Palestinian farmers wait at the gate of the Israeli settlement of Elon Moreh during the olive harvest season in the village of Salem, east of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank. Beyond the gate lie their olive fields, where crops await harvesting. However, villagers are often denied access to their own farmland.
Israel established the illegal settlement of Elon Moreh in 1980 in land that was later designated as Area C of the West Bank, continuing its longstanding practice of dispossessing Palestinians and taking over their rural lands.1 This process of fragmenting Palestinian land also entailed dividing the Salem village into Areas B (27 percent) and C (73 percent), effectively isolating residents from their agricultural lands and livelihoods.2
Not only was Palestinian land confiscated for the settlement, but numerous other restrictions were imposed on the local community by Israel. Farmers must obtain special permits to manage, develop, or cultivate their lands, and, even with permission, reaching their fields remains a challenge. Movement restrictions such as gates, checkpoints, and a bypass road built for settlers further block the villagers’ access to their lands, as Palestinians are neither allowed to use it or cross it freely. Palestinian farmers also face harassment and violence from Israeli settlers, further complicating their already precarious situation.3
While this image is from the Nablus area, it is illustrative of gates across the occupied West Bank (including in the greater Jerusalem area) that serve the same purpose—preventing Palestinian farmers from free access to their own land.