Mohammed Mar'i Saudi Gazette RAMALLAH – Palestinian protesters and international peace activists Tuesday blocked a major highway in the West Bank to protest the Jewish settlers' attacks against Palestinian farmers and the uprooting of olive trees. Palestinian and Israeli sources said that the Palestinians from the village of Beit Or Al-Tihta and the international activists shut route 443, a highway linking occupied Jerusalem and the central Israeli city of Tel Aviv, causing traffic jam for half an hour. The protesters carried Palestinian flags and anti-occupation banners. The Israeli Army Radio said that clashes erupted between the protestors and the Israeli forces. The radio said that the soldiers used tear gas, rubber-coated metal bullets and shock grenades to disperse the protesters. Palestinian medical sources said that four Palestinians and an international activist were wounded in the clashes. The sources said that the Palestinian activist Ashref Abu Rahmeh was arrested after receiving medical treatment. Abdullah Abu Rahmeh, the coordinator of the Bil'in Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements and one of the protest's organizers, said that the protester were demanding the Israeli army to stop Jewish settlers from attacking Palestinian farmers and uprooting olive trees. Such attacks have notably increased since the start of the harvest season on Oct. 5. “This is a message of Palestinian anger against the increasing attacks. As long as Palestinians' lives are disrupted, the lives of Israelis will also be disrupted,” Abu Rahmeh said. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that the settlers have burnt more than 870 olive trees in the West Bank in the first week of the harvest season. Hanan Ashrawi, the member of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO)'s Executive Committee, called last week for international observers to protect Palestinian olive farmers and their groves. “We urge every country with a diplomatic mission to Palestine to dispatch observer teams to Palestinian olive groves in order to discourage attacks by settlers and to document any abuse that occurs,” Ashrawi said. She made her statement in a letter that she sent to diplomatic missions that service the Palestinian territories. “Given Israel's support for the settlers and its refusal to allow the Palestinian Authority to provide protection through the occupied territory, the Palestinian people require international intervention to ensure their security,” Ashrawi wrote. Robert Serry, the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, said Sunday, “I am alarmed at recent reports that Israeli settlers in the West Bank have repeatedly attacked Palestinian farmers and destroyed hundreds of their olive trees at the height of the harvest season. These acts are reprehensible and I call on the government of Israel to bring those responsible to justice. “Israel must live up to its commitments under international law to protect Palestinians and their property in the occupied territory so that the olive harvest – a crucial component of Palestinian livelihoods and the Palestinian economy – can proceed unhindered and in peace,” Serry said.
