Resisting Colonialism with Food Sovereignty
Food Sovereignty by Dima Nachawi. Source: Untold Mag
One of the longest, and perhaps steadfast fights resisting colonial dominance and extractivism has been the practice of food sovereignty. A long-held Indigenous practice, food sovereignty is not only about holding land and retaining historical ownership over territory in the face of displacement and dispossession, but also about resisting through entrenching one’s survival in land. In Palestine, food sovereignty – practiced and spearheaded by women – remains a cornerstone of resilience against colonialism. This is an especially significant form of resistance given that starvation has been a key weapon in targeting the people of Palestine.
The colonial erasure of Palestine
Israel's colonization of Palestine is enforced through military occupation, violence, genocide, ethnic erasure, and displacement, among a range of different forms of violence. This has resulted in the mass expropriation of Palestinian resources, which has culminated in the destruction of generations of Palestinian agricultural heritage. This erasure and dispossession has been kept alive through structural and overt violence.
On the one hand, overt violence like continuous blockades and destruction of foundational agricultural infrastructure has resulted in the erosion of Palestine’s capacity to sustain itself. Settlers uproot trees, poison crops, block access to farming land, impose obstacles on movement, prevent Palestinian communities from reaching their lands, and destroy vital infrastructure. Another form of violence involves targeting Palestinians’ food and water resources, both of which are foundational for the sustenance of life. Israel controls the water resources in West Bank, and as many as 97% of the water sources in Gaza are contaminated. On several occasions, Israel has also been known to pour concrete in Gaza’s water systems. The destruction of key agricultural infrastructure, combined with several blockades, has destroyed Gaza’s ability to sustain itself. Israel’s weaponization of food to create a state of famine in Gaza is very much an intentional act of brutality with the goal of imposing starvation on the people of Palestine.
On the other hand, structural violence has also been deployed to target agricultural infrastructure. Key to Bedouin subsistence is the Black Goat, an animal that Israel has banned, seized, and slaughtered between 1950 and 2017. The occupation has also incorporated a quota system that restricts the market share of Palestinian farmers in Israel, while ensuring that its own products dominate the market. Fish supplies, and vegetable produce like tomatoes, strawberries, olives, mushrooms, wheat, millets, grapes, eggplants, and onions have been subject to significant restrictions.
All put together, the people of Palestine have been subject to a carefully constructed campaign of starvation. Targeting the people and resources of Palestine is woven into the apartheid.
Resisting through Food Sovereignty
A key pillar of environmental justice, food sovereignty refers to the right of people to healthy, culturally appropriate, and sustainable food produced through methods that are ecologically sound, culturally appropriate, and sustainable. It includes, within its scope, the right to define and implement appropriate food and agricultural systems. In Palestine, attempts at food sovereignty are also significant acts of resistance against the larger edifices of military occupation and colonialism.
Palestinian women have played a significant role in practicing agroecology, reviving and centring traditional agricultural practices, and growing local foods using local heirloom seeds that are grown and harvested in the region. Through this, women preserve unity and subvert colonial mechanisms that focus exclusively on mass production, the use of chemicals that erode soil quality, and that cater to production for profits. The goal is to continue to practice a Palestinian farming and feeding mechanism that lie at the very heart of the resistance against colonialism. For example, the Dalia Association practices food sovereignty by prioritizing autonomy in sustainable food production through reliance on rich local knowledge, wisdom, and natural inputs. Similarly, the Gaza Urban and Periurban Agricultural Platform (GUPAP), comprising women from Gaza, practice composting, greywater harvesting, and integrated pest management, and supply their produce to local markets and communities.
Other examples include the Community-Led Solidarity Marketing in Crisis, an initiative that serves families in Palestine in need with food produced by its members, in an attempt to ensure that the local ecosystem is able to sustain people in the face of starvation. The Al-Qarara Baladi Seed Bank in Khan Younis, which is intended as a frontier against the imposition of imported seeds and non-native agricultural practices, is a powerful effort to resist the erasure of locally produced food. Gaza Foodways is another initiative that works toward women-led agricultural research, practice, and policy formulation and implementation, and prioritizes low-carbon urban farming systems.
Sustaining communities and practicing agroecological methods that are both culturally and spatially rooted are foundational to the existence of life. Colonization strikes at the very root of this sustenance. Subsisting with these practices in the face of erasure and destruction is not easy: From structural and overt violence to the demands of survival, there are heavy burdens to bear in the process. At its heart, however, the practice of food sovereignty is key to Palestinian self-determination. The colonial attempt at dispossession, displacement, and dependency is being met with a commitment to remaining in possession, on land, and free of dependency on the colonizer.
References
Alqaisiya, W. (2023). Women at the heart of agro-ecology and food sovereignty in Palestine. Untold Mag. https://untoldmag.org/women-at-the-heart-of-agroecology-and-food-sovereignty-in-palestine/
Gaza Food Connections: Towards Resilient Women-led Urban Agroecological Farming Initiatives. https://glowprogramme.org/project/gaza-food-connections-towards-resilient-women-led-urban-agroecological-farming-initiatives
Graddy-Lovelace, G (2024). The Starvation of Gaza, Palestinian Food Sovereignty, and The Question of Accountability. Maydan Islamic Thought. https://themaydan.com/2024/07/the-starvation-of-gaza-palestinian-food-sovereignty-the-question-of-accountability/
Handmade Palestine (2024). Some thoughts on Food Sovereignty in Palestine. https://handmadepalestine.com/blogs/news/some-thoughts-on-food-sovereignty-in-palestine?srsltid=AfmBOorEsa_8GE8okLFdGUw6L6A8DTu0CNxS0W21Q4BZ5l4jigMxc2PA
Visualizing Palestine (n.d.) Food Sovereignty. https://visualizingpalestine.org/visual/food-sovereignty/
