Pastoral landscape of West Bank has dramatically shifts
Date
8/14/2024 7:51:05 AM
(MENAFN) In recent years, the pastoral landscape of the West Bank has dramatically shifted from a time when shepherds, both Jewish and Palestinian, freely grazed livestock across the region. Today, the scene has changed as settler encroachment increasingly controls the pastures, posing severe challenges to Palestinian shepherds and threatening their livelihoods.
To the east of Aqraba, a town south of Nablus, lies an expansive area of pastureland traditionally used by Palestinian livestock farmers. This region includes several residential communities known as "Kharab," which encompass both homes and livestock pens, such as Khirbet Yanun and Khirbet Tawil. For decades, Palestinian pastoralists have managed to resist Israeli occupation efforts to displace them from these vital pastures, but recent developments have drastically altered their situation.
Rashid Murar, the head of the Yanun village council, highlights the severity of the situation, noting that the area designated for grazing in Yanun has dwindled to nearly nothing. Settlers and the Israeli military now control approximately 90% of Yanun's 16,500 dunams of land. The once-fertile pastures are now dominated by settlements, leaving Palestinian shepherds with significantly reduced grazing areas.
Murar further explains that Yanun is now encircled on all sides by settlements, with all grazing land effectively under settler control. The Oslo Accords have further complicated matters by designating Yanun into two distinct areas: North Yanun, classified as Area C with a population of five families comprising 23 people, and South Yanun, classified as Area B, which houses 45 residents.
The encroachment by settlers has not only reduced the available land for grazing but has also severely impacted the daily lives and economic stability of Palestinian shepherds. The transformation of these pastures into settler-controlled areas poses an existential threat to the traditional pastoral lifestyle, which has been a cornerstone of Palestinian agriculture and culture for generations.
As the conflict over land continues, the struggle between Palestinian shepherds and settlers underscores the broader tensions in the West Bank, reflecting the complex and often contentious dynamics of land ownership and control in the region. The situation remains a critical issue for local communities, who face increasing difficulties in maintaining their traditional ways of life amidst ongoing settlement expansion.
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