At the bottom of the page is a translation, from Hebrew into English, of the letter: A call to cancel the order to uproot 2000 olive trees.
And here is the instructions on how to send the letter as a fax for free.
1).
You will need to Download the letter here http://engagedharma.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/d79cd7a2d7a6d795d7a8-d790d7aa-d7a2d7a7d799d7a8d7aa-d794d7a2d7a6d799d79d.doc
2).
The file is called
d79cd7a2d7a6d795d7a8-d790d7aa-d7a2d7a7d799d7a8d7aa-d794d7a2d7a6d799d79d.doc
Open it in Word or Open Office and add your name, telephone (optional) and email address (optional).
It is in Hebrew, so an explanation with a little translation is required, scroll to the bottom of the letter, the last three lines are
Name is שם:
Telephone is טלפון:
Email is דוא"ל:
Add your details, in your own language, and save the file to your desktop, or somewhere else convenient. Choose "Save As" you can call it anything you like.
3).
Open this page
in your web browser (Internet Explorer, Chrome, or what ever you normally use)
Again it is in Hebrew, but you are doing great, and we're nearly done, hang in there.
Luckily you will see "Choose file" is in English.
Click that and upload the letter you just saved to your desktop
There is a check box above the number 5, that is correct. It means you can send 5 faxes for free right now.
Now you have 2 or 3 text boxes below that, insert two or three, of the 6 fax numbers listed here. Just the numbers, not the name. The name is just to let you know who you are sending to.
Ehud Barak; Minister of Defence: 036976218
General Eitan Dangut; Coordinator of Activities in the Occupied Territories: 036976306
Shaul Goldstein; CEO of Israel Nature and Parks Authority: 025005433
Moti Almuz; Head of Civil Administration: 029977341
Eli Bar-On; Civil Administration Legal Advisor: 029977326
Moti Shefi; Staff Officer of the Nature and Parks Authority: 026259783
The lowest text box is for your email, you can use yours or ours; info(at)sanghaseva.org
The lowest text box is for your email, you can use yours or ours; info(at)sanghaseva.org
-Here is a strange bit-
If you only see two text boxes above the email text box then once you put in two of the fax numbers, you will see another text box appear. This is for the third fax number.
Click the check box below that, to show you have read the terms and conditions, otherwise you can't proceed.
Click the button at the very bottom to send.
That is it !
If you can spare the time and enjoyment to send the letter to the other 3 people, revisit the instructions from point 3).
Thank you so much for your great support.
An English Translation of the letter
TO:
Ehud Barak; Minister of Defence: 036976218
General Eitan Dangut; Coordinator of Activities in the Occupied Territories: 036976306
Shaul Goldstein; CEO of Israel Nature and Parks Authority: 025005433
Moti Almuz; Head of Civil Administration: 029977341
Eli Bar-On; Civil Administration Legal Advisor: 029977326
Moti Shefi; Staff Officer of the Nature and Parks Authority: 026259783
Subject: A call to cancel the orders to uproot 2000 olive trees planted by residents of Deir Istya on their lands in the area of Wadi Kana designated as a nature reserve
Dear Sir,
I would like to protest against the orders to uproot 2000 olive trees on lands belonging to Deir Istya village.
These orders were issued by the Israeli Parks and Nature Authority and were left on some of the trees in the olive orchards. They were found by the 10 affected farmers on April 25th 2012. The uprooting of these trees, some of which are now bearing fruit, opposes the spirit of Israeli law and gravely undermines the property rights of farmers as well as their ability to support their families. I am asking you to act immediately to cancel these orders.
The lands in question, in Wadi Kana, have been cultivated by the village for generations. Israel declared the area as a nature reserve without taking into considerations that the land is privately owned and is used for agriculture, providing an essential income to the owners. Through this action the right of the farmers to cultivate their land has been severely limited.
Here are additional reasons to cancel the orders:
The trees were planted between 2 and 7 years ago. There is proof of this in aerial photos, and in the actual size of the trees. It is not the custom to uproot trees that are more than a year old, and certainly not once they have started bearing fruit.
Further more, the illegal outpost of Alonei Shiloh, with 22 buildings, was built entirely in the area of the nature reserve. No action has been taken to remove it. In neighbouring Jewish settlements, there are 123 buildings that were built within the nature reserve. The intention to uproot 2000 olive trees while ignoring the outpost and the said buildings in the settlements consists a blatant discrimination between Palestinians and Jews and is unlikely to be upheld in a court of law.
Additionally, olive trees do not harm nature. They are a local tree, not an exotic import. In a 2002 report by a committee of experts commissioned by the Israeli Ministry of the Environment ( Policies and tools for maintaining open zones ) it is clearly stated that agricultural land can sometimes contribute to nature conservation as much as nature reserves. In a recent Ha'Aretz article a scientific study was quoted stating that it is the traditional agriculture in the
South Mount Hebron region that has ensured the survival of rare plant species that have disappeared from other parts of the region, including nature reserves.
I was shocked to hear that the Civil administration is planning to enforce the uprooting of 2000 olive trees. Such an act of destruction, with no consideration of the farmers hard work and the consequences to their livelihoods is inconceivable to me. This action violates the spirit of Israeli law which forbids uprooting olive trees. (The 1926 Forestry order, section 15)
It is also in violation of Jewish tradition, as expressed in Deuteronomy 20, verse 19:
''When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?''
The planned uprooting will have a detrimental effect on the livelihood and lifestyle of the farmers, on their relationship to the civil administration, and on nature, whom the orders are meant to protect.
Therefore I ask you to delay the uprooting of the trees and to work towards cancelling these orders altogether. Cancelling the orders will be an expression of the Civil administration's moral discretion and I am sure it will be appreciated by the village residents, the Israeli public and the international organisations that are working to prevent to uprooting of the trees.
Thank you for taking the time to read this letter,
Best wishes,
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