Free Republic

How crop artist Stan Herd made an acre-wide ode to "Olive Trees" If you're flying through Minneapolis–St. Paul International Airport this fall, keep an eye out for Vincent van Gogh's "Olive Trees" from your airplane window. It won't be hard to miss — this aerial crop art covers more than an acre of land. The unique ode to van Gogh is the work of landscape artist Stan Herd, reports Mary Abbe for the Star Tribune. It was commissioned to honor two milestones: the Minneapolis Institute of Art's centennial and the 125th anniversary of van Gogh's death. "It's an iteration of...

Arabs on Monday were caught red-handed cooking up another “tree libel” against Jewish residents of Samaria. The Arabs were seen cutting down olive trees and demolishing fences in an Arab olive grove near Har Bracha in Samaria, apparently intending to blame the damage on Jews. Two volunteers working with the Samaria Residents Council caught the vandals on film. The volunteers were on special patrol, after Council director Benny Katsover urged Jewish residents of the area to watch out for Arab provocations during the olive harvest season. Katzover called on residents to carry video-filming equipment as they traveled the roads, in...

Foreign anarchists and Palestinian Authority Arabs were caught on film Sunday setting fire to a wooded area outside the Jewish town of Bat Ayin, between Jerusalem and Hevron. The fire damaged many plants, including olive trees. Residents who witnessed the incident said they believe the group was planning to blame the arson attack on the Jews of Bat Ayin.

Insect could help fight spread of tamarisk. residents who have battled with the invasive tamarisk, or salt cedar, could find relief in the form of a beetle. The Colorado Department of Agriculture is introducing a beetle - the only known natural enemy of the tamarisk. The beetle comes from Asia, where tamarisk first originated. The tamarisk is an invasive, nonnative plant that was originally brought to the United States from Asia to control erosion. But the noxious shrub is said to cover 10,000 acres in Montezuma County. It can have roots that run as deep as 100 feet and can...

Arabs and leftists uprooted a Jewish orchard and went on to plant olive trees in a Jewish community on the Jewish "New Year of Trees.” One left-wing activist hit a security guard with his car. The incident occurred Saturday morning at Sde Boaz, a hilltop community in Gush Etzion located at the region’s highest point, between Neve Daniel and Betar Illit. The destroyed orchard, consisted of apple, cherry, pomegranate, pear, carob and olive trees. After destroying the trees, a dozen activists made their way to Sde Boaz. They accompanied Arabs from the PA-controlled village of El-Khader and began planting olive...

Four Palestinian Authority Arabs were caught by Samaria district police Tuesday evening as they were trying to cut down olive trees. The four claimed they were working for the owner of the property, who sent them to cut down the trees. Police launched an investigation to question the owner and determine whether the four have been involved in similar incidents in the past. They were held for questioning.

Once again, reports that Jewish settlers cut down Arab-owned olive trees are suspected to be a "left-wing provocation" against the Jews of Judea and Samaria. It was widely reported Sunday, in the name of Arab sources in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas, that Jewish settlers from the Shomron had chopped down 200 olive trees owned by Arabs. The Ynet site, for instance, wrote, "Palestinian sources reported that settlers from an outpost near Elon Moreh had cut down" the trees. The reports were immediately followed by condemnations of the Jewish population in the Shomron and Israel's rule there. The extremist left-wing organization...

NABLUS, West Bank (Reuters) - Jewish settlers cut down and uprooted hundreds of olive trees on Palestinian farms near the West Bank city of Nablus on Sunday, residents and Israeli police said. Settlers from the most radical enclaves in the occupied West Bank have often attacked farms since the start of a Palestinian uprising in 2000, in which settlers have often been targeted by militants. Settlers say that the land, which Palestinians want for a state, is theirs by biblical birthright. Residents of Salem said dozens of settlers from Elon Moreh chopped down hundreds of the town's olive trees, the...