The tree hugger: Settler attacks on Palestinian farmers and their olive trees — Over 800,000 olive trees have been uprooted by Israelis since 1967

“I hugged the olive tree… I’d raised the tree like my child.”
Mahfodah Shtayyeh

On November 27, 2005, a Palestinian woman was photographed hugging an olive tree after it was attacked by Israeli settlers.

The photograph became an iconic image symbolising the daily struggle of many Palestinian farmers in the occupied West Bank.

Over 800,000 olive trees on Palestinian farms have been uprooted by the Israeli authorities and settlers since 1967.