Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad slammed assaults by Israeli settlers in the West Bank on Palestinian olive harvesters as "terrorism."
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Fayyad joined other pickers in Mazra al-Gharbiyeh on Wednesday, a village north of Ramallah which is surrounded by settlements.
His visit was "a clear message that we are here to stay", the Palestinian premier said. "The settlers being here in itself is illegitimate. And on top of that they engage in acts of violence against our citizens, particularly at this time of year when they pick olives, with all that the olive tree signifies to our people," Fayyad said.
"This is nothing short of terrorism by the settlers." Fayyad continued, saying that the olive tree was not only a source of income for most Palestinians, but also a "symbol of the determination of the Palestinian people to stay on their land and to preserve and defend it."
The violence is seen partly as a warning to the Israeli government that some settlers will not go quietly if Israel agrees to return West Bank land as part of a land-for-peace deal.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said on Monday "The assaults by hooligans in the area ... deserve condemnation", but Israeli troops could not be everywhere to protect harvesters.
Israel had deployed forces to permit the harvest to proceed in peace, Barak told Army Radio. But Palestinians say the army does little to stop settler assaults and often breaks up clashes by forcing the farmers to leave the area.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Sunday condemned settler attacks and pledged to fund the planting of a million trees to make the rocky West Bank terrain greener.
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