palestinian farmers

Settlers seen in their newly-established outpost inside the Palestinian village of Maghayer Al-Dir, in the West Bank, May 21, 2025. (Oren Ziv)

In a single week, a new settler outpost erases an entire Palestinian community

After building on their land, Israeli settlers attacked and drove out residents of Maghayer Al-Dir, one of the last villages in the southern Jordan Valley.

By Oren Ziv May 26, 2025

The Al-Huraini brothers record and try to stop a settler dressed in army clothing from harassing them, in Wadi Al-Rakhim, April 25, 2025. (Georgia Gee)

PHOTOS: Besieged by settlers, Palestinians race to harvest wheat early

Repeatedly harassed and chased off their land, farmers in Wadi Al-Rakhim were finally able to reap their crops last Friday — but only by sheer luck.

By Georgia Gee and Dikla Taylor-Sheinman April 28, 2025

Community members in Khirbet Samra loading their flock into trucks before their departure on Saturday, March 1, 2025. (Dikla Taylor-Sheinman)

Israeli settler violence is rapidly emptying Jordan Valley of Palestinians

Khirbet Samra is one of the last Palestinian shepherding communities in the West Bank’s eastern flank. State-backed settler militias are driving them out.

By Dikla Taylor-Sheinman and Georgia Gee March 19, 2025

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Palestinians and solidarity activists harvest olives in Duma, in the north of the occupied West Bank, on the first day of the olive harvest, October 10, 2024. (Avishay Mohar/Activestills)

‘I lost my wife and my land’: A deadly olive harvest season ends in the West Bank

Restrictions and attacks by the Israeli military, together with rampant settler violence, left many Palestinians unable to harvest this year's crop.

By Imad Abu Hawash December 12, 2024

Israelis swim in a spring belonging to the destroyed Palestinian village of Walajeh, near Jerusalem. (Anne Paq/Activestills.org)

How one Palestinian spring became a leisure spot for Israelis only

The spring that once belonged to the Palestinian village of Walajeh is now off limits to its residents. As of last week, it is open to Israeli settlers alone.

By Aviv Tatarsky October 22, 2019

A Palestinian farmer tending to his organic farm in Wadi Fuqin, West Bank, December 10, 2008. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

As it fights for its land, one Palestinian village struggles to preserve its cultural heritage

Wedged between settlement expansion and plagued by water shortages, land confiscation, and settler violence, Wadi Fuqin’s agricultural heritage is increasingly coming under threat. By Arianna Skibell Maher Manasra stood on the edge of a concrete basin and looked down at the empty agricultural pool. Green moss covered the muddy floor where small pockets of water remained. “It’s…

By +972 Magazine July 17, 2019

Vivien Sansour with Khader and Abu Diaa, participating farmers in the efforts of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library. (Courtesy of Vivien Sansour)

Seeds of resistance: The woman fighting occupation with agriculture

Vivien Sansour, founder of the Palestine Heirloom Seed Library, talks to +972 Magazine about Palestinian agricultural heritage, the occupation in global context, and the movement to preserve local farming techniques and biodiversity. “I speak about the occupation within a global context because it does not exist in isolation from global trends,” Vivien Sansour tells me.…

By Joshua Leifer March 8, 2018

Palestinian farmers negotiate with Israeli soldiers at a military gate in the northern West Bank, demanding the Israeli army ease restrictions to allow them to more easily enter and exit, Deir Al Ghusun, July 9, 2017. (Haidi Motola/Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: How Israel’s wall keeps Palestinian farmers off their land

Palestinian farmers, along with Israeli and international activists, demonstrate in front of a military gate in the northern West Bank, calling to relax Israeli restrictions on access to their land. Photos and text by Ahmad Al-Bazz and Haidi Motola / Activestills.org Approximately 100 Palestinian farmers protested on Sunday morning in front of an Israeli military gate in…

By Activestills July 10, 2017

Palestinian farmers harvest watermelon from a field in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, May 8, 2014. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)

Israeli planes spray herbicides inside Gaza for fourth time this year

Israeli planes have been reported spraying herbicides over land inside the Gaza Strip on four occasions in 2017, including twice in the last two days. Israeli planes sprayed herbicides inside the Gaza Strip for the second day running on Wednesday and the fourth time this year, according to local farmers and Israeli rights NGO Gisha. A video…

By Natasha Roth-Rowland April 5, 2017

A girl from the West Bank town of Awarta harvests her family's olives in the midst of frequent patrols by the Israeli military, October 13, 2012. Because the Israeli settlement Itamar lies on a neaby hilltop, the residents of Awarta are forced to coordinate permission to harvest their olives from Israeli authorities.

Settler violence and IDF collusion deny Palestinians the fruits of their harvest

Stolen fruit, destroyed trees and harassment by the army and settlers wreak havoc with the yearly olive harvest, an essential source of subsistence for West Bank Palestinians. By Yossi Gurvitz, for Yesh Din “The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up” (Deuteronomy 28:33) “I’ve been…

By +972 Magazine December 9, 2016

A Palestinian farmer stands beside an agricultural gate in the separation fence near Falamya village (Gate number 914), West Bank, May 17, 2015. Ahmad al-Bazz / Activestills.org

PHOTOS: When Israel decides to cut Palestinian farmers off from their land

The Israeli army decided last week to close the main gateway Palestinian farmers from four villages use to access their lands — which Israel cut them off from with the separation fence. After a protest the army re-opened the gate, but the incident shows how Israel controls every aspect of Palestinian life. Photos and Text:…

By Activestills May 19, 2015

Daoud Nassar inspects the destruction of his family's grove of some 1,500 fruit trees near the West Bank village of Nahalin, June 3, 2014. On May 19, Israeli forces bulldozed the family's groves, which contained mature apricot, apple, grape, almond, and fig trees planted 10 years previous. The army claims that it is state land, but the Nassar family has documents proving ownership of their land, also known as "Tent of Nations" dating back to the Ottoman period. The family's land is virtually surrounded by the Gush Etzion settlement bloc which, like all settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories, is illegal under international law. (Activestills.org)

PHOTOS: Israeli authorities destroy Palestinian family’s valley of fruit trees

Israeli authorities destroyed some 1,500 fruit trees on a Palestinian farm near Bethlehem. The family has ownership documentation dating back to the Ottoman period. Text and photos by: Ryan Rodrick Beiler/Activestills.org The sign at the entrance to the Nassar family farm reads, “We refuse to be enemies.” In 2000, they named their land Tent of…

By Activestills June 6, 2014

Farmer and soldier (Anne Paq / Activestills)

Creeping dispossession destroys Palestinian agrarian communities

The existence of the illegal Adei Ad settlement outpost harms Palestinians not just physically but also financially, and leads to the abandonment of Palestinian villages. By Yesh Din, written by Yossi Gurvitz The Israeli media stopped, in recent years, paying attention to assaults of Palestinians by settlers, unless it is a particularly severe case, such…

By +972 Magazine April 28, 2013