Hakoritna Farm (which loosely translates to ‘Garden Farm’) is located in the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm and is bisected by Israel’s “Separation Barrier” – the concrete walls, barbed wire, military roads and ditches that run up and down occupied Palestinian territory; often separating Palestinian communities and families from each other or, as in this case, separating farmers from their land.
The Permaculture of Resistance
For Fayez Taneeb, the owner of the farm since 1984, the struggle is far from over. In 2005, he became active with the local Popular Committee Against the Wall and Settlements, and worked with a number of partners to coordinate a ‘Walk Along the Wall’’ for international peace activists. Many of those who attended came from the ‘peace village’ of Tamera, a ecological community and peace-research project based in Portugal.
“That was when I started to hear about permaculture, and to realise its potential. From Tamera I received the message that water, food, and energy are available to all humanity if we work with the laws of nature,” Fayez told al-Araby al-Jadeed. “That’s a powerful resistance tool, because water, food and energy are things that Israel does not want us to control.”
Hakoritna Farm has been the host and venue for educational- and network meetings, and continues to serve as a demonstration site for Permaculture food production and sustainable technological solutions. Currently this includes several forms of chemical-free raised-bed horticulture; solar food drying; biogas energy production; local seed collection, trading, and storage; and an innovative aquaponics installation.
