As the olive harvest season is approaching in Palestine some Palestinian farmers like Mohamed Saqer Asida from Tell town in Nablus cannot collect their olive crops this year after extremist Jewish settlers set fire to vast tracts of land and destroyed their trees.
Farmer Asida and his family were anxiously waiting for the olive crop to ripen soon to harvest it before he paid a visit to his plot of land in the agricultural area of the town and was shocked to see all his trees damaged in a widespread fire deliberately caused by settlers according to eyewitnesses.
The scene of torched olive trees and widespread land covered with soot and burnt grass in Tell town especially in the area of Karam Shukir near the illegal settlement outpost of Havat Gilad shows the enormity of the fire that spread over 70 dunums of land.
Local farmers say that about 300 olives trees have been destroyed in the fire.
Asida told the Palestinian Information Center (PIC) that almost a year ago the olive harvest from his land alone produced 40 tin containers of oil (each container in Palestine holds from 8 to 15 liters according to its size) but following the fire his land this year would yield only two or three containers of olive oil.
“The life has become black in front of my eyes after that crime and the black color has become overwhelming. How can I make up for what happened?” he said as he was watching the area blackened and scorched by fire.
He affirmed that fellow farmers had seen settlers from the nearby outpost starting the fire before fleeing the scene quickly.
Similar arson attacks by settlers had taken place recently in agricultural areas in the West Bank towns of Madama and Asira al-Qibliya which led to the burning of dozens of olive and almond trees.
