The Olive Branch -- Symbol of Peace or Rallying Banner for Ethnic Cleansing?

Sample letter to President Obama:

Dear President Obama,

The olive branch is a worldwide symbol of Peace, recognized everywhere.  Everywhere, that is, except in Israel, where it is the rallying banner for ethnic cleansing. 

I am speaking metaphorically; they really don’t have a banner with an olive branch that they carry forward in their ethnic cleansing forays.  They do have, however, an ongoing war against Palestinian olive orchards, some of which are hundreds of years old, planted by the ancestors of those who tend them today.

This is not a secret.  Many people around the world are aware of this, and the numbers are growing daily.  The independent documentary “5 Broken Cameras” on this exact issue was shown worldwide in film festivals in 2011, where it won many awards, including some in Israel.  It was produced in a collaboration between an Israeli and a Palestinian filmmaker.  It is now available on DVD and it is also on You Tube.  Please read more about it here:   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Broken_Cameras>  and watch it here: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEJx90a0Kr8>.

The incidences covered in the film are not unique.  Nearly every day news sites around the world cover this ongoing tragedy.   Here’s one heart breaking story from yesterday, about a current event; “Palestinian family attacked by settlers while harvesting olives:”   <http://palsolidarity.org/2014/10/palestinian-family-attacked-by-settlers-while-harvesting-olives/>.  I hope that you will read the story, and check the column directly to the right.  There you will find stories dating from 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2011.   On another news site we find not only another recent incident, we find this quote:  “Since 1967, approximately 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted in the occupied West Bank . . .”  <http://falastinews.com/2014/10/06/settlers-chop-dozens-olive-trees-near-nablus/>.

Just in case you are not certain, after reading these articles and watching the film,  whether these ongoing events add up to ethnic cleansing, please check this webpage, written from an Israeli perspective, on exactly what their intentions are in these assaults and land takeovers:   <http://www.buyapieceofisrael.com/olive-growth/>.  Make no mistake; the land they are taking over and the people they wish to exclude are Palestinian.  This is ethnic cleansing.  It is well documented and it is well known, all over the world.  And it is well known all over the world that the US supports this ethnic cleansing.

Please think back to our great leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.   Please think back to the world’s great leader, Nelson Mandela.   Men like you, who won the Nobel Peace Prize.  I want you to think about what they would do, if they had your power.    And I want you to think about American values.  Values of integration, equality, the separation of church and state, freedom, and justice for all. 

In good conscience, in light of our core values, we cannot support ethnic cleansing.

~~~

Please write to the President and tell him how you feel: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments 

Scroll down for a shorter version of this letter that actually fits in the form.

~~~

Boycott Israeli Olives!  This meme can be tweeted, pinned, or re-blogged:

http://boycott4peace.blogspot.com/2014/10/israeli-olive-products-ethnic-cleansing.html

Facebook Sharable ‘Boycott Israeli Olives’ meme:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=654515591330838&set=gm.301106976749761&type=1&theater

~~~

Don’t just get mad: write, share, post, educate!  It is up to us to be the change!  

~~~

Short Version

This actually fits into the comment box for writing the the President:  (Please feel free to put this into your own words, improve it, rewrite it, or compose your own letter!)

The olive branch is a worldwide symbol of Peace, recognized everywhere, except Israel, where it is a banner for ethnic cleansing. They have a war against Palestinian olive farms, some are hundreds of years old, and were planted by the ancestors of those who tend them today.

Many people of the world are aware of this, and the numbers are growing daily. A documentary on this issue,“5 Broken Cameras” was shown worldwide in film festivals in 2011. It won many awards, including some in Israel.  It’s a collaboration between an Israeli and a Palestinian filmmaker. It is now available on DVD and it is also on You Tube.  Please read more about it here:   <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_Broken_Cameras>  and watch it here: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kEJx90a0Kr8>.

The incidences covered in the film are not unique. Nearly every day news sites around the world cover this ongoing tragedy. Here’s one heart breaking story from yesterday, about a current event; “Palestinian family attacked by settlers while harvesting olives:”   <http://palsolidarity.org/2014/10/palestinian-family-attacked-by-settlers-while-harvesting-olives/>.  I hope that you will read the story, and check the column directly to the right. There you will find stories dating from 2005, 2008, 2010, and 2011. On another news site we find, another recent incident, and this quote:  “Since 1967, approximately 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted in the occupied West Bank . . .”  <http://falastinews.com/2014/10/06/settlers-chop-dozens-olive-trees-near-nablus/>.

Just in case you are not certain, after reading these articles and watching the film, that these ongoing events add up to ethnic cleansing, please check this webpage, written from an Israeli perspective, on exactly what their intentions are in these assaults and land takeovers:   <http://www.buyapieceofisrael.com/olive-growth/> .  Make no mistake; the land they are taking over and the people they wish to exclude are Palestinian.  This is ethnic cleansing.  It is well known all over the world that the US supports it.

Please think back to our great leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela.  Men like you, who won the Nobel Peace Prize.  What would they do, if they had your power? They believed in integration, equality, the separation of church and state, freedom, and justice for all; like you, and America profess to believe. 

In light of our core values, we cannot continue to support ethnic cleansing.