Israel calls a partial settlement halt – rightly rejected by the Palestinians and only partially praised by J Street, both certainly not helped by the fact that East Jerusalem is excluded from the announcement – and apartheid continues:
The human rights organization Yesh Din says not one of the 69 complaints filed during the past four years on damage to Palestinians’ trees in the West Bank has resulted in an indictment. The organization released a report on the matter Tuesday and makes specific reference to damage caused to olive groves, central to the livelihood of Palestinian villagers.
The olive harvest season is coming to an end in most parts of the West Bank this week, with the exception of those areas at higher elevations. Attacks targeting trees harvested by Palestinians – olive trees in particular, but also almond, fig, lemon and others – has been on the rise in recent years.