(Amman 13 February, 2011)  Under the patronage of HRH Princess Reem Al-Ali, the Arab Group for the Protection of Nature (APN) held its annual banquet ceremony in Amman.

The ceremony functions as a fundraiser to support Palestinian farmers in the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, particularly those who have suffered from the bulldozing of their lands and confiscation of their farms by the Israeli forces.

Through this event, APN was successful in collecting around 200 thousand dollars, which will be allocated for tree planting in villages of the West Bank, Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. Trees will be planted in locations which are either under threat of confiscation by the Israeli government, or which were completely destroyed during the Israeli military aggression against Gaza in early 2009. 

Mrs. Razan Zuayter, President of APN, delivered the opening speech, stating that  “there is a dangerous phenomenon that we call 'The Agricultural War', where we see the Zionists putting their anger, in an unprecedented way, upon the Palestinian agricultural land, through confiscation and destruction”. The ceremony included a lecture presented by the Tunisian activist Aziza Dargoth, Researcher in sociology and strategies, in which she addressed the revolution in Tunisia from the standpoint of civil society and reviewed important highlights of Tunisia's modern history.

Additionally, musicians Humam Aid and Abul Haleem Khateeb presented a musical performance titled “The Dialogue of the Land and Olive”, and vocalist Lina Saleh performed a collection of patriotic songs.APN is implementing the 2nd Million Trees Campaign in cooperation with its partners in Palestine, endeavoring to replant trees in Palestinian lands razed by Israeli bulldozers in areas where Jewish settlements and bypass roads are built and expanded in the Occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.