Abbas criticizes Israel on olive harvest

[foundit66]

RAMALLAH, West Bank - The Palestinian president accused Israel of not protecting Palestinian farmers against settler attacks during the ongoing olive harvest, but Israel's defense minister said Monday his troops are doing the best they can.

President Mahmoud Abbas was quoted as saying that the situation has become "unbearable." He said that a continued failure by Israel to crack down on militant settlers is a show of bad faith at a time when the two sides are trying to reach a peace deal.

"All lines have been crossed in the olive groves this season," Abbas said in comments published in the Palestinian daily Al Ayyam.

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak said the army is making a major effort to protect the olive pickers and denounced those attacking farmers as "hooligans," but dismissed Abbas' accusation of bad faith.

"We are talking about hundreds of locations where there is an olive harvest and it is impossible to be at all the places at all the same times," Barak told Army Radio.

The West Bank has about 10 million olive trees, and the harvest, involving thousands of Palestinians, began more than a week ago. This year's harvest is expected to contribute some $100 million to the Palestinian economy and benefit some 100,000 families.

Abbas criticizes Israel on olive harvest | AP | 10/20/2008

So, just to put this in perspective, they're even fighting over olive branches...