Settlers from the Dolev settlement carried out an assault on the olive groves of Deir âAmmar village last Tuesday, hacking apart upwards of 190 olive trees with machetes in the late hours of the night. The trees belonged to seven families from the village, which is located northwest of Ramallah.
The affected land is located along the bypass road which connects the settlements of Dolev, Nahliel and Talmon together. Residents noted that settlers use horses to reach mountainous areas, where they threaten and force families picking olives off the land.
Attacks of this sort happen frequently, especially during the olive harvest. Several weeks ago, for instance, the settlers from Yizhar attacked the fields of Burin village, near Nablus. Settlers cut and burned more than 2000 trees in broad daylight under the protection of Occupation police and soldiers.
This year, settlers have been very open about their intentions; last month a notice was distributed in the Jewish settlements calling on settlers to bar Palestinians from getting their olives during the harvest month. It also encouraged settlers to bar rights organizations from documenting the harvest and to confiscate filming equipment.
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