This is an ongoing problem that we have to deal with."

[LeftishBrit]

6. Disgusting

Luckily there are people who oppose this sort of crap:


http://blog.onevoicemovement.org/one_voice/2010/11/palestinian-youth-leaders-volunteer-in-community-olive-harvest.html

[Jim Sagle]

7. I weep for the olive trees.

:beer:

[Crunchy Frog]

8. So apparently it is now okay here

to make posts that are completely bigoted and hateful, as long as they are directed against "those" kinds of people.

I wonder what would happen if I made a similar comment after some Israeli windows got broken by some Hamas rockets.

[Violet_Crumble]

11. Jimbo's posted ugly crap like that many times in the past...

The worst that happens is the posts get quietly deleted and he continues on his way. I don't even bother alerting on them anymore as that sort of ugliness should be seen by everyone who makes the mistake of thinking that there aren't extremists here...

As to wondering what would happen if the shoe were on the other foot, I have seen one or two people refer to Qassams as being like firecrackers, which has sent off a long torrent of outrage by some 'supporters' of Israel in this forum, an outrage that goes on and on and never runs out. The silence from them when something similar is said aimed at Palestinians is very telling, imo...

[Crunchy Frog]

12. I think I'm going to try a test here.

Next time there's a Hamas rocket attack with some physical damage to property, I will try pulling a "Jim" and see what happens.

It is my belief that there is a major double standard in the way this forum is moderated, and that there is only one group of human beings on the planet that one can post in such a degrading, hateful manner about and get away with it here.

[ConsAreLiars]

17. That which you notice is a fact of life here.

A post calling out a, say, highly partisan, poster for being, uh, highly partisan, is likely to get deleted, while those, say, highly partisan posters can scream insults and utterly stupid and intentionally offensive insults forever and little else and will never get offed.

But try calling them out for what they are, that will get you banned. Suggesting they might be bigots is against policy, but proving to be such in one post after another is OK??? Nothing covering why these few these few are not bound by the written rules appears in the rules and I'd like to be told the truth about why they have such a privileged and unaccountable status. I can guess, and that guess also also says that "taking the fifth" will be the only response.

[LeftishBrit]

23. I disagree. I don't think there's a double standard.

I've seen posts that I thought were pretty nasty on all sides. I think the rules are tighter (for both/all sides) in the I/P forum than in GD, however.

I think people just notice the violations more when they are on the 'other' side - whichever side.

[Crunchy Frog]

29. Well, we'll see how my experiment goes.

[Ken Burch]

9. How is the destruction of those trees trivial?

Palestinians planted them hundreds, if not thousands of years ago. Palestine is where olives were first grown.

And intent of uprooting the trees is to uproot the Palestinian people as well, to say "you have no place here".

How can you be ok with that?

You can't honestly believe that the innocent farmers this is done to could actually deserve the loss of their livlihood?

Is it simply impossible for you to accept the fact that the vast majority of Palestinians are just normal harmless human beings who simply want to live?

Why are you so choked with hatred for people who have done nothing to you?

[Crunchy Frog]

10. Violent hate based attacks on people's property and livelihoods are cute and funny

doncha know. And it's cute and funny, and not at all a rule violation, to snigger and joke and drink a toast to that kind of hate and violence.

And yes, I do believe he honestly thinks the Palestinian farmers "deserve it". I bet he would have been a laugh a minute during the pogroms.

[LeftishBrit]

13. It's not the trees - it's people's livelihoods.

Such actions should not be defended.

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[shira]

19. Arabs and Leftists staging attacks on olive tree fields...

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=124x337186

[Donald Ian Rankin]

24. I note that you leave out the words "Settlers claim"... NT

[shira]

25. And I note you left out the fact that there's actual evidence for their claims. n/t

[azurnoir]

30. Yep there is evidence like the photo's you posted from Uruknet

that is bona fide evidence alright

[shira]

31. Well...then there folks like yourself who don't accept anything as evidence that destroys

...their little narratives.

Not even video evidence from the Marmara was enough to convince you of anything that Israel claimed.

:shrug:

[azurnoir]

32. well I do not tend to believe video that 1 is stolen or 2 I am being told what I am seeing

BTW is Uruknet now an allowed source I seem to remember a thread that was deleted for using that as a source do you?

[Dick Dastardly]

26. While I have no doubt that there are plenty of times where Palestinians and their radical

international supporters have staged such incidents, the fact is more times than not it is not staged and the radical settlers are the perps.

[shira]

27. Agreed. n/t

[Violet_Crumble]

21. B'Tselem: 35 tree vandalism cases in 6 weeks

Four Israeli human rights groups – The Association of Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI), B'Tselem, Rabbis for Human Rights and Yesh Din - Volunteers for Human Rights – sent an urgent letter today to senior Israeli military commanders, in which they called on the commanders to take all necessary steps to ensure that Palestinians and their properties are protected from violence and damage during the current olive harvest season.

The letter, signed by Attorney Maskit Bendel of ACRI, Attorney Michael Sfard of Yesh Din, Jessica Montell of B'Tselem and Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights, was sent to Central Command Chief, General Avi Mizrahi, and to the commander of Israeli military forces in the West Bank Brigadier Nitzan Alon. The letter contains a list of 35 incidents in which damage was caused to Palestinian olive trees or property. The incidents occurred between early September and mid-October – at the start of the olive harvest season. In most of the reported cases, a complaint has been filed with the authorities.

Seven out of the 29 incidents took place in the villages of Burin and Hawara, which border with the settlement of Yitzhar; there were also attacks on olive trees have reported in the villages of Far'ata, Til, Imatin and Yanoun, adjacent to the outpost of Havat Gilad. The worst incident so far has been reported in these four villages - the arson of hundreds of olive trees on October 15th.

The organizations’ letter states that according to eyewitnesses, the aforementioned arson attack occurred in the presence of Israeli soldiers, who did nothing to prevent it. Moreover, eyewitnesses claimed that some soldiers even barred Palestinians from accessing the scene and extinguish the fire.

According to human rights organizations, this is not the first year that Israeli citizens damage Palestinian olive trees in the West Bank – in fact, this is a recurring phenomenon which peaks every year around the beginning of the olive harvest. The organizations have called on the Israeli authorities many times before to take all necessary steps to "fulfill duties and obligations and protect the rights of residents who live in the occupied region". Nevertheless, the letter states, "the regrettable outcome of the incidents described herein proves once and again that the steps taken by the defense forces are insufficient, and the result is a blow to the livelihood of many Palestinian residents".

http://www.btselem.org/english/press_releases/20101028.asp