Automatically translated from Basque, translation may contain errors. More information here. Elhuyarren itzultzaile automatikoaren logoa

Another form of resistance in the occupied territories

  • If land is the key to the occupation suffered by the Palestinians, we have the peasants at the forefront of the fight against it, because being a farmer is another form of resistance. A Basque delegation has taken part in a solidarity trip organised by La Vía Campesina to learn about the violations of the rights of Palestinian farmers.

To protect human life “it is important to protect and enforce the rights of peasants,” says the Bill of Peasant Rights created by La Vía Campesina (LVC), which awaits recognition by the United Nations. In this connection, the trip to the West Bank and Gaza organised by LVC and the Palestinian trade union Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) took place between 1 and 9 November. The aim was to show international solidarity and to denounce the state of occupation in which they were. The problems faced by peasants throughout the world are serious, but the situation is even more serious in Palestine, where the conquest of land is the centre of the conflict. On the other hand, we must not forget that women have a double condemnation: for being Palestinian and for being a woman.

The State of Israel has carried out the occupation of Palestine under the fallacy of “land without inhabitants for a people without land” of the Zionists: In November 1947, when the UN Plenary decided to create two states, Palestine had 1,972,000 inhabitants. Of these, one third (608,000) were Jews – most of them emigrated from Europe in the previous 30 years – and they had only 6% of the land. Since then, the expropriation of Palestinian land or, what is the same, the disappearance of the Palestinian people has been a constant.

Members of the EHNE Bizkaia and ELB trade unions, affiliated with LVC, visited these lands and were part of other groups to learn about and disseminate the situation and struggle of Palestinian farmers, pastors and fishermen.

Equipment for the development of occupation

“As farmers, we wanted to know how farmers live the occupation. Speaking of Palestine, we must not forget that those who are at the forefront of the conflict are the farmers,” says Malu Egiluze, of the EHNE Bizkaia trade union, about what was seen there. Take the floor of Ana Bados de ELB: “The key to occupation is land. Israel wants to conquer the land, and to do so it needs to expel the people who are in it.” Since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948, there have been many tools used by the State to expel Palestinians from its lands; the first was the Arab massacre and the destruction of its peoples. Forced by the Israeli terrorist militias, in June 1949, there were 940,000 Palestinian refugees. A year earlier, more than 1,364,000 people of Arab nationality lived in Palestine, according to data provided by Europe Press. All his property was confiscated by Israel, as the legislation originated in the period 1948-1950, which are not the laws of the owners, left his management in the hands of Knesset (parliament). The settlers are the ones who take over these lands the most.

The resolutions promulgated by the United Nations are also used by the Israelis to seize land, such as resolution 194 December 1948: "The resolution obliges refugees to be compensated for lost property if they do not want to return home. It is not in the interests of the Palestinians: the expelled cannot return, and if there is compensation, they are only salaries: they will never return the lost land to them,” says Bados.

The wall is also valid for the de facto acquisition of unoccupied land. EHNE Joseba Koskorrotza de Bizkaia explains: "Israel has taken advantage of the wall to get more land and more land," he said. Only 20 per cent of the building follows the green line or border established by the United Nations in 1947. Once the 721 kilometres of wall have been completed, 10% of the West Bank will remain on the Israeli side.”

Round business

Land theft is not the only damage caused by the wall. “There are many who have land on both sides of the fence,” says Bados- and need the necessary authorization to go through it. Once this has been achieved, the military usually prohibits them from entering the area for security reasons, official sources have reported. In this way, the daily work of farmers is hampered”.

Kelo Arribas, from the Uztaro cooperative, has shown us one more face of the conflict: “To fully occupy Palestine it is very important to weaken its rural system, which is dependent on the Israelis. Palestinians can only sell their products on local markets, and Israelis make it take hours and hours for the products they carry to be scrapped.” They're not the only deceptions. “Israel introduces its cheapest products to reduce prices for Palestinian products. The Palestinians have to import everything they need and Israel, which controls the borders, imposes an ever higher tax on them, as well as the sale of their agricultural products, such as fertilizers, of low quality and very expensive”.

So Palestinian farms are not profitable, and in the end they are absorbed by Israel, which remains uncultivated, as you said. In order to maintain the land, the Palestinians have to work on other tasks, usually in colonies and factories in Israel. That rounded up the business of occupation, as they are the cheapest workers. “Being a farmer is, therefore, another form of resistance,” says Bados.

David Lopategi is a member of the Bizilur Association and is a member of the City Council of Bilbao, representing EH Bildu. It has made us see another objective of the occupation: “They want to appropriate aquifers, steal natural resources and also use the wall. Groundwater is found in Palestine, not in the land that NB has given to Israel. By opening the wall, the water, which is fundamental to the cultivation of the land, is also being taken from the Palestinians. Now 80% of the water is in the hands of Israel, the rest is for the Arabs.”

Most of the water consumed by the Palestinians is poisoned, as is the water from the coast of Gaza, whose sewerage network has been destroyed by the bombings. Moreover, despite the fact that the 1993 Oslo Treaty granted them an area of 20 nautical miles of fishing, the continued military attacks force fishermen to work three nautical miles off the coast, poisoned waters in which fish stocks are reproduced.

Dealing with occupation

Occupation is a round business for Israel. Because not only do they steal all the natural resources of the Palestinians, but they get 40% of the money they have been given for international aid: what their army has shattered is rebuilt by their companies. We ask the Basque representatives in Palestine whether there is anything to do against: their answer is to push the BDS campaign forward. Lopategi explains what it consists of: “On the one hand, the campaign calls not to invest in companies that are in occupied territories; on the other hand, not to buy products produced in them; and, finally, the international community is called upon to punish Israel to comply with United Nations resolutions.” For Joseba Koskorroza, “it is essential to touch the pocket of the Israelis so that they also press their government.”

Ana González, from the EHNE-Bizkaia trade union, stressed that the Charter of the Rights of the Farmer that drives LVC is also beneficial: “The letter recognizes the right to life. This means the right to have land, seeds, water, tools of work or a dignified life in Palestine.”


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