Victory in Umm Salamona

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For those of you who have been reading my blog regularly, you might have been wondering what has happened to the hilltop in Umm Salamona, where we planted trees in November and December to avoid it being taken for settlement expansion. For those of you who haven't read about Umm Salamona, the matter in short was that the supreme court has ruled that the hilltop has to be cultivated before the end of 2009, or it would be confiscated (and beyond doubt, given to the neighbouring settlements). See my posts The hills are alive and Trees and threats in Umm Salamona for more background.

I contacted Awad, the initiator of the campaign, last week to hear how things were going in Umm Salamona. Awad told me that the land will not be confiscated. By planting 1250 trees there, Awad and other activists have managed to reclaim the land. Even though deer held by settlers are damaging many of the trees (there is no money for building metal fences), Awad describes the situation as good.

People, Palestinians and foreigners, have, by non-violent means, prevented a hilltop from being stolen. The people in Umm Salamona can go there, to enjoy the beautiful landscape or to harvest the trees. And they can feel that there is some kind of right and wrong in this world, and some way to pursue it. Still around half a million settlers are living on stolen land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. But the victory in Umm Salamona is a message, to the settlers and the Israeli military that the land belongs to the Palestinians, and that it is important to them. And to the world about what is going on in the lives and land of the Palestinians.
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