Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation (ص 126)

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Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation (ص 126)

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evidence. In his visit to Palestine in the early 1920s, Dr.
Strahorn, from the "American Geographical Reviews" observed:
Up to within recent years the land was cultivated
from the Arab villages,located round the rim of the
Plain. Cereals together with minor garden areas
around the villages constituted the Arab cropping
system. In very recent years considerable areas of
land have passed under the control of Jewish
colonies and villages: gardens and orchards are now
dotting the former expanse of grain-fields. (6)
This description suggests that the Marj was populated and
cultivated and that the produce had changed largely due to economic
development. The Director of the survey, Simpson, who surveyed the
area in 1930 shared Dr. Strahon's opinion. In his Report. on
Immigration, Land Settlement and Development, John Hope Simpson
observed:
It is a mistake to assume that the vale of
Esdrealon wr~ a wilderness before the arrival of
the Jewish settlers and that it is now a paradise.
A very large amount of money has been spent by the
various Jewish agencies, and great improvements
have been made. ....There can be little doubt in
time, the application of capital, science, and
labour will result in general success. [It is ,
however, unjust to the poverty-stricken fellah who
has been removed from these lands’ that the
suggestion should continually be made that he was a
useless cumberer of the ground and produced nothing
from it. It should be quite obvious that this is
not the fact.
"In ancient times", Simpson continued, " Esdrealon was the granary,
and by the Arabs is still regarded as the most fertile tract of
Palestine." (7)
Yet the most striking evidence on the fertility and productivity
of the Marj can be discerned through the examination of the "sale
contracts" themselves. Throughout the "sale documents", reference is
made to the productivity of the Marj which produced different crops
112
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Colonial Capitalism and Rural Class Formation

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Nahla Abdo-Zubi

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