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Protect The Trees

September 2, 2009 18 Comments

by Dalia Majed

In arid Amman, where we’re starting to have dust storms in summer and where every tree is worth a fortune, one would hope that a few olive trees might have escaped the uprooting and relocation that the municipality started a couple of years ago.

A few days ago I heard the ominous sound of buzz saws, and very much hoped it was just someone trimming their garden. I went on working, but when I eventually looked out of the window, I saw the aborted trunks of the decades-old olive trees exposed sadly with their fertile branches scattered on the pavement around them.

Still, I hoped that the trunks would be left perhaps to sprout again.
No such luck. The buzz saws came back today and I was too sick to watch the final murder as I already knew from neighbours that protest was useless.

I know some people are allergic. I myself take anti-allergy medicines, but I would do almost anything to protect a tree, especially one so old. They added something precious to this peaceful side street; I used to see peasant women come by very early in the morning to pick their fruits off the trees. You can actually see and hear humming birds and wild pigeons on Friday, seeking any small green oasis in our stone and concrete edifice.

It is so sad. The pavement of our quiet side street was wide enough, and the trees could have easily just been trimmed. I wish we were given the option to replant them in our back gardens.
How is it that a type of tree that has lived in this region for centuries – symbolic of so much and giving shade in the harsh heat of summer, is now murdered just like olive trees are by Israeli bulldozers in Palestinian farms?

A tree is the greatest expression of life there is. Spread life. Plant trees for your grandchildren to enjoy, and protect them.

http://www.undermyolivetree.com/ Ali Dahmash

Actualy I saw the Olive trees that were removed from our neighborhoods planted on the sides of the Airport road. Olive trees are great but they are not for the city, they are better off in our fields
http://www.undermyolivetree.com Ali Dahmash

Actualy I saw the Olive trees that were removed from our neighborhoods planted on the sides of the Airport road. Olive trees are great but they are not for the city, they are better off in our fields
http://www.7iber.com/ ramsey

I think there is a place for them in the city, but they way there were planted makes the sidewalk almost completely useless. I say pick, turn the sidewalk into an olive groove, or make it a sidewalk. But both don’t work so well.

That’s one of the reasons everyone walks in the street.

It is painful though, watching olive trees go down.
http://www.7iber.com ramsey

I think there is a place for them in the city, but they way there were planted makes the sidewalk almost completely useless. I say pick, turn the sidewalk into an olive groove, or make it a sidewalk. But both don’t work so well.

That’s one of the reasons everyone walks in the street.

It is painful though, watching olive trees go down.
http://www.kinziblogs.wordpress.com/ kinzi

Dalia, I was thinking up a blog post about this very topic, having seen, heard and smelled the cutting in my neighborhood too.

My first thought was the waste of olives within weeks of harvest. It is such a valuable indigenous resource, it seems a crime against nature and God’s gift to cut down the trees now, just before bearing fruit.

The second was mourning the loss of traditional of post-harvest gleaners. The sight of women gleaning each precious olive, so careful not to waste even one, is one of those Ammani heritage scenes that will now slip from memory. Like watching the sheep and goats being herded through subdivisions, it is one of those sites that connect urban city-dwellers to the values of another generation. Not all things modern are good.

The fourth was the irony that my neighborhood used to be filled with family olive groves, before olive trees became token-ist ornamental street decor. The land became too valuable to ‘just’ raise olives, it became more profitable to raise ‘apartments’.

The fifth was the point you mentioned, it just seems anti-solidarity with those who have had family farms confiscated and bulldozed across the river.

With the loss of the street-dwelling symbols of peace comes an ominous feeling that hope for peace between peoples will be lost as well.
http://www.kinziblogs.wordpress.com kinzi

Dalia, I was thinking up a blog post about this very topic, having seen, heard and smelled the cutting in my neighborhood too.

My first thought was the waste of olives within weeks of harvest. It is such a valuable indigenous resource, it seems a crime against nature and God’s gift to cut down the trees now, just before bearing fruit.

The second was mourning the loss of traditional of post-harvest gleaners. The sight of women gleaning each precious olive, so careful not to waste even one, is one of those Ammani heritage scenes that will now slip from memory. Like watching the sheep and goats being herded through subdivisions, it is one of those sites that connect urban city-dwellers to the values of another generation. Not all things modern are good.

The fourth was the irony that my neighborhood used to be filled with family olive groves, before olive trees became token-ist ornamental street decor. The land became too valuable to ‘just’ raise olives, it became more profitable to raise ‘apartments’.

