Al-Monitor Discovers Palestinian Tree, Forgets Israeli Bulldozers
The story focuses on Salah Abu Ali, guardian of a 3,000 to 5,500-year-old olive tree, celebrating its resilience against 'drought and war.' What the report delicately avoids is the systemic effort to uproot not just trees, but entire communities. In 2023 alone, the UN reported nearly 10,000 Palestinian-owned trees were destroyed or damaged by Israeli settlers or authorities in the West Bank.
(Source: OCHA oPt, 2023). This isn't about 'war' in some abstract sense; it's about targeted agricultural devastation, settlements expanding onto farmland, and permits denied for Palestinian farmers, while the venerable tree endures. One might wonder if the 'endurance' narrative serves to obscure the ongoing, deliberate acts of dispossession Al-Monitor chooses not to detail. How many ancient
symbols must stand before the news acknowledges the deliberate destruction?