Farming in Hebron surrounded by soldiers
Posted inNews

Farming in Hebron surrounded by soldiers

Hebron, or Al-Khalil in Arabic, is the only city in the West Bank were settlers are in the center of the city, which has made of this place one with more tension in the area.

Due to this the Old City of Hebron was divide in the H1 and H2 zone. The H1 zone is under Palestinian control and the H2 under Israeli control, however there are hunders of Paledtinian families living in this zone.

Between H1 and H2 it was set a military check-point which has to be crossed daily by the Palestinian living in H2 to go to H1 and by many children and teacher whose school is located in the H2.

Currently there are about 400 settlers proteced by between 2,500 to 3,000 Israeli soldiers.

 

Due to this the harvesting of olives, a simple actvity, has became a complex activity involving the participation of local and forigner volunteers, presence of the press and of the Human Rights observers groups.

This weekend a group a Palestinian students and forigner voulunteers gathered in the H2 area to harvest the olvies from some of the oldest trees in Palestine.

These trees are practicaly surrunded by houses of settlers.

The activity was observed by a couple of teenage stettlers, who after staying in the area for some minutes were told to leave by an Israeli soldiers, however the teenagers would refuse and increase the tension.

Despite their refuse to leave the harvesting began and the volunteers went to harvest the olives.

The volunteers, only armed with their hands and their will to help, began harvesting the olives as the soldiers started to arrived and surrend them.

 

 

 

During the harvesting there verbal confrotantions betweent the soldiers and the foreign volunteers and the press, who all they day were constantly harresed by the soldiers not allowing them to take pictures or film videos.

 

 

When most the olives had been harvested Israeli soldiers and policemen threated forigners and press members to be arrested, just by the fact of being there. This led to another verbal confrontation. At the end noboy was arrested.

At the end of the day, the olives were harvested.

 

en_USEnglish