By Jennifer Thompson
SYDNEY — Two Palestinians visiting from the Ma'an Development Centre based in Ramallah in the West Bank spoke at a public meeting organised by the ACTU overseas aid organisation, APHEDA, on October 15. Among other community development and training programs run by the centre is a program providing a working example of permaculture design and practice to Palestinian villagers and farmers, and training in permaculture techniques.
Program coordinator, Huda Odeh, described the problems facing the 2.465 million Palestinians living on 6047 square kilometres of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and the development of their economy after more than 28 years of Israeli occupation. Confiscation of Palestinian land — 65% of the West Bank and 40% of the Gaza Strip, including the most fertile land — had been Israel's most destructive policy against the Palestinian economy and social stability, she said.
Land confiscation, for Israeli settlements and "security" reasons, had been coupled with water resources confiscation, so now Israeli settlers consume four times the volume of water consumed by Palestinians, Odeh said. She commented that while 20% of Palestinian villages have no drinking water, most settlements have swimming pools.
Odeh said that the agricultural sector was particularly badly affected. Many farmers were now working in Israel and Palestinian agriculture was now dominated by crop monoculture, complementing rather than competing with Israeli agriculture and heavily dependent on Israeli-produced agricultural chemicals, she said.
These factors contributed to the decision to develop the permaculture sites and training programs for Palestinians. Raafat Khufash, principal permaculture trainer at the Marda site, explained the principles of permaculture, and its application for the sustainable agriculture and food self-reliance objectives of Palestinians. He showed slides illustrating construction of the site, recycling and water harvesting systems, and the problems of harassment and sabotage by Israeli settlers, who had burned down hot houses and attacked the site.
For more information about the project contact APHEDA's Cecily Michaels, telephone (02) 9264 9343, or email apeda@labor.net.au.