The fifth was the point you mentioned, it just seems anti-solidarity with those who have had family farms confiscated and bulldozed across the river.

With the loss of the street-dwelling symbols of peace comes an ominous feeling that hope for peace between peoples will be lost as well.
http://www.kinziblogs.wordpress.com/ kinzi

(I obviously lost #3 somewhere)
http://www.kinziblogs.wordpress.com kinzi

(I obviously lost #3 somewhere)
Um Omar

Looks like bad timing on the Municipalities part, right before harvest, but at the same time I am glad to see those trees go. Folks don’t trim their trees correctly and no one can even use the sidewalks in Amman due to these darn trees everywhere. Get some palm trees or something pedestrian friendly to plant on the sidewalk. Just not olives. Keep those in your backyard or farms. Save our sidewalks for walking!
Um Omar

Looks like bad timing on the Municipalities part, right before harvest, but at the same time I am glad to see those trees go. Folks don’t trim their trees correctly and no one can even use the sidewalks in Amman due to these darn trees everywhere. Get some palm trees or something pedestrian friendly to plant on the sidewalk. Just not olives. Keep those in your backyard or farms. Save our sidewalks for walking!
Patrick

Oh thank God. If I had a fil for every time I muttered to myslf that “too many trees” was Jordan’s biggest problem… What wonderful prioritization.

Keep truckin’ that water, GAM, and cuttin’ down those trees and all good things will be yours.
Patrick

Oh thank God. If I had a fil for every time I muttered to myslf that “too many trees” was Jordan’s biggest problem… What wonderful prioritization.

Keep truckin’ that water, GAM, and cuttin’ down those trees and all good things will be yours.
Diala Al Jabri

olive trees are blessed trees mentioned in the Koran and Bible…who says they cannot be part of eclectic town planning…are we in such a verdant paradise that we can celebrate the buzz sawing of a tree that old!!!!…plan pavements better.

Palm trees would be lovely but very hard to care for in Amman – if u mean real palms – the Washingtonia in use in many streets need huge amounts of trimming to reach a benign height and remain just prickly fans while an olive tree is an oasis as it was on the hills around Jerusalem…have we no veneration for continutiuty?

And if they must go – replant them – and send a truck of large saplings for replanting right after the desecration so that the neighborhood can care for new trees…

U are recreating a desert…look at the Emirates that have killed themselves providing greenery and actually created milder climatic zones
Diala Al Jabri

olive trees are blessed trees mentioned in the Koran and Bible…who says they cannot be part of eclectic town planning…are we in such a verdant paradise that we can celebrate the buzz sawing of a tree that old!!!!…plan pavements better.

Palm trees would be lovely but very hard to care for in Amman – if u mean real palms – the Washingtonia in use in many streets need huge amounts of trimming to reach a benign height and remain just prickly fans while an olive tree is an oasis as it was on the hills around Jerusalem…have we no veneration for continutiuty?

And if they must go – replant them – and send a truck of large saplings for replanting right after the desecration so that the neighborhood can care for new trees…

U are recreating a desert…look at the Emirates that have killed themselves providing greenery and actually created milder climatic zones
Diala Al Jabri

http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/local_news/a_new_look_at_negev_desert/14437
Mr. Wiesman, a professor in BGU’s Department of Biotechnology Engineering and head of its phyto-lipid biotech lab.
The Negev contains most of Israel’s land, but few plants can grow in the heat and dryness and salty water. Mr. Wiesman’s experimental projects have produced hits and misses.
Apples didn’t succeed. They tolerated the heat, but not the lack of good-quality water. He did better with olive trees. There are now 5,000 trees in olive plantations in the Negev, thanks to a unique irrigation technique his team developed.
“That’s 20-25 years of work,” he says of the olive trees.
Diala Al Jabri

http://www.jewishtimes.com/index.php/jewishtimes/news/jt/local_news/a_new_look_at_negev_desert/14437
Mr. Wiesman, a professor in BGU’s Department of Biotechnology Engineering and head of its phyto-lipid biotech lab.
The Negev contains most of Israel’s land, but few plants can grow in the heat and dryness and salty water. Mr. Wiesman’s experimental projects have produced hits and misses.
Apples didn’t succeed. They tolerated the heat, but not the lack of good-quality water. He did better with olive trees. There are now 5,000 trees in olive plantations in the Negev, thanks to a unique irrigation technique his team developed.
“That’s 20-25 years of work,” he says of the olive trees.
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