Adam Broomberg and Rafael Gonzalez at Cabinet Magazine:
Precisely for this strong physical, cultural, symbolic, and economic relationship with the Palestinians, olive trees have become targets for violence by the state of Israel and by Israeli settlers. A study published in 2012 by the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem estimated that since 1967 Israeli authorities have uprooted eight hundred thousand Palestinian olive trees in the West Bank. Of 211 reported incidents of trees being cut down, set ablaze, stolen, or otherwise vandalized in the West Bank between 2005 and 2013, only 4 resulted in police indictments.
There are multiple rationales behind uprooting trees. As punitive measures, such practices predate the state of Israel. Ottoman rulers uprooted the olive trees of local farmers (fellahin) as punishment for tax avoidance, and the British administration in Palestine later carried out uprootings through emergency regulations. However, Israel’s central rationale for uprooting olive trees has not been presented as punitive, or at least not explicitly so: the Israeli army has uprooted and continues to uproot thousands of olive and other fruit trees for the construction and maintenance of the Separation Wall and to secure roads, increase visibility, and make way for watchtowers, checkpoints, and security fences around settlements in the West Bank.
more here.
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