Siri 8 – Kemahiran rakyat Palestin dalam Pertanian

Bagi mereka yang berada di UK, limau Jaffa merupakan 'produce'

yang biasa dilihat di supermarket-supermarket TESCO, SAFEWAY,
SAINSBURY dll. Limau ini merupakan antara yang terbaik di dunia
kerana rasanya yang manis ranum.
Bagi mereka yang biasa ke Singapura, limau ini juga meru
pakan limau yang biasa dijual di samping limau sunkist California
yang mashyur itu. Bagi umat Islam jenama 'Jaffa' ini adalah syno
nymous kepada Israel sendiri. Walaupun ianya merupakan limau yang
terbaik di dunia, sebahagian besar dari kita mengelak dari membeli
nya atas dasar prinsip dan juga sebagai satu bentuk 'solidariti'
yang boleh kita tunjukkan ke atas perjuangan umat Islam Palestin.
Kita tidak rela menyumbang kepada ekonomi negara haram Israel mes
kipun sekadar hanya beberapa pound.
Mungkin kita tidak menyedari bahawa limau 'Jaffa' ini adalah
'agricultural wonder' yang dihasilkan oleh tangan dan kemahiran umat
Islam Palestin sendiri. Sejarah limau Jaffa ini goes back to the 19th
century lagi. Dalam sebuah buku berjodol 'Before the diaspora' limau
Jaffa dikatakan sebagai 'The Palestinian gift to the world'. Di bawah
ini disalinkan apa ditulis mengenainya.

Today the Jaffa orange is the agricultural product that is

most closely associated with Israeli production. Yet Pales
tinian expertise had already developed the Jaffa orange
before zionist colonization of Palestine got under way. In
1886 the American consul in Jerusalem, Henry Gillman, writing
to assistant secretary of State, J.D. Porter, called attention
to the excellent quality of the Jaffa orange and the superior
grafting techniques of Palestinian citrus farmers: "I am par
ticular in giving the details of this simple method of propoga
ting this valuable fruit," he reported to Washington, "as I
believe it might be adopted with advantage in Florida." It
was not until the end of the mandate (1948) that Jewish pro
duction managed to catch up with Palestinian production levels.
Even then, however, Palestinian citrus production remained
slightly ahead, both qaulitatively and quantitatively.

Umat Islam Palestin merupakan peladang-peladang yang berjaya tidak seperti

yang digambarkan oleh media-media barat pada awal kurun 20. Mereka memberi
kan gambaran bahawa peladang Palestin tidak produktif dan menggunakan taknik
taknik pertanian tradisional yang tidak effektif dan laborous. Mereka men
dakwa peladang-peladang Yahudi lebih innovatif dan menggunakan teknik-teknik
moden dalam pengairan.
Di bawah ini diperturunkan beberapa statistik yang dihasilkan
pada tahun 1946 (30 tahun pemerentahan 'mandate' British). Meskipun pen
datang Yahudi membanjiri bumi Palestin, umat Islam Palestin masih kehadapan
di dalam hasil-hasil pengeluaran pertanian.
Rujukan dari buku 'Before the diaspora'

By the end of the mandate (1948), the total land area under cul
tivation by Palestinian farmers (excluding cirus) was 5,484,700
dunams (1 dunam = 0ne thousand square metres) and the area cul
tivated by Jewish farmers was 425,450 dunums. with regard to
desert cultivation, by 1953 the Palestinian were farming 2,109,234
dunums in the Negev, whereas total jewish landholdings in the Negev
in 1946 did not exceed 21,000 dunams. Thus it was the Palestinian
who made the desert bloom. the following figures and percentages
for individual crops are taken from the official report of the
British Mandatory government of palestine

Grains: Of 4,367,629 dunams under grain cultivation, the Palestinian owned

and cultivated 4,152,438 dunams.

Bananas: 60% of the area planted with bananas was Palestinian owned.

Melons: Of 125,979 dunams planted with melons, the Palestinian owend

120,304 dunams.

Olives: of 600,133 dunams, 99 % was Palestinian owned.

Vegetables: of 279,940 dunams 239,733 dunams were Palestinian owned.

Livestock:

The animal wealth of the country was also largely Palestinian owned

Paletinian Jewish

Cattle 219,400 28,400

Sheep 224,900 19,100
Goats 314,600 10,800
Camels 33,200 -
Horses 16,900 2,200
Mules 7,300 2,500
Donkeys 105,400 -
Pigs* 12,100 -

Total 933,800 65,300

Pig* - Palestinian dari kalangan Kristian.

Rujukan:

1. A survey of Palestine: prepared in December 1945 and

January 1946 for the information of the Anglo American
Committee of inquiry, 2 vols. and supp. (Jerusalem:
Government of Palestine, 1946), 1:323.
2. The area of cultivable land in Palestine (Jerusalem
Jewish agency, 1936). p. 13

3. Survey of Palestine, 1:314-39

4. Survey of Palestine, 1:331

5. U.S. Government, Documents of the Jerusalem Consulate

Gillman to Porter, 16 Dec. 1886.

6.Before their diaspora: A photographic history of the

Palestinians 1876 - 1948. Inst. of Palestinian stdies
Washington D.C. 1984. (With an introduction and commentary
by Walid Khalidi). pp 125 - 136.