"The olive tree is more than a tree in Palestine, it is a heartbeat, a witness, a rooted elder holding centuries in its branches. When Israeli forces and settlers tear these groves from the earth, it is not only roots that are severed, but memory, heritage, and the quiet dreams of generations. Yet even uprooted, the olive carries a stubborn truth: that belonging cannot be erased, and that the land remembers those who loved it." Sliman Mansour of Palestine

Olive grove (حقل زيتون), oil on canvas, 2012 by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

sliman.mansour

The olive tree is more than a tree in Palestine, it is a heartbeat, a witness, a rooted elder holding centuries in its branches. When Israeli forces and settlers tear these groves from the earth, it is not only roots that are severed, but memory, heritage, and the quiet dreams of generations. Yet even uprooted, the olive carries a stubborn truth: that belonging cannot be erased, and that the land remembers those who loved it.

 

"Holy Family in an Olive Grove, 2020" painted by Palestinian artist Sliman Mansour

"Perseverance" by Sliman Mansour of Palestine

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic: As of 27 May 2025, UNESCO has verified damage to 110 sites since 7 October 2023 – 13 religious sites, 77 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 3 depositories of movable cultural property, 9 monuments, 1 museum and 7 archeological sites.

Photos from 2022 : Byzantine mosaics discovered under Gaza farm

The mosaics, latest in a series of Byzantine archaeological finds in Gaza, are [were]“in a perfect state of conservation”

https://aje.io/poip3g

The son of Palestinian farmer Salman al-Nabahin uses a sponge to uncover Byzantine mosaics that were discovered by his father while ploughing his land in Bureij in the central Gaza Strip. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

The patch of land holding the mosaic is about 500 square meters (5,400 square feet) and three dug-out spots reveal glimpses of the mosaic. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

 

This mosaic was discovered by chance by a Palestinian farmer while working in his olive orchard in the Bureij refugee camp  https://aje.io/poip3g

AS ALWAYS PLEASE GO TO THE LINK TO READ GOOD ARTICLES (or quotes) IN FULL: HELP SHAPE ALGORITHMS (and conversations) THAT EMPOWER DECENCY, DIGNITY, JUSTICE & PEACE... and hopefully Palestine, or at least fair and just laws and policies] 

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

Found in an area less than a kilometre (half a mile) from the often tense border with Israel, the mosaics are "in a perfect state of conservation", said French archaeologist Rene Elter, a researcher associated with the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem whose team examined the finds. [Mohammed Abed/AFP]

A Palestinian farmer in Gaza discovered this mosaic under his orchard in 2022. Who knows what became of the farmer, his family, his home, and the mosaic.

So far the damage we know of to historical and cultural sites in Gaza noted by UNESCO

 https://www.unesco.org/en/gaza/assessment

As of 27 May 2025, UNESCO has verified damage to 110 sites since 7 October 2023 –  

13 religious sites,  

77 buildings of historical and/or artistic interest, 

3 depositories of movable cultural property, 

9 monuments,  

1 museum and 

7 archeological sites.