In commemoration of the Land Day, yesterday March 29th a solidarity action of olive trees planting was launched by the Popular Resistance Committees and the Jordan Valley Solidarity movement in partnership with the Federation of Palestinian Farmers’ Associations, the Coalition of the Right to Land, the Center for Youth for Change, the Center for Development Studies and grassroots activists.

Olive trees were planted in Khirbet al-Himma, a community located in the north of the Jordan Valley, where settlers have built some structures on privately owned land belonging to a family of the nearby community of Ein el-Beida. Since the establishment of those structures a couple of years ago, settlers have often showed aggressive attitude towards their Palestinian neighbours by attacking and harassing shepherds while grazing their livestock.

A few minutes after the activists had arrived (including the family owning the land), an armed settler showed up and immediately called the army, refusing to leave when repeatedly asked to do so. Upon their arrival, soldiers ordered the activists to take off, accusing them of standing on private property. The settler was not asked to leave.

In response to activists’ refusal to move, the Israeli army attacked and tried to arrest a number of them, both Palestinians and internationals. One activist was violently pushed by soldiers, causing him to fall down and get injured. He was later carried to the health clinic of Ein al-Beida where he stayed for about two hours and was treated for bruises in his hand bones and the bottom of his back.

Yet the action was carried out with determination, as we firmly refuse to submit to the occupation threats.