Agricultural Development in the West Bank (ص 70)

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عنوان

Agricultural Development in the West Bank (ص 70)

المحتوى

i
i starting with the
and practices»
policies
ts to the staff
echniques were organized
into several ambitious of extension agents.
is
addition of sone 18 agronomt
new crops and
ractically cover
dvanced to
Demonstration plots on
ensity that they P
and food aid were a
marketing of produce
ed all farming
with such an int
areas. Credit facilities
s at concessional terms.
pioneering farmer
omoted through 4 liberal export-
into Jordan was aggressively Pr
subsidization scheme. The flow of farm produce to Israel was
permitted, although at 4 small scale and when it did not compete
As a result of official enthusiasm, production
with local produce.
Practices were markedly modernized @
undoubtedly achieved high rates of growth.
But official interest in West Bank agricultural development proved
to be short-lived. Favourable policies were gradually superseded
by noticeably depressive policies. This change seems to have
been motivated by a number of economic and political factors.
In the first place the Israeli economy itself was rapidly entering
@ severe recession which was accompanied by a drastic curb in
Public expenditure which included heavy cuts in the budget of
agriculture.
Still more importantly Israel began to realize that it should
Address itself to countering arguments advocating the establishment
of : .
a Palestinian State, mainly by pre-empting the production base
of
its potential components: the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Furthermore, I
» Israel's economic policies in the occupied territories
appear motivated
Partly by a colonial intent, whether in terms
°f exploiting the:
ng ir resources or cultivating their sizeable
Consumption potentia
1. Expansion in local production would
’
nd certain patterns of agriculture
Wil
130
from Israel's point of view, jeopardize the flow of Israeli goods
to the occupied territories and might depress prices in Israel
itself.
Against this mixed background, the agricultural policy of the
Military Administration seems to rest, at least for the present,
on the following guidelines:
1. Reducing the area under active cultivation to a minimum size
in an effort to facilitate quiet transfer of land to Israeli
hands. This, as explained in the section on land resources,
has been accomplished by a wide range of land confiscation
and closure policies.
2. curtailing all patterns of farming which entail visible and
long-term attachment of farmers to arable land. Foremost,
this applies to olives, grapes, and almonds. In contrast,
the Department is far more interested in promoting annual
field and vegetable crops. Lop-sided sectoral emphasis is
spelled out clearly in the Annual Plans prepared by the
senior Israeli officials in the Department of Agriculture. +
3. Controlling all water resources and restricting water use
in Arab agriculture to the minimm, other usable reserves
going to Israeli settlements.
4. Expediting the mobility of labour from rural communities
into Israel or, alternatively, to neighbouring countries.
5. Exploiting untransferable abundant resources, particularly
immobile labour (eg old men and village women), in producing
Si eee
1. Examples: All pest control demonstrations for olives
have been stopped since the early seventies; distribution
of seedlings requires approval by senior officials; seed
oils and Spanish olive oil are permitted in at concessional
terms.
IOLA RE SOD WDE
meen ES

هو جزء من

Agricultural Development in the West Bank

تاريخ

١٩٨٢

المنشئ

Hisham Masoud Awartani

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