History of agriculture in Palestine

In the 19th century CE the Ottoman Empire discouraged, with limited success, the long-standing communal land system called musha'a practiced by the Palestinian Arab farmers living in the highlands.

In the late 19th century Palestinians began to grow commercial and export crops such as citrus in the lowlands near the Mediterranean Sea coast.

Jericho, near the Jordan River in Palestine, is one of the oldest agricultural settlements in the world dating to 8,000 BCE or earlier.

Eight founder crops were grown at that time or shortly thereafter: three cereals (Einkorn and emmer wheat and barley); four pulses (lentils, peas, chickpeas, and bitter vetch), and flax[1] The fig tree may have been domesticated even earlier, possibly around 9000 BCE.

In the 16th century, Franciscan priest Francesco Suriano added apples, citrus, and sesame to the list of important Palestinian crops.

Under pressure from European rivals and steeped in a traditional system, the Ottomans attempted a modernization and reform of their society during the Tanzimat period beginning in 1839.

Opportunities to profit from commercial agriculture for export also motivated highlanders to move toward the Mediterranean Coast on the west and the Dead Sea and Jordan River on the east.

The larger percentage of land called musha'a was allocated and utilized in common by a village or community and parceled out to individuals and peasant families.

[13] In the late 19th century, the growing dependence of some farmers on selling to local and foreign markets for agricultural products and encouraged the increase in individual entrepreneurs who operated in a monetary economy rather than the collective and traditional nature of the musha'a.

[19]: 75 [20] The dissolution of the Ottoman Empire after World War I led to the League of Nations giving Great Britain a mandate to administer Palestine.

The mandate "included the incompatible goals" of encouraging settlement of Jews while protecting the rights of the Palestinian Arabs and a small population of European Christians.

[21] According to 1922 census, Jews made up 11 percent of the population of 750,000 in the British mandate with Palestinians, both Muslims and Christians, making up almost all of the remainder.

[22] The British conducted surveys and implemented policies to convert land cultivated in common by Palestinian communities into private property.

As opposed to grain production in the highlands, most commercial agriculture was on the plains near the Mediterranean Sea and irrigation was commonly used to make up deficits in precipitation.

The Jews mostly purchased land from large landowners on the plains near the fertile Mediterranean coast rather than from the musha'a peasants in the hills and mountains in the interior.

[32] The Jews claimed that the money they spent for land stimulated the former landowners to invest in modernizing Palestinian agriculture.

Charles S. Kamen doubts that view as many land owners were urban dwellers or not residents of Palestine, although some of the money may have been invested in Palestinian citrus plantations.

Most of the Jewish land was cultivated in commercial and export crops while most Palestinians continued to practice subsistence farming growing wheat, barley, and olives.

The agricultural practices, particularly related to the cultivation of olive trees, grains, fruits and vegetables are a central part of Palestinian folklore and serve as a symbol of resilience and overall connection to the land.

The olive tree holds profound cultural and symbolic significance in Palestinian folklore, representing not only a vital agricultural product but also the connection to the land.

Traditional songs, or "maqamat", are sung as workers pick the fruit, often featuring themes of love, unity, and the land.

Farmers would pray for good rains, and many folk stories emphasize the connection between human effort and divine intervention.

For example, it’s believed that "the earth speaks to those who listen," meaning those who respect and care for the land will be blessed with good crops.

Destruction of wastewater treatment facilities and recurrent power outages have caused mass water pollution.

[46] During the Ottoman period, rural women participated in agriculture, which was primarily subsistence based, focused on feeding their families.

Studies of Sharia court records in the Ottoman empire have shown that women could own private property and acquire the usufruct(landlord) rights to public agricultural lands, but laws largely favored men in inheritance.

Olive oil, a key cultural and economic product of Palestine, was used in cooking, in lieu of money, and to make soap.

This lack of land ownership led to agricultural women receiving less services and resources, including loans from government extension programs run by the Palestinian Authorities.

Due to resource and mobility restrictions by Israel, the amount of time agricultural practices, largely done by women, take has doubled in some instances.

Seed saving efforts and the management of rooftop gardens are means of preserving agricultural knowledge and achieving food sovereignty.