agriculture

Israeli settlers seen invading the Bedouin Palestinian community of Ein al-Rashash with their herd and harassing its residents, West Bank, August 22, 2023. (Omri Eran Vardi/Activestills)

Settler violence is fueling the effects of climate breakdown on Palestinians

Desertification and water scarcity have become immediate dangers to villages like Khirbet ar-Ratheem — and Israeli settlers are the primary culprit.

By Natasha Westheimer October 5, 2023

Israeli settlers with grazing sheep near the Palestinian village of Ein al-Rashash. (Oren Ziv)

Palestinian village fears imminent expulsion as settler attacks escalate

Residents of Ein al-Rashash are calling on activists to help deter Israeli settler violence that has already forced neighboring communities to flee.

By Tash Lever August 31, 2023

Ashes of beehives belonging to Youssef Al-Sarha, burned by an Israeli settler in Khirbet Widadi near Hebron, July 2023. (Imad Abu Hawash)

Even bees can’t escape Israeli settler violence

Settlers began encroaching on Palestinian land where a beekeeper had placed a colony of bees. They burned 20 hives — and forced the residents to flee.

By Imad Abu Hawash August 30, 2023

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Israeli soldiers block the path of a Palestinian shepherd and her flock of sheep near the West Bank village of Al-Mufagara, South Hebron Hills, West Bank, December 21, 2012. (Oren Ziv/Activestills)

‘The hardest year of my life’: Masafer Yatta shepherds suffer under expulsion threat

Israel's escalating repression since last year's High Court ruling has severely impacted Palestinian shepherds, a pillar of their communities' survival.

By Hamdan Ballal Al-Huraini June 5, 2023

Israeli army blocks the road for a Palestinian driving a tractor, during an olive planting action in the village of Deir Nizzam, Ramallah district, West Bank, December 15, 2009. (Keren Manor/Activestills)

The Israeli army is making millions by seizing Palestinian tractors

Data shows the military, with settler backing, is intensifying its confiscation of Palestinian agricultural equipment while profiting from release fees.

By Basel Adra and Oren Ziv May 1, 2022

Chicken inside a chicken barn at the Givat Olam organic farm, near the Jewish settlement of Itamar, West Bank, April 9, 2012. (Nati Shohat/Flas90)

When an Israeli chicken farm has more rights than a Palestinian village

From expropriating our land to poisoning our agriculture, settlement farms serve Israel's goal of forcing us out of our homes in the South Hebron Hills.

By Ali Awad and Awdah Hathaleen March 10, 2022

A goat grazing on the hills outside the village of Tuba in the West Bank, while Israeli soldiers demand a Palestinian shepherd and his herd return home, Jan. 30, 2021. (Natasha Westheimer)

Climate breakdown and occupation are dismantling the lives of Palestinian shepherds

A settlement in the South Hebron Hills illustrates how the Israeli occupation and the climate crisis are destroying Palestinian land and livelihoods.

By Natasha Westheimer April 21, 2021

Palestinians harvest strawberries in a field in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Dec. 30, 2015. (Emad Nassar/Flash90)

How an Israeli smear campaign is ripping away funds from Palestinian farmers

Israel lobby groups are targeting the funding sources of a major Palestinian agricultural union — by dubiously claiming it has ties to 'terrorists.' Other Palestinian organizations are facing the same attacks.

By Alex Kane and Mariam Barghouti January 25, 2021

"There's nothing like waking up in the morning, picking tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchini, and preparing breakfast." (Courtesy of Lajee Center)

Home gardening plants seeds for Palestinian self-sufficiency

Palestinians are digging in their yards and potting plants on roofs to tackle the economic fallout of the coronavirus crisis.

By Suha Arraf June 12, 2020

Palestinians march on the railway line connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem through the West Bank, during a protest against the plan to build the separation wall in the West Bank village of Battir, November 13, 2012. (Photo by Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israel’s top court gives temporary reprieve to Palestinian UNESCO site

In rare move, Israeli Nature and Parks authority supported the petition against the wall; the court’s decision largely hangs on Defense Ministry admitting the contested section of wall isn’t a priority. Israel will not build a section of the separation barrier through the UNESCO recognized village of Battir in the West Bank anytime soon. Israel’s…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man January 4, 2015

Agriculture land in the Israeli settlement of Tomer, which was built on land belonging to the village of Fassayel, Jordan Valley, August 8, 2012. (Photo by Ahmad Al-Bazz/ Activestills.org)

Resource: How agriculture is used to take over West Bank land

The Zionist ideal of Jewish agriculture in the Land of Israel reached the occupied West Bank within months of the end of the 1967 War. The agricultural takeover of large swaths of land requires relatively few resources and time in comparison with actual construction or the establishment of outposts, and facilitates the quick establishment of…

By +972 Resources January 4, 2014

Members of the Women's Platform demonstrate in Nazareth (photo: Wehbe Badarneh/ Arab Workers Union in Israel)

From factories to farms, labor union champions rights of Palestinians in Israel

‘There have been no institutions, no organizations for Palestinian workers within Israel to defend their rights.’ A young labor union is resisting exploitation and defending the rights of Palestinian citizens of Israel, with a focus on the rights of women workers. By Alon Aviram NAZARETH – Security cameras and a heavy metal door secure the…

By +972 Magazine November 3, 2012

Olive tree vandalized by settlers in the Tuwani fields, near the outpost of Havat Maon, South Hebron Hills, October 28, 2012 (photo: Guy/Taayush)

The war on the Palestinian olive harvest

Some 80,000 Palestinians families depend on the annual olive harvest for their livelihoods. This year alone, settlers, with the backing of the army, have destroyed or damaged thousands of olive trees, threatening both a major source of income and an age-old agricultural custom. By Alon Aviram Dry shrubs and a mishmash of makeshift tarpaulin shelters…

By +972 Magazine October 30, 2012