Holy Land: Rabbis organise day of olive tree planting in West Bank

image: EAPPI/J. Byrne.

Rabbis for Human Rights and the Olive Harvest Coalition organised a day of olive tree planting yesterday (4 February) in the northern West Bank village of Yassuf to mark the holidays of Tu Bishvat and Eid al Saja'ra. Hundreds of people including rabbis, volunteers, politicians from various parties, residents and village leaders came out to plant hundreds of 'trees of hope' to replace those that were damaged by extremists just last month. The photos from the day reflect the truth of universal solidarity and the reality that simple acts like planting trees bring us together in powerful, joyful ways.

In addition to the trees donated yesterday, hundreds more will be planted throughout the Occupied Territories over the next few weeks.

Unfortunately, the joy of the holidays and the atmosphere of peace could not eclipse the fact that the army refused the planters entry into an area designated for planting under the pretext of a lack of advanced coordination. Such an incident is contrary to the ruling of the High Court of Justice, and part of the effort to dismantle that ruling. In the coming days, RHR will demand the military to explain why they neglected to enforce the court's ruling on the ground.

It should be noted that during this year's olive harvest in October and November, extremists cut down, burned, uprooted and looted hundreds of fruit trees owned by Palestinian farmers in the Occupied Territories. Rarely does the army takes significant action against the perpetuators, and sometimes it even indirectly aids them by failing to prevent border incursions and trespassing into Palestinian agricultural land.

The planting was followed by small group learning sessions on the topic of shmita and human rights work.

Upon return to Jerusalem, RHR held a Tu B'Shevat social justice seder with the Ma'abarah, a housing collective comprised of activists and those in need of public housing in Jerusalem's Katamonim neighborhood. The seder focused on the parallels between the four cups, the four seasons, the four categories of fruits (traditional elements of the Tu B'Shvat seder) and four stages of activism.

Rabbi Arik Ascherman, president and senior rabbi of RHR, on the shmita year said: "What does [shmita] mean, according to Rav Kook, for the Jewish people and our connection to the land? [Shmita] is about strengthening the connection in our souls between justice and equality, and letting go of our urge to own and to control. We need to understand that it isn't all ours."

Osama Muslah, Head of DCL, Yassuf resident: "We thank RHR for this event. It was a beautiful and historic day for the farmers here. These actions gives power and strength to Palestinian families to protect and be in their own land. We hope the settlers will not come back and uproot these trees – this is a "hot" area where they often attack the farmers and the crops."

Pam Berger, first time RHR volunteer, originally from New York, lives in Jerusalem commented: "You come here to do something very practical, very concrete – to plant trees, and then you look around and see all these different people involved: Palestinians, children, farmers, the army, volunteers, the settlement… and you get caught up in this very emotional, political and cultural event. And it's really just not what you expected at all."

For more information on RHR see: http://rhr.org.il/eng/