Reference :
V-P-IL-E-03005
Date :
20/04/2017
Caption :
Khan Younis, Al-Qarara. Portrait of a farmer. The ICRC helped her rehabilitate her agricultural lands, that were ruined several times during various conflicts in Gaza.
Confidentiality level :
public
Publication restrictions :
publication without restrictions
Description :
This 60 years old woman is a farmer from Qarara region, along with her brothers and their sons. As a result of various conflicts in Gaza, and because they live so close to the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel, their agricultural lands have been ruined several times.
Since 1960, her father had owned 23 dunums of land (23,000 square meters) that provided income for five families, since at that time the land was planted with various kinds of citrus fruits.
Her father used to export citrus fruits, but after 1967 that became impossible. As the years went by, the needs increased, as the land suffered repeated damage. During that period, seh was introduced to the ICRC which helped rehabilitate their land. The family, just like many other farmers, were provided with olive and palm date seedlings. The ICRC also installed irrigation networks to enable them to continue farming their lands.
Although she was an outstanding student at school, she was unable to pursue her university studies as the family’s economic situation deteriorated after 1967. They were forced to save money for the bare necessities of life. It was only by adopting a spartan lifestyle and through her helping her father with the farm that she says the family was able to overcome their difficulties. However, her sweetest memories still go back to her school days.
Even after they were helped by the ICRC project, their land was again ruined three times during various conflicts in Gaza, the last being in 2014. But she is happy that the family didn’t lose the olive trees with which the ICRC provided them some 13 years ago.
Original material :
digital
Resolution :
5353x3569
Orientation :
landscape
Colour/B&W :
colour
