Palestinians dedicate West Bank olive grove to Jimmy Carter

Palestinian activists and residents plant a grove of 250 olive trees in a northern West Bank town in memory of the late US president Jimmy Carter, describing him as a staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause.

The former president’s legacy is “rooted” among Palestinians and across the globe, says Abbas Melhem, executive manager of the Palestinian Farmers Union. Carter was one of the few world leaders who “stood firmly supporting the struggle of the Palestinians for independence and for freedom,” he says.

The advocacy group for farmers in the West Bank launched the project in collaboration with US-based nonprofit Treedom for Palestine, which plants trees to empower Palestinian farmers.

Carter, who died last month at the age of 100, brokered the Camp David peace accords between Israel and Egypt in 1978. In his later years, he was highly critical of Israel’s rule over the Palestinians, claiming that the situation in the West Bank amounted to apartheid.

“I think planting olive trees that live at least 100 years old like him is a very suitable way to honor his life and his legacy,” says George Zeidan, the Carter Center’s Director in Israel and Palestine.