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Order to Uproot Olive Trees in Marda...Again
Latest News, PENGON/Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, August 17th, 2004

Occupation Forces gave military orders to uproot 20 olive trees in Marda villages (Salfit District) on Monday, August 16. The trees are on the west side of the village beside the settlers' bypass highway. Occupation Forces already uprooted hundreds of olive trees from the village in order to build the bypass road itself and since the road was opened, even more trees have been uprooted and destroyed.

Just last week, settlers burnt some 60 trees in Marda and today it is the Occupation military that will be going to uproot more, all under the same pretense of "security of the road".

Above: The settler bypass highway was built on Marda's lands, uprooting trees and isolating the people from their lands. To the right are the trees and lands burnt by settlers just last week.

Marda village has lost a lot of land for the Israeli roads and settlements, especially for the biggest settlement in northern West Bank, Ariel. The village also stands to lose more lands for the Apartheid Wall, if it is completed around the village. The new Israeli bypass leaves the village on the Ariel settlement's side, separating it from the rest of the district. Already, the village is separated because it no longer has any contact with the other villages beside it.

Above: The settlement of Ariel (seen on the top of the hill, over Marda) was built on Marda's lands. Ariel is the largest settlement in the northern West Bank with almost 20,000 settlers.

Above: The people in Marda mobilize against the Apartheid Wall in October 2003, protesting the destruction to their land, the continued confiscation of their lands and the racist policies of the Occupation.