I know this sounds crazy but maybe the Arabs are doing this to their own peoples trees. Kind of like the practice of sending women and children in front of an IDF gunfire exchange, hoping someone gets shot, so as to solicit sympathy from the rest of the world. Don't say that hasn't happened. These idiots think that they must turn world opinion against Israel no matter the cost to Arabs because they a driven by demonic forces.

This Trojan Jew who equate his own flesh and blood with extremist head decapitators and bombers who blow women,men and children to pieces for being Jewish is a secret convert to Islam like so many of the crazed and extremist left.Thay shold be arrested and tried for treason and incitement.

Arutzsheva/israelnn website has a video link that shows the arabs cutting their own trees down. Not to mention most of the pictures of olive trees usually used in anti-settler propaganda show pruned trees. Pruning olive trees is normal farming practice, check for yourself. I mean, do you think that if the settlers were going to cut down the trees, that they would cut the whole thing down, not just prune a few twigs off? ynet, you should be ashamed pushing stories like this.

1) I can't agree that it is O.K. to vandalize Arab property, including fruit trees. 2) The Torah specifiaclly prohipits destroying fruit trees, even of the enemy, during a siege! Yet it's hard to believe that an IDF officer could say that cutting down trees, (which of course, as an officer, he should prevent and stop) is the equivalent of terrorism, like bombing shoolbusses. this nut case deserves an immediate psychiatric discharge, totegeher with the best medical treatment for his psychosis!

Haven't we seen this BS before on this very site? This unattributed "news" article references unattributed "sources" about an "uprooting" where the tree has been pruned but clearly not uprooted. Why is it that we never see video of those nasty settlers "uprooting" olive trees?

See http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=96560 People are in uproar about trees. How about people? See http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=96565

If I get a dollar for every right wing apologist who posts on this board saying it's all a hoax, the farmers are cutting their own trees, etc., I'll be a rich man by tomorrow. Like poverty-stricken farmers would destroy their own trees and their source of income just for some sympathy from poor leftist hippies. Right, that's always been a lucrative strategy. Other apologists will say that Jewish lives are more important than trees--as if destroying the trees had something to do with fighting terrorism in the first place. (Are the terrorists hiding behind trees? Is this the missing link in the IDF's war on terror?) Give me a dollar for every one of them who posts here and I'll be able to retire. To sum up, we're not cutting down trees, and anyways it's good that we are. Still others will say that it's Palestinian farmers just doing a little pruning, or maybe the settlers are pruning the trees for them. I suppose setting trees on fire and knocking them down with bulldozers are just more wonderful pruning techniques. if that's the way Israelis take care of their trees, no wonder you don't have any forests left... The officer's contention that left-wingers are also to blame, because they provoke settlers to violence, is ridiculous. If someone I don't like visits my next door neighbor, apparently that gives me an excuse to go vandalize my neighbor's property. Your honor, what could I do? Also, these settlers attack Arabs whether there's lefties around or not (probably more so, in fact, because lefties start protests and then the army shows up to supervise everything. When no lefties are around, the settlers are free to terrorize as they please.) What's more ridiculous is that the army pretends to be concerned at all. Do any image search (for example, a yahoo search for "olive trees" "west bank" or something similar) and you'll get all sorts of photos of IDF bulldozers uprooting trees. How many times has this happened? Probably more than the number of trees destroyed by settlers. Or maybe this is some sort of IDF farmer aid outreach program, using the above-mentioned pruning techniques. Now it all makes sense...

"Pruning is necessary to stimulate new fruiting wood for the following year's crop, decrease the tendency for alternate bearing, and help control insect and disease problems. In old, traditional groves, olive trees are sometimes burned down or severely cut back and allowed to regrow on an infrequent basis. This eliminates production for some time, but accomplishes the task of rejuvenating the trees." http://www.uga.edu/fruit/olive.htm

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=96560 Get your facts straight.

against Jewish Settlers, perpetrated by...Jews. We are clearly our own worst enemy.

The tree in the picture is very much upright! IT IS OBVIOUSLY NOT UPROOTED! Arab Muslims prune their trees, then accuse Jews of cutting down their trees! Article: "IDF official issues scathing attack on settlers who cut Palestinian trees, says such actions 'endanger us as a people more than terror activity';" The IDF considers tree pruning more dangerous than terror attacks that maim and murder innocents! Is this the reason the IDF is giving for not fighting back and winning the religious terror war? It's very scary having these kind of people running Israel - along with the U.S. EU UN, and Russia.

ARABS PRUNE THEIR TREES, THEN ACCUSE JEWS of cutting down their trees! Settlers offer 'proof' in defense against sabotage Margot Dudkevitch, THE JERUSALEM POST Jan. 10, 2006 In an attempt to clear the name of settlers living in West Bank communities blamed for the destruction of Palestinian olive trees, the Council of Jewish Communities in Judea,Samaria and Gaza on Tuesday, showed film footage of Palestinian farmers pruning their own trees near Yitzhar. The film footage clearly showed Palestinian farmers pruning their trees heavily in order to improve next year's olive harvest.

showing it was *not* done by Jews. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=96560

What a nice message to send out to the rest of the world. Israel won't survive if it keeps this up.

