West Bank’s ancient olive tree a ‘symbol of Palestinian endurance’

AL WALAJAH: As guardian of the occupied West Bank’s oldest olive tree, Salah Abu Ali prunes its branches and gathers its fruit even as violence plagues the Palestinian territory during this year’s harvest. “This is no ordinary tree. We’re talking about history, about civilization, about a symbol,” the 52-year-old said proudly, smiling behind his thick beard in the village of Al-Walajah, south of Jerusalem. Abu Ali said experts had estimated the tree to be between 3,000 and 5,500 years old. It has endured millennia of drought and war in this parched land scarred by conflict.

Raccontata daarabnews.com