Permaculture in Palestine
cathi on October 24th, 2004Permaculture in Palestine
In 1993m with the help of Ophaida, an Australian organisation, and experimental permaculture centre was built in Marda. As N, the Marda spokesperson explained to us, permaculture was seeen as a way of reviving Palestinian traditional methods of land management. They were re-learning how to fertilise their lands without the use of chemicals, how to produce compost, as well as seed saving and water recycling
In Nov 2000, 100 soldiers from the Israeli Defence Force destroyed this centre. They smashed the doors and windows, broke computers, and set fire to the nursery and compost site. THey then declared it a “closed military zone” and said that they would shoot anyone who went there. To this day, no explanation nor justification has been given as to why they chose to destroy this centre.
It is impossible for me to understand any reason why the IDF chose to smash up a permaculutre centre. As N said to the soldiers, he was willing to give them a key if they needed to inspect the place.
The project was funded and supported also by Canada, Germany and Holland. It was supposed to be a gift for the whole of the West Bank, a way for the Palestinians to develop their traditional, sustainable methods of land management.
Marda is overshadowed by Ariel, the biggest Israeli settlement in the West Bank. There are 21 settlements in this area, which is rich with water and olive groves. Not only do the settlements steal land and trees from the Palestinian villages, they also pollute the natural springs with their sewage. Marda’s inhabitants can no longer drink from their spring, and uphill from the village you will find hte “sewage line”. Whether wilfully or through neglect, this is where ARiel’s raw sewage spills out onto MArda’s olive groves.
I have heard some Israelis boast that the establishement of their country “made the desert bloom”. Then I hear about the destruction of permaculture centres, see the burning and uprooting of olive trees, and the pollution of the water table that has remained clear and clean for centuries. I look at the settlements newly built all along the hilltops and the roads connecting them which carve through the valleys.
Never mind - I hear the ISraelis are growing carnations now in Gaza.
