West Bank farmers confront settler raids and military restrictions in Burin

Burin’s Land and Farming Cooperative, comprising about two dozen families, has been hit by settler violence, including the demolition of five greenhouses and the loss of plastic sheeting and irrigation systems, as well as the death of tomato seedlings purchased that morning. Shortly after, settlers or military bulldozers removed or burned over 1,500 olive and other trees, and burned roughly 7,000 square metres of wheat fields before the season’s harvest.

The village’s farmland is increasingly placed under closed military orders, which the cooperative says are meant to protect settlers but effectively block Palestinian farmers. United Nations data show over 1,400 settler attacks this year, a rate that could surpass the previous record. In response, the cooperative has adopted a “Tom and Jerry Programme,” repeatedly returning to their land to assert ownership despite the threats.