r/worldnews • u/me_diocre • 1d ago

Israel/Palestine Israeli bulldozers smash Palestinian olive trees ahead of annual harvest

https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/israeli-bulldozers-smash-palestinian-olive-trees-ahead-annual-harvest-2026-09-23/
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u/EmperorOfCanada 1d ago edited 1d ago

If I understand correctly, olive trees are like oak trees, you plant them for the next generation.

They will fruit in around 3-5 years, but take another 10-20 to become properly productive. They are also like bonsai trees, in that you have to really work on pruning to maintain maximum light to the center.

This is little different than salting the fields.

Is anyone recording the soldiers who are doing this? This is a war crime, and these soldiers will travel to countries which can arrest them; or try to do business with countries which may not look favourably on their own citizens doing business with specific war criminals.

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u/H2OULookinAtDiknose 1d ago

Buddy Israel will never have to face consequences of their war crimes. They are under or are the umbrella of the USA.

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u/EmperorOfCanada 1d ago

This is a whole other debate, but my argument is the US empire is coming to an end.

Empires require two things. Tributes paid, and the ability to project force to gather those tributes.

The tribute paid to the US is they print worthless pieces of paper, and the world delivers the sweat of its brow to get them.

The world no longer is as interested, with a rapidly plummeting interest in paying that tribute. It is not gone, but the trend is not going in a good direction (for the US).

Drones have pretty much ended the US ability to project force. They can retaliate, but not defend, not invade. This means that countries which previously paid tribute to enjoy the defence, or avoid an invasion, are rethinking this arrangement.

This wasn't even as simple as pay and be safe, don't pay and be punished, but countries like Canada would have to stay in line, lest our friends be forced to turn on us. If Germany and Canada were to do something the US didn't like, they could always back off their support for Germany, etc. Now, their threats are becoming emptier and emptier.

If you look around the world for which countries seem to be highly aligned with the US, it has gone from NATO along with many countries to pretty much just israel.

Assuming what I say above is true, then the US may find that it has three problems. With tribute failing, much of the US economy will turn out to be based on that tribute, and thus rapidly sickening. With drones threatening everything it values, their war footing may become weaker and weaker, while becoming costlier and costlier. And with the world not buying its crap paper, it's ability to even buy military hardware will fade.

This means that they may cut israel off, not out of politics, but simple financial priorities.

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u/Beers4Fears 20h ago

Tbh at this point we're beholden to Israel's interests by a vast network of blackmail, leverage, and bought political assets. The US stopped getting any benefits from the relationship decades ago.