Land struggle and Palestinian farmers’ livelihoods in the West Bank: between de-agrarianization and anti-colonial resistance

ABSTRACTThis article explores the relationship between rural livelihood transformations and the land struggle in the West Bank between 1979 and the Oslo Accords. During this period, the Israeli adoption of the state land doctrine opened a new terrain of struggle, prompting specific responses among Palestinian rural communities. Bringing Agrarian Political Economy and Agrarian System Analysis in dialogue with Settler Colonial and Indigenous Studies, and relying on an extensive fieldwork, it analyses drivers and outcomes of de-agrarianization and semi-proletarianization in the villages of Al-Walaja and Wadi Fukin, showing how wage work in Israel contributed to uproot Palestinians from their land.KEYWORDS: De-agrarianizationsemi-proletarianizationlivelihoodsland dispossessionIsrael/Palestine Disclosure statementNo potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).Notes1 Labneh is a salted and strained yogurt which is typical of the Middle Eastern cuisine.2 This decision was taken by the Israeli Supreme Court in the frame of the ‘Elon Moreh case’.3 According to an Ottoman law, someone who would cultivate a piece of land during at least 10 years would become the owner. This kind of provision, named acquisitive prescription, exists in other land regimes.4 Military Order No. 1015, Order concerning planting of fruit trees, 27 August 1982.5 Military Order No. 1039, Order concerning control over the plating of fruit trees, Amendment to Military order 1015, 5 January 1983.6 Military Order No. 1147, Order concerning supervision over fruit trees and vegetables, Amendment 2 to Military Order 1015, 30 July 1985.7 Military Order No. 653, Order concerning material subject to control, 15 April 1976; Military Order No. 92, Order concerning Jurisdiction over water regulations, Amendment to Jordanian Law concerning Water, 15 August 1967; Military Order No. 158, Order Concerning settlement of disputes over land and water, 19 November 1967; Military Order No. 818, Order concerning the planting of certain decorative flowers, 22 January 1980.8 Author interview with an ex-member of the PCP, Wadi Fukin, 30 April 2018.9 Author interview with with the Director of ARIJ, Bethlehem, 5 January 2016.10 1 dunum corresponds to 0.1 ha.11 Author interview with Omar, Wadi Fukin, 7 May 2018. Omar is a fictitious name.12 Author interview with Saleh, Wadi Fukin, 30 April 2018. Saleh is a fictitious name.13 We use this phrase after Ross's book title: Stone men: the Palestinians who built Israel (2019).14 Author interview with Tareq, Wadi Fukin, 2 April 2018. Tareq is a fictitious name.15 Author interview with Mohammad, Wadi Fukin, 20 March 2018. Mohammad is a fictitious name.16 Author interview with Samir, Wadi Fukin, 6 June 2018. Samir is a fictitious name.17 Author interview with Mohamed, Al-Walaja, 5 March 2019. Mohamed is a fictitious name. Palestinians often refer to Israel by using the phrase ‘in ‘48’, which stands for ‘the Palestinian land lost in 1948’.18 Author interview with Ismael, Al-Walaja, 20 March 2019. Ismael is a fictitious name.Additional informationFundingThis work was supported by the Fund for Scientific Research (F.R.S - FNRS) – Belgium: [Grant Number 1179119F].Notes on contributorsFadia PanosettiFadia Panosetti received her PhD in International Development from the Free University of Brussels in 2023 and recently joined the Margaret Anstee Centre for Global Studies – University of Cambridge as Postdoctoral Research Fellow. She is also a member of the collective ANR IMAGINE-E research programme. In her research, she focuses on the histories and theories of agrarian struggle and economic, social, political change among rural communities in the Middle East, particularly in Israel/Palestine.Laurence RoudartLaurence Roudart is professor of Development Studies at the Université libre de Bruxelles. She is president of the Department of Social Sciences and Labour Sciences at this University. Her research and teaching focus on agricultural and food policies, agricultural systems and development. She has carried out fieldwork in Indonesia, Egypt, Senegal, Mali, Burundi and Haiti. She authored, with Marcel Mazoyer, A History of World Agriculture – From the Neolithic Age to the Current Crisis.