An-Najah Staff

Israel's decided in April 2002 to establish unilaterally a permanent barrier diverting from internationally acknowledged armistice lines between the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) in the West Bank and Israel. Identifying and considering the impact and vulnerabilities of wall construction on Palestinian farmers was done through field questionnaire. The Palestinian farmers found to be able of and already resist abandoning their farming land and adapt to newly imposed conditions evolved from wall construction. Several adaptive and mitigation measures were practiced since the start of wall construction of which (1) increasing water availability by increasing irrigation water storage capacity and home water storage capacity by building home rain fed cisterns (2) Increasing searching for and documenting data and information about land and water resources, its ownership, use, and distribution and (3) increasing media involvement in informing and educating public on the negative impacts of the wall and its illegality.