[Note: The following release was written by Operation Dove, an Italian peace organization with whom CPT has shared a project in At-Tuwani since 2004.]

At-Tuwani, Southern Hebron Hills On Friday, 29 January 2010, Palestinians from the village of Jinba planted 300 almond trees in Umm Mraiga, an area near Jinba village, close to the Firing Area 918, which lies just north of the border between Israel and the West Bank.  

At the end of the 1990s, the Israeli military designated a large portion of this area a “closed military zone” and began to use it for military training.  Since then, the Palestinians of Jinba who own the land have not been able to access and to cultivate their fields near the firing area.

The Palestinians, accompanied by internationals, were able to plant 300 trees in one day.  They planted the remaining 150 trees on the morning of Saturday, 30 January. 

On 23 January, villagers in At-Tuwani organized a similar action.  On that occasion, the Palestinian villagers planted twenty olive trees in response of property damage by settlers.  This attack on Palestinian agriculture followed a month of Israeli settler violence and harassment aimed at preventing Palestinian farmers from plowing their fields and thus earning their livelihoods.  In addition, the Israeli military has consistently used closed military zone orders in recent months to prevent Palestinians from working their lands.

The South Hebron Popular Committee organized both actions as part of its strategy of resistance to the Israeli occupation.

For photos of the 29 January action, click here.