occupied territory farmers tell their needs
Calendula seed
From Via Campesina, the organization of peasants and agrarians across the world, comes a list of needs from farmers living and working in the occupied territories of Palestine. In early November a delegation of representatives from social, political, unions, and farmer organizations from Spain met with the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) in Palestine to discuss needs of the rural communities.
From the statement:
[We see] the path toward Food Sovereignty as a tool for resistance, a way to feed their population and to maintain their culture and identity, to survive the violence of the occupation and to remain on their land – a path that in addition unites them in brotherhood with peasants and farmers throughout the world.
Beyond addressing oppression by the occupiers, the statement discusses the significant challenges women experience under both the occupation and a patriarchal state.
The women members of the UAWC and of the Union of Palestinian Women Committees (UPWC) with whom we were able to talk during our visit – and scarcely to begin to get a glimpse of the entire situation faced by women – reminded us that the struggle of Palestinian women peasants is a feminist struggle, one that seeks to end all forms of inequality between men and women and that seeks to question the power relations oppressing both women and those men who do not respond to gender roles.
You can see the full article and find out more at www.viacampensina.org