UN rapporteurs: Israeli settler attacks on Palestinian farmers pose threat to their right to self-determination

The United Nations rapporteurs in New York called on the Israeli occupation entity to stop its settlers’ attacks on Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, stressing that these attacks constitute a threat to the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination.

The rapporteurs said in a statement today, reported by the Palestinian News Agency “Wafa”: The settlers’ attacks on Palestinian farmers constitute another threat to the Palestinians’ right to self-determination, and their intimidation, restriction of their access to their lands, and attacks on them  undermine the ability of Palestinian families to secure their food needs.

The statement explained that Palestinian farmers in the West Bank are facing the most dangerous olive harvest season ever due to settler attacks, indicating that olive harvesting is essential to the life and culture of Palestinians, and that the relationship of the Palestinian people with olive trees is like their relationship with their ancestors and their future.

With the beginning  of the olive harvest season, the frequency of attacks carried out by settlers under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians has increased, which has included forcing farmers to leave their lands at gunpoint, stealing their crops, and cutting down and burning olive trees.

O.M