“Everything starts from the bottom up, from the land. That is why the land is so important for us,“ — it’s essential in the struggle against occupation, says Nidal Rabie, olive tree farmer from Turmus Ayya, West Bank
Nidal under the shade of one of his olive trees in Turmus Ayya, located in Area B under the Oslo Accords. July 2024On 19th of July 2024 the ICJ ruled Israeli settlements illegal under international law. Turmus Ayya, a Palestinian village community North of Ramallah, is surrounded by these illegal settlements. The village has been a target of continuous attacks from settlers, cutting Palestinian farmers from accessing their olive trees for plowing. Nidal Rabie, a local farmer and father of four, has been farming these lands like the generations before him.
“Even before 7th of October, reaching the furthest dunums (acres) of my land, it was a problem,” explains Nidal. Now it has become practically impossible. The 62-year old villager, father of four, speaks of his trees with same warmth he speaks of his sons and daughters.
When asked about his favorite tree, Nidal has two candidates. The oldest tree on his land, gnarled and thick, is around 1000 years old, easy to treasure. His other favorite is one he planted together with his father when he was just six years old.Where the climate is dry, plants and people adapt. Unlike tall pine trees, olive trees are an indigenous species to Palestine. They mature with decades of care and plowing, growing olives ready for harvest every October. Pine trees, on the other hand, grow fast and produce no fruit. This October, Nidal has little hope that he can manage to pick the olives from his trees. Since the beginning of the war, it became far more dangerous for farmers to access their land and care for their trees. Nidal prunes the oldest one of his trees, one thousand years old, as he explains about the impending olive picking season; “they will be left to rot, my olives… big part of my land I can’t go to, the settlers will come and attack me if they see me move anywhere near the settlement.” Sometimes they come accompanied by the IDF, raiding, burning trees or homes and cars.
Patch burned by settlers next to the road that passes through Nidal's olive grove. Even though International organizations provide support for farmers whose land is under threat of being annexed, settlers act with impunity, seemingly confident that they will not face legal sanctions for their acts. “The settlers don’t respect us Palestinians, but if they see a plaque of sponsors there, in international solidarity, there is a chance they hesitate to destroy that tree,” Nidal explains. It is evident that internationals coming to the West Bank have more rights than indigenous Palestinians. However, in August 2024 IDF soldiers shot a Turkish-American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who was providing protective presence at a protest organised in criticism of the settlement expansion. Settlers, in conjunction with the IDF, have become more confident in their impunity, testing the limits of their ramifications.
Three villagers explaining the settlement expansion in Al Khader Village. Farmers Saleh Mousa (left) and Omar Mohammed (middle) confirmed that they haven’t been able to access a large portion of their land in fear of settler attacks.When settlers see someone moving towards the colony, they assume it is a threat, even when farmers are there just to care for their trees. Israeli settlers from nearby colonies, sometimes accompanied by soldiers, have a history of terrorising the villagers of Turmus Ayya. Within the past year, hundreds of settlers stormed the village, firebombing cars and homes, burning the farmland, and opening live fire on residents, killing 27 years old Omar Abu Qattin, father of two. By going on his land to prune his olive trees, Nidal risks being attacked or worse — killed.
Another point of vandalism and a common sight on a highway in the West Bank—Arabic text erased from signposts by settlers with a spray painted black stroke between Hebrew and English place names.
Nidal pruning one of his olive trees.