Meir Bleich: The army is complicit in moves to prevent olive harvesting in the West Bank

Meir Bleich, an activist with the "Looking the Occupation in the Eye" movement, describes incidents in the West Bank where settlers shot at Palestinians engaged in olive harvesting near Aqraba. The IDF evacuated the wounded and ordered the harvesters to leave, citing a closed military zone. Bleich claims the army and settlers are working together to thwart Palestinians' livelihoods as part of an ethnic cleansing policy.

Meir Bleich, an activist with the "Looking the Occupation in the Eye" movement, describes incidents in the West Bank where settlers arrived in Range Rovers at olive groves north of the town of Aqraba and shot at Palestinians who were harvesting. Several Palestinians were injured in the shooting, including a journalist. An IDF force was called to the scene, evacuated the wounded, and ordered the harvesters to leave the grove, citing a closed military zone. Bleich claims that the settlers invade, threaten, and attack, and then complain that they were attacked, and the army ratifies these claims and issues a closed military zone order preventing the continuation of the harvest. He notes that a similar incident occurred in the village of Beita, where soldiers prevented harvesting in the presence of Israeli activists, and one soldier told a Palestinian, "You are forbidden to harvest until all the anarchist Jews leave here." Bleich argues that the goal is to make life difficult for Palestinians as part of an ethnic cleansing policy, and that the army and settlers are working hand in hand to thwart the residents' ability to earn a living, especially since the cancellation of work permits to Israel after October 7. He calls on a post-election government to discuss the fundamental questions of the state's identity and its relationship with the Palestinian people.