IN STEREO

We can see that the olive trees here have very often been replaced with imported trees from Europe. We know that of the villages that were destroyed during the 1948 catastrophe, the Nakba, many of those villages’ ruins have been hidden under trees that were planted by the Jewish National Fund. And these are trees that are not native to the land – they were imported trees from Europe. Basically, it’s part of the whole colonising system, where you want a new country to look just like the country that you came from. So they plant forests that are not native to this land and that look like a forest in Europe. – Kristel

[The terraces] collapsed a bit in these areas because of cypress. Because Israel threw the cypress seeds from planes and sprayed them with water until they grew up. And when a cypress tree grows up, its roots expand. This tears down the terraces, tears down the houses, anything. As if there weren’t any humans in the area. This was their policy to cover any tracks of Palestinian existence, [to suggest] that they are a land with natural borders. It wasn’t like this. And the purpose was also to prepare for the Israeli citizens coming from Europe and [other] areas abroad, so that it would be similar to the areas they used to live in, [for them to feel they] fit in with the area where they are. But Battir preserved the lands. What’s beautiful in the area [is that] it still adheres to its heritage until today. And they work on the land until today; they’re not leaving them like this. I mean, the country is intellectual: they’re developed and they have awareness, but at the same time, they stick to their heritage. – Mohammad