CPTnet
10 January 2005

AT-TUWANI: One hundred and two olive trees cut down in the night

At 7:30 a.m. on 6 January, children from At-Tuwani told CPTers Christy
Bischoff, Diana Zimmerman, and Diane Janzen that a grove of olive trees
across bypass road 317 from At-Tuwani was destroyed sometime in the night.

The CPTers went to the area to document the destruction, and found that all
branches of the 102 olive trees in the grove were cut, leaving only the tree
trunks.

Palestinians living in Yatta--relatives of a family in At-Tuwani-- own the
grove of trees. At 8:30 a.m., the owners came to the area and called the
Israeli police and the military's District Coordinating Office (DCO.)

At 9 a.m., officers from the DCO arrived and spoke with the owners, and at
10:00 a.m., the police arrived to document the vandalism, speak with the
owners and take tree branches as evidence. The owners reported that the
police told them Israeli settlers from Ma'on had probably cut the trees.
Israeli partners informed CPT that footprints were found leading from Ma'on
to the site of the olive grove.

The owners planted the grove of olives in 1974. They said that although the
settlers did not completely destroy the trees, they will not produce olives
again for five years.

Photos of the destruction are available at:
http://www.cpt.org/gallery/view_album.php?set_albumName=album152