Sending Peace on an Olive Branch to Palestine

From The World, With Love

Text: Farzana Contractor

Have you ever thought about relationships between people and trees? Or let’s say, do you have trees in your life that you think about? Are immensely attached to. Trees from your childhood, that you may have climbed and remember the feeling. Or trees from your school days, ones you passed by every day, that you developed a deep bond with, perhaps? 

Trees have always had a great lure for me. I have spent much time just gazing at them. Trees make me happy. My best memories come from lying between two trees, on a hammock, daydreaming…

I remember, with affection, the gigantic rain tree right opposite where I lived in Byculla. I would stand admiring it, especially during the monsoons, when the year-long layers of dust had washed off, and the leaves would be shining. A beautiful tree, branching out like a huge bouquet, with little pink flowers. It still stands. Must be 100 years old, or older…

There are others; the mango, jackfruit and love apple trees of Panchgani that we would climb (to steal their fruit) and fall off from, or the one in our school compound, a Temple tree, which had a low arched branch we would sit upon during lunch break and sing songs, the fragrant champa flowers strewn on the mud floor all around us. It is also still there, the low branch thicker and even closer to the ground, but wizened.

So why am I talking about trees?  Well, it is not because of the symbiotic relationship we share with them, but the heritage one, the emotional link. And the reason I got thinking about them was Israel. Jerusalem, to be more specific. In an extremely saddened state that I am in, due to the ongoing Israel attack on Gaza, I started to think about the time I stood atop a hill, in a Palestinian neighbourhood, overlooking the panoramic view of the Holy City spread out below me, with the Dome of the Rock and the Al Aqsa Masjid taking centrestage. My personal guide pointed to the Mount of Olives, also part of the view and told me how olives and olive trees played such an important role in the lives of the people of the land. Which to me meant all of the people, Jewish, Palestinians and Christians. I had left it at that, then. Only to revisit and dig deeper into the subject now, decades later.

We all know that the energy of trees does affect our state of mind; mental, emotional, spiritual. That different trees do stand for different things. The oak, a king of trees, is portrayed as a symbol of strength, stability and protection. The elm trees represent life and eternal wisdom, which is why many college campuses plant them along their entrances. Maple trees represent balance, longevity and generosity. The white jasmine tree known for its small fragrant flowers is a symbol of sweet romantic love and like the myrtle, has become a popular choice in bridal bouquets. The white pine stands for peace. Silver Birch is associated with light, new beginnings and love – it’s considered a tree of enchantment with the power to protect against evil spirits and the evil eye. Closer home, the banyan tree is a symbol of life and fertility. Hindu women who hope to have children worship it and married women present offerings to this ‘tree of life’ to pray for their husbands to have a long life.

Every religion, every culture, down time immemorial have, for thousands of years, advocated the goodness of trees, the importance of trees. They have been respectful of trees, worshipped them and never allowed them to be destroyed, chopped down, for whatever reason. A tree is a symbol of where God meets humanity and blesses them as part of His family.

Which brings me to my main thought. What about trees that represent hope? Are there any? If there are, I want to plant a million, a zillion of them in Palestine. It’s a reflection of my shattered soul for all the heart-wrenching goings-on there, right now. And hope is all I can offer them.

As with many people around the world, my senses have been assaulted with what I read, what I see and what I hear happening in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank... My heart bleeds. My mind is numb. I am devastated by the level of inhumanity that surrounds us. The brutality, the cold-blooded apathy.

Forgive me, I do not mean to be insensitive, human life is foremost and I weep and pray for the people of that land, non-stop. But in equal measure I think also about the animals and trees of Palestine. Along with innocent children there are the innumerable animals and pets also buried under all that rubble. To see the misery of those that somehow survive, videos of bleeding little kittens managing to bleakly cry in spite of it all, the once pretty cats, covered in mud, walking around dazed is gut-wrenching, incomprehensible.

And I also think of the trees, ancient olive trees, all gone, bombed out! I think of the soil… destroyed, the earth penetrated with chemicals. Will anything ever grow there, I wonder? And how long will that be?

So what is so special about these olive trees that I am giving them such importance? Let me tell you. But before that, let me tell you, it takes a minimum of 20 years for an olive tree to grow and another 20 years before they can bear fruit. But once they take root, they live for hundreds and thousands of years, the average age being 500 years. You may not believe this but the oldest olive tree in Palestine is 5000 years old! But alas, many ancient ones out there are now gone! Destroyed. Burnt.

Palestinians have a strong bond with their olive trees, it is a history entwined with their lives. A link with their ancestors who had planted these hundreds of years ago for their future generation to cultivate and nurture. These trees link them to their past, a powerful symbol of Palestine- rootedness to their land. That olives and olive oil have been a key component of Palestinian economy and an important source of income is a small detail.

Tragically, and no thanks to the ongoing war, I started to read about the history and geography of the region, just as people all over the world have started to read the Quran to understand about Islam and what makes Palestinians such staunch and determined Muslims who are able to withstand such a fate. I stumbled upon some disturbing statistics in connection with olive trees.

Do you know the depth of cruelty that the Palestinians have been facing, for decades, just on this subject? I was shocked to learn that Israel actually has a campaign against Palestinian olive trees! Since 1967 almost 800,000 Palestinian olive trees have been uprooted illegally by Israeli authorities, simply hacked, burnt in front of entire wailing families. Pray, why? For no reason, except that Palestinians view their olive trees as symbols of peace, permanence and resilience, not a view their co-inhabitants like very much. Besides, eliminating entire orchards and groves of olive trees, not only cripples the Palestinians, emotionally and economically, but it also clears up more land for future occupation, and to build upon. In just November 2022, Israeli forces destroyed 2000 olive trees in the Palestinian village of Qarawat Bani Hassan. Think of it.

Does it not pain you, those reading this column? To what new level of low can human beings go down to? I don’t know. I can only hang my head in shame. And feel anger and frustration. And immense sadness, the kind I have never experienced before. Life can never be the same, after witnessing what we have in this damn Israel War. Gaza is being flattened. And we are just watching, helplessly.