Is This Tree Really Being Destroyed? Or Replanted?
Jeremy Moodey, the CEO of the British Charity Embrace the Middle East, is very quick to condemn Israel. His antipathy toward Israel is documented in part here.
Predictably, Moodey’s Twitter feed is filled with a number of links to anti-Israel polemics and propaganda, but one Tweet, posted on August 17, 2015 is worthy of closer scrutiny.
Moodey’s Tweet accuses Israel of “demolishing” an ancient olive tree in Bethlehem
But is that what’s really going on in the photo he Tweeted?
If one looks closely at the photo, one can see that the workers have taken great care to keep its root system intact. If the tree was being demolished, why would they treat the tree with such care?
It doesn’t look like the tree is being demolished, but replanted.
Moodey has been challenged on Twitter by analyst J.E. Dyer.
@JeremyMoodey Perfectly pruned, lifted out with intact root ball – looks like a tree being routinely transplanted from here. #Palestine
— J.E. Dyer (@OptimisticCon) August 20, 2015
In a subsequent Tweet, Dyer provides a link to the website of a horticulturist in the United States who specializes in replanting olive trees. The technique used by the horticulturalist in the U.S. appears to be about the same as what’s going on Moodey’s photo. In another Tweet, Dyer also provides a link to an article in the Wall Street Journal that indicates that there is a booming market for old olive trees. People pay serious amounts of cash for these trees.
Can Jeremy Moodey provide any more details regarding the photo and the event it records?
For example:
Who took the photo?
Where is the tree located, exactly?
Who told Moodey the tree was being “demolished”?
Who are the people moving the tree?
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