Opinion: Letter

Panelist WUD like to clarify

Thanks for your coverage of the WUD Society and Politics panel on the global food and hunger crisis (“Panel addresses U.S., global hunger,” Feb. 12).

As one of the panelists, I would like to clarify a comment attributed to me regarding use of “food as a weapon.” In the case of the recent invasion of Gaza, it was not the U.S. but Israel, which targeted Palestinian agriculture, though Israeli forces certainly used U.S. supplied weapons in their scorched earth operation.

The Palestinian Farmers Union has carefully documented this ruthless destruction and called for international solidarity in condemning Israeli for its inhumane actions.

Over 40,000 people are normally employed in Gaza’s agricultural sector (12.7 percent of the workforce), growing 300,000 tons of produce annually on more than 7,500 farms, both for the domestic market and export. Given the lack of land, agriculture in Gaza is extremely intensive, relying on greenhouses, irrigation, and other expensive infrastructure.

But due to the Israeli invasion, over 30 farmers were killed outright while working in their fields; 600 acres of greenhouses, 175 chicken farms, 185 water wells, 1000 acres of fruit trees were destroyed; 1200 acres of grain were bulldozed; and $42 million in agricultural exports were lost, etc. etc.

Such state violence constitutes a gross violation of food sovereignty, which is why Family Farm Defenders has joined other members of Via Campesina in defending the right of the Palestinian people to farm without fear. Sadly, the same types of military attacks are also suffered by farmers in Iraq and Afghanistan under U.S. occupation.

Sincerely,

John E. Peck

Executive Director

Family Farm Defenders

jepeck@wisc.edu