LAND RIGHTS IN PALESTINE

Palestine is a country with a population of around 5.4 million and a total land area of 6,000 km2. The agricultural sector -- and particularly olive production -- is the largest sector of Palestine's economy. Amid a long and fraught history of Israeli occupation and control over certain parts of Palestine, farmers' access to land and resources has become not only a issue of food security, but also an act of resistance.

Since 1946, Israel has steadily and increased occupation and settlements on Palestinean territory, and now controls 78% of Palestinean land, and 87% of Palestinean water sources. The majority of fertile farmland in Palestine is part of West Bank's Area C -- and is administered by the Israeli government. The Land Research Center (LRC) estimates that almost half a million dunums in Area C are not cultivated by Palestinians due to restriction, and 187,000 dunums are in use by Israeli settlements. Meanwhile, illegal settler population in the West Bank has grown at a calculated 3.5% annually, bringing with them an increase of violence against the local Palestinean population.