Palestinian tradition has it that during the autumn months, family members from across the country, and sometimes even around the world, gather together to celebrate the olive harvest. Over the past few years, the Israel Defense Forces and Israel Police have made no particular effort to protect the harvesters from attacks by their Jewish neighbors, at least until fall 2006, according to an internal report by the defense system comptroller, which was handed over to human rights group Yesh Din.

 

A team sent by the comptroller found that the IDF and police did not adhere to regulations pertaining to the harvest season and that the deployment of security forces provided only a partial answer in conflict areas at night. It also found that police were not prepared for the olive harvest, noting that there were no police stationed at certain points of friction because a request for reinforcements was denied.

 

After assessing the report, the defense system comptroller recommended that police in the West Bank receive annual reinforcements during the olive harvest season, that police more closely supervise the enforcement of commanders' orders, and that police impose order in tense areas year-round. The comptroller also recommended that "the matter of land ownership in the area of Judea and Samaria be organized" - indicating the defense establishment is aware that today, more than 40 years after the occupation, the West Bank has remained the Wild West when it comes to anything related to land.

 

The comptroller's findings are in keeping with those of Yesh Din volunteers who monitor incidents in which Israeli citizens injure Palestinians or damage their property, Yesh Din director Roi Maor wrote in a letter to GOC Central Command Maj. Gen. Gadi Shamni and the commander of the police's Judea and Samaria District, Shlomo Katabi.

 

Maor says that during the last few olive harvest seasons, IDF soldiers stood idly by as Israeli citizens used violence on Palestinians or their property. Such conduct, says Maor, is part of a broader pattern of behavior that includes refraining from arresting Israeli citizens in the territories and failing to carry out exhaustive criminal investigations after incidents involving Israelis carrying out attacks. Maor says he would like to know whether the defense establishment has adopted the comptroller's recommendations and how it plans to implement them during the upcoming olive harvest season.