Interview with Hasan Sari, Filmmaker, Poet and Entrepreneur

This interview was conducted by Brice Garreau

Plastic and garbage have bad effects on the environment, but we all know that war destroys the environment in a more brutal way. Now we want to know:

Has this war affected the Palestinian environment? How?

In recent history, wars have become a truly devastating force with massive and serious impact on the natural environments of those countries which were turned into a war zone. Decades-long military occupation, as the Israeli apartheid in Palestine, is one of the worst forms of wars and have been causing a structural damage to the environment in the occupied territories since it stated.

For countless generations, Palestinians have lived and worked sustainably and in harmony with the natural environment in historical Palestine, maintaining the indigenous landscape, sharing common resources, and growing a wide variety of crops as cultivation forms a central part of Palestinian culture and identity. Since 1948, when the state of Israel was established through war crimes and ethnic cleansing on 78% of Palestine and 3/4 of all Palestinians were expelled from their homes, the occupation has been damaging and destroying the environment in order to exploit its natural resources; to pressure Palestinians to leave their land, as part of its repeated military assaults and illegal siege and blockade of Gaza; and to erase evidence of Palestinian existence and connection to the land.

Israel’s environmental apartheid is harmful to the climate and violates the human rights of Palestinians, and is part of Israel’s broader system of apartheid against Palestinians, both inside Israel’s internationally recognized borders and in the territories it has militarily occupied since 1967 (the West Bank, East Jerusalem, Gaza). Israel systematically denies Palestinians in the occupied territories and parts of Israel access to clean and safe drinking water. Israel steals more than 80% of water in the occupied West Bank and expropriates it for use in illegal settlements, denying Palestinians access to water while supplying Israeli settlers with enough water to fill swimming pools, irrigate crops, and wash vehicles. Because of Israeli restrictions, Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank and Gaza are restricted from drilling water wells and installing water pumps, and are denied access to the Jordan River and freshwater springs. The Israeli army also regularly destroys Palestinian pipelines and water tanks, blocking Palestinians from even collecting rainwater. As a result, Palestinians are forced to live on an average of just 19 gallons of water per day—well below the WHO minimum.

Some reports indicate that the olive groves in Palestine are decreasing day by day. What is the reason for that?

Israel's environmental apartheid refers to the occupation's systematic exploitation of the environment in Palestine and the discriminatory system by which Palestinians are dispossessed of their land, water, and other natural resources while being disproportionately impacted by ecological damage caused by Israel.  Since 1967, Israel has uprooted at least 2.5 million trees in the occupied territories, including nearly one million olive trees, which are a primary source of food and income for many Palestinians. The occupation forces and illegal settlers of apartheid Israel have uprooted over 13 thousand Palestinian olive trees in the occupied West 'bank since the beginning of 2022. Israel's environmental apartheid uproots trees and destroys natural habitats in order to erase Palestinian history, identity and existence.

Environmental pollution, a weapon against the Palestinians: why does the international community not condemn this crime?

Palestinians need more than condemnation to stop the Israeli occupation and environmental apartheid from further damaging what has been remained of their ecological system. It’s no secret that this brutal occupation force and rogue state enjoy full impunity due to the cover it gets from the so-called free-world, for its non-stop crimes against Palestinians, their lands, trees, water resources, air and environment in general. The democratic West that preaches human rights to the rest of the world is empowering this genocide in Palestine, and Palestinian environment is no exception. Israel is a threat not only to Palestinians life and environment, but also to that of neighboring countries and their people; the leaks from Israel’s Dimona nuclear reactor is only one example. No investigations by the international community's concerned agencies were demanded or allowed.

How is the slogan of free Palestine, healthy environment realized?

To cut this issue short, free Palestine and healthy environment can only be achieved and materialized through putting an end to this bloody nightmare called apartheid Israel and its criminal military occupation that has been targeting Palestinians and their life, land, and environment for over seven nightmarish decades so far.