The scorching sun bore down on the backs of Palestinian farmers, Amer Mustapha and Fawzi Hussein, as they trudged up hills towards their olive groves nestled under the gaze of the Israeli settlement of Yizhar, where settlers had intimidated the Palestinians, making it nearly impossible for them to tend to their olive groves – their lifeline and heritage. As they reached the summit of the hill, the scene before them was one of utter devastation. The olive trees, once a symbol of life and resilience, have been destroyed and hacked in two. “This is worse than losing a child,” Amer Mustapha said. “You can have another child, but you can’t replace these trees.” In a statement, the Yitzhar settlement said that although they were “happy” that Palestinians would no longer have an excuse to visit the area, they did not know who had damaged the trees. In a similar statement, the Israeli Settlers Council, which represents all of the settlers in the West Bank, accused the Palestinians of using the olive trees as a pretext to plan an attack. The story of Amer Mustapha and Fawzi Hussein took place in…