Anyone who knows about olive trees knows that these trees won't die. "Mild = remove all suckers around the base of the olive tree, cut out any dead wood, cut canopy to 2-3 meters, remove any cross branches inside the canopy. Lie on the ground with your head touching the trunk. Look up through the canopy. You should see light. If you cannot see light, then thin out some more. Spring should bring new shoots and some flowers on one year old wood.  Severe = remove all suckers. If there is a single trunk, follow this up to the scaffold branches. There should be 3- 4. Get out the saw and saw about 0ne foot along the scaffold branches. A sorry looking olive tree! Paint areas that are likely to get sunburnt with white flat plastic house paint. Spring will bring new wood, but you will have to wait another season to get flowers and fruit. Happy cutting and sawing - Professor Stan Kailis, University of Western Australia, Perth WA" You are supposed to hack Olive trees, so who cares. There has not been a single picture of an "uprooted" tree.

That tree looks like the ones that are pruned on the farm I live on. Sometimes drastic pruning is good for a tree and won't kill it. bordering on terrorism? Cry me a river. What would you rather have a missing tree or be maimed for life? Sick comparison that cheapens the lives of terror victims. Why don't you just say it. You hate the settlers and are looking for anything against them.

Strange how this always happens about the same time of year... during pruning season. Also strange how those who make the accusations refuse to take a lie detector test..... see: http://www.imra.org.il/story.php3?id=18795 When will the self hating Jews wake up and understand that: 1) the Jews they hate are their brothers 2) the Arabs want all the Jews dead, not just those who vote Likud.

Some poor family with a member who was severly wounded by a suicide bomber, hasn't enough money to afford Arab natural gas to heat their home. With the expense of outrageous hospital bills, and pharmaceutical drugs, these Israeli's are forced to cut down Palestinian trees to heat their homes. I mean, with such terrible circumstances being forced upon these Israeli's, blown off body parts, mental retardation, and so forth from the Palestinians. I can understand how the Israeli's could be committing such atrocities. If the Palestinians can justify killing Jews because of their terrible living conditions, then why can't Israeli's justify cutting down trees because of their fictitious problems? We might as well, it works for the Palestinians, ------right! Excuses are like virgins. Every Palestinian, has 72 of them, one for every situation. What's good for the polygomist, is good for the lumber jack. If a olive tree falls in the orchard, would one of Akmeds 72 virgin's hear it? Just a wondering moment. Fortunately Polar Bears haven't strapped on suicide bombs recently, here in Alaska. You never know what Bears are thinking though. They might be following Al Jaazera. We Alaskans could be killed, over building settlements on Bears land, at any moment. I might need to hug a pine tree. Just like this IDF officer. Hail greenpeace! Trees don't bleed. Therefore they must be more important than worrying about suicide attacks, with lots of blood and brain matter.

Same scheissmerde, different day. I am getting sick and tired of this Goebbels soap opera. If there is evidence and probably cause, then arrest the suspects. If there is no evidence and no probable cause, shut the ### up.

Come on what about letting rocket attacks occurr and failing to do anything about it or letting Hamas run in elections. Give me a break, or letting terrorist run for elections in Jerusalem the Capital of Israel. Let's not get absurb. Trees?? Come on.

The only pictures the newspapers and TV show is of "pruned" olive trees, no uprooted ones. Several times, here on YNET they show pictures of pruned trees as an example of trees being destroyed. This is a manufactured problem to give the government something to use against those "terrible" "Radical" settlers. A tempest in a teapot to appease the Arabs and their left wing supporters.

you mean to tell us jews don't love trees?! damn it, i thought jews were the most peaceful race on earth!

More unsubstantiated claims. The truth is that the trees are being badly pruned by the Arabs who then claim vandalism and damgaes from the israeli government. Of course there is no evidence - there is no crime dummy!

If there are trees, actually uprooted please show the photo.

This 'article' is amazing. A ficticious Senior army officier makes a propaganda ploy, based on lies and inuendo. Lies: Read http://www.arutzsheva.com/news.php3?id=96560 great job on the opinion piece passed off as an article.

Yeah I must agree, your right, they have been sending women and children into gunfire to make Israel look bad. Khalid your so smart. Why wouldn't the terrorist cut down trees? Your so smart to catch that that hidden truth. The Moron

I believe it is necessary to prune an olive tree and add the remnants to a pot brewing with the blood of a Christian in order to make our matzah. Pesach is right around the corner, you know.

doesn"t any one notice anything fishy about about these articles?first off there are the numbers. this article says 1200 trees while other artickles inflate that number to the tens of thousandsl. all this as fishy as tje numbers goven at demonstrations which are alwys skewed to suit the politics of the writer. then there is the fact that all the statistics are always given second hand as if it were impossible for the writers to check this first hand. then there is llthis husteria comparing this act of vandalism (asuming that that is what it is and not some other sort of preemptive action , as possably indicated in this article) as some how equivalant to terrorist actions of mass murder!!! Then ther is th whole anonymous sources in the idf schtick!!!come ff it , sounds like a bldd libel to me.