In Burin, an occupied West Bank village, approximately 25 farmers organized through the Land and Farming Cooperative face escalating destruction of their agricultural assets from both Israeli settlers and military operations. The cooperative, which was founded in 2020 and now includes 17 women among its membership, manages roughly 25,000 square meters of farmland and operates five greenhouses that serve as a cornerstone of their agricultural production.
Recent attacks have inflicted substantial damage to the cooperative’s infrastructure and crops. Following an incident on July 13 involving a settler attempting to graze livestock on cooperative land, armed settlers destroyed all five greenhouses the following night, damaging plastic sheeting estimated at approximately 30,000 shekels and destroying tomato seedlings worth 8,000 shekels that had been purchased that same morning. Additionally, the cooperative lost over 1,500 olive and other trees, while 7,000 of the 10,000 square meters of wheat planted was burned before harvest this summer. Much of the remaining farmland sits within closed military zones that are renewed approximately monthly.
The pattern of destruction extends across the West Bank more broadly. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs documented 1,418 settler attacks resulting in casualties or property damage through July, a rate that appears likely to exceed the prior year’s total of 1,836 incidents. Human rights organizations have characterized Israeli authorities as enabling these attacks and noted their cumulative displacement effect on Palestinian communities.
In response to this pressure, the cooperative has implemented what its founder Ghassan Najjar calls the “Tom and Jerry Programme,” maintaining visible presence on the land by arriving early each morning and departing when military forces arrive, then returning afterward. The cooperative’s mission extends beyond agriculture into food sovereignty and community support, with 15 percent of sales revenue directed toward village programming and assistance for families in need. Members undergo six months of training covering both the political economy of occupation and agroecological practices before joining, and the group convenes biweekly for planning and monthly evaluations of their efforts.
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