Israeli Settler Violence - Attacks On Palestinian Agriculture and Property

Attacks On Palestinian Agriculture and Property

Olive farming is a major industry and employer in the Palestinian West Bank and olive trees are a common target of settler violence. B'Tselem alleges that "olive pickers in areas near certain settlements and outposts in the West Bank have been a target of attacks by settlers, who have cut down and burned olive trees and stolen the crops" and that "security forces have not taken suitable action to prevent the violence." The IDF barred olive picking in extensive areas of land, claiming that the closures were to protect the olive pickers. The case went to the Israeli High Court in 2006 which found that, as a rule, lands are not to be closed because of settler violence, and that the IDF must enforce the law. According to B'Tselem the IDF has worked around this by saying the lands are closed to protect the settlers.

Amnesty International has said that scores of Palestinian owned sheep as well as gazelles and other animals were poisoned with 2-fluoracetamide near Tuwani on 22 March 2005, depriving Palestinian farmers of their livelihood.

In July 2009, a group of Israeli settlers riding horses and carrying torches raided Palestinian areas, burning 1,500-2,000 olive trees and stoning cars.

In March 2011 two EU heads of mission reports detailed a tripling of violent settler attacks over three years. The report found that the attacks were especially aimed at Palestinian farmers and their livelihood in a systematic campaign of violence and intimidation which included the destruction of over 10,000 olive trees in the preceding year. The report noted that the Israeli state had "so far failed to effectively protect the Palestinian population".