Settlers who documented Palestinians cutting down olive trees claim that Palestinians did so in attempt to put blame on settlers; Palestinians: It's a lie -


Palestinian farmers who filed complaints on Monday, stating that olive trees in their possession were chopped down, were documented earlier as they were felling olive trees. The complainants claim that the trees they were cutting were growing in a different plot from the one in question.

Recently, as the olive-picking season reached its height, both Palestinians and settlers were constantly filing complaints in regards to felling olive trees and robbing crops.Against the backdrop of mounting tensions, some conflicts even escalated into physical clashes, specifically in Hebron and Binyamin, with neither settlers nor Palestinians able to submit evidence to support their claims.


On Monday afternoon, a group of settlers noticed Palestinians chopping down trees and hurried to the scene equipped with video cameras. They managed to document parts of the felling, and proceeded to distribute their evidence. A few hours later, the B'Tselem human rights group announced that 11 olive trees cut down by unknown perpetrators were found.

According to the settlers, who have recently started to send out activists with cameras in search of proof, the grove in question is the same grove that they have documented. To them, that served as evidence that the Palestinians were trying to falsely accuse settlers of felling.

"Only yesterday we called on the public to carry video cameras with them, and a day later a provocation of staging the uprooting of olive trees was documented," Shomron Settlers' Committee head Benny Katzover said. The Palestinians, however, insist that the trees that the settlers documented are not the same ones that the farmers claim were felled.






* Palestinians block main road to Jerusalem -

Dozens block route 443 to protest uprooting of olive trees for which they blame settlers.Palestinians from the village of Ur al-Tahta briefly blocked route 443 to Jerusalem on Tuesday to protest the uprooting of trees.
They are claiming that settlers are behind the acts of sabotage. The protesters carried Palestinian flags and anti-occupation banners. IDF forces called to the scene clashed with the protesters in an attempt to clear them from the road. They used shock grenades and ultimately succeeded
in clearing the road.


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4292715,00.html

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4292811,00.html




The video is what the settlers documented yesterday, The photos are from today, when Palestinians blocked road 443, which is a main high way to Jerusalem