Marda a typical Palestinian farming village
saleh on November 27th, 2005Marda was one of the villages where the Zaytoun harvest team supported farmers harvesting their olives. It’s a beautiful village with a natural spring both dating back to Roman times.
The village lies in the shadow of West Banks largest Israeli settlement, Ariel, making it difficult & dangerous for farmers to tend to their trees & pick their olives. In 2005 3,000 olive trees have been destroyed, either burned to the ground by settlers or bulldozed & the olive wood stolen.
During our time in Marda we met and spoke to many people including the village council & local mayor. Marda is typical of Palestinian villages in that over 80% of families are dependent on their land and olive farming. Olive trees dot the landscape as far as one can see & the village is famous for its ancient olive trees, some dating as far back as 2,000 years.
40% of land belonging to the villagers in Marda have been confiscated to build the Ariel settlement & roads, exclusivly for settler use, with 10% of the land bieng confiscated in the last year alone.
The building of the aparthied wall has caused great anxiety in the village and a sense of despair as it further threatens to cut farmers off from their land & devide the village in half.
Their seems to be a sustained campaign of harrasment & theft against Palestinian farming communities. The harrasment has the singular purpose of discouraging farmers from tending their land, this makes land confiscation much easier under the ‘Government Property’ law. Responsible for some 40% of all land confiscation in the West Bank. This law states that land which has not been cultivated for some time becomes Israeli property.
The Village and the Salfit region as whole is rich in water (a precious commodity in the region). However, all water is ‘owned’ bythe Israeli company, Merkorot. In summer, Mekorot often cuts off the water to Marda for several days a week. In contrast the settlements are lush with greenery and swimming pools.
There are problems with obtaining building permits in Marda, and the village has a history of house demolitions. The end result is they cannot develop the village.
Currently unempoyment in Marda stands as high as 80% -95%.
Sources:
Applied Reseach Institute of Jerusalem (ARIJ); B?Tselem, ?Land Grab: Israel?s Settlement Policy in the West Bank?, May, 2002
“Palestine & the Palestinians”, published by the ATG, Beit Sahour, April 2005
