A shepherd grazes his flock on July 11 in the field of Mohammad Bakkar, who has replanted trees since his return five years ago to Deir al-Assafir. (Credit: Emmanuel Haddad)
Ezzat walked nervously through his olive grove on the red earth of Zahib, located in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province. Many of the gnarled tree trunks were cut close to the ground. The farmer bent over one and smiled: small olive shoots were already sprouting around the amputated trunk. "When the Syrian army occupied the region, they targeted everything green to turn it into a desert. In this village alone, they cut down about a thousand trees. I had 400 olive trees, and now I have only 250 left," the farmer said, seven months after Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed.Ezzat in front of one of his olive trees cut down by the Syrian army, on July 13 in Zahib, in northwestern Syria. (Credit: Emmanuel Haddad) 'Green Idlib'"Idlib was called Green Idlib, the mother of olive trees," recalled Eid Issa from the...
Ezzat walked nervously through his olive grove on the red earth of Zahib, located in Syria’s northwestern Idlib province. Many of the gnarled tree trunks were cut close to the ground. The farmer bent over one and smiled: small olive shoots were already sprouting around the amputated trunk. "When the Syrian army occupied the region, they targeted everything green to turn it into a desert. In this village alone, they cut down about a thousand trees. I had 400 olive trees, and now I have only 250 left," the farmer said, seven months after Bashar al-Assad's regime collapsed.Ezzat in front of one of his olive trees cut down by the Syrian army, on July 13 in Zahib, in northwestern Syria. (Credit: Emmanuel Haddad) 'Green Idlib'"Idlib was called Green Idlib, the mother of olive trees," recalled Eid Issa from...
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