Food Sovereignty for Palestine
If you ever wonder who is native to a land, look for the ones who protect & care for it.
The power of food sovereignty cannot be overstated - especially within the dynamics of colonialism, ecocide, apartheid, and genocide. With food insecurity and forced starvation as a looming reality in Palestine, it is essential to support Palestinian farmers who are growing food as an act of resistance.
Communing with the land, caring for the trees, and harvesting wild plants are traditions in most indigenous cultures. In that way, Palestinian’s are no different. What is horrifyingly different is the grave ilLegalization of this communion, the level of extreme violence towards traditional practitioners, and the direct intentional desecration of trees, water, & the earth. While we are collectively aware of the gravity of colonization tactics across the world, what is happening specifically in Palestine deserves our attention and full support.
There is irrevocable evidence of oppressive and extremely violent tactics used against Palestinian food sovereignty. It is invoked by the settler colony that is Israel. Some well-documented and frequent examples follow:
Pouring concrete into flowing springs, water wells, and other water sources. Destroying irrigation pipes and in a clear control of stolen resources, dramatically limiting water quotas for Palestinian farmer’s (as well as all Palestinians) while frequently shutting off total water supply. Dumping massive amounts of seawater into tunnels, risking the complete contamination of aquifers and agriculture.
Occupational violence against farmers, by both settlers and military operations. Including murder, life-threatening & life-altering injuries. The constant threat of continued violence, harassment, kidnapping, and murder.
Forced control of Palestinian agriculture, specifically the limiting of exportation, which severely diminishes the much-needed income of famers and their families. Literal tons of rotting produce has been left to spoil at borders throughout Palestine due to rampant manipulations of unjust law.
Stolen & illegally-seized orchards & farms of Palestinian families + large land grabs. All resulting in loss of ancestral land & agricultural revenue for 75 years. The illegalization of the harvest and sale of traditional wild plants while Israel domesticates & commercializes wild plants. The flooding of the Palestinian market with Israeli products.
The burning & uprooting of millions of fruit trees throughout Palestine, including hundreds of thousands of olive trees - some 100’s of years old & passed down for generations. In August 2021 alone, more than 9,000 olive trees were uprooted. These violent patterns cause incredibly damaging soil erosion & climate change.
The mass planting of nonnative species, including Aleppo pines, whose chemical composition makes it easier for forest fires to spread while simultaneously threatening native plant-life.
All of this leads to a loss of cultural practices & a loss of the ability to remain independent.
Though the amount of Palestinians able to continue their agricultural projects has dramatically declined in the last 75 years, due to all of these disturbing facts and more, there are still brave Palestinians who manage to continue growing food for their families & communities. The risk is great as a farmer but there is power to the people who continue to stay rooted in ancestral practices and the earth. There is power, collective power, in supporting such initiatives that directly combat the forced displacement and starvation of Palestinian lives. Farming is a direct link to the right of self determination & independence.
The connection with the earth and the land remains one of the strongest relationships we can cultivate in our life. The people of Palestine are examples of this unwavering dedication; this sacred responsibility to relationship. It is the Palestinian farmers who care for the land even after unfathomable destruction. It is the Palestinian farmers who maintain traditional practices while risking their own lives to feed others.
Food sovereignty in Palestine is tangible action towards the necessity of liberation. It is a path that connects culture and land; a path that ensures earth will be cared for. It determines that the native people of Palestine will have an abundance of clean food to eat within their homeland, it is a direct resistance towards the atrocities of forced starvation and food control. It is a path of true collective care.
Please join us in supporting small farms in Palestine.
As long as they are operating, they are growing LIFE & hope.
Sovereign food for a Sovereign Palestine