Perhaps the most important player in the Palestinian agricultural sector, the Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC) was founded to build greater food security at the household, community and territorial levels.

Supporting Palestinian farmers is crucial as Palestinian agriculture suffers from a lack of open access to markets, scattered land holdings, a perennial shortage of water and land confiscation. These problems are tied to the Palestinians experience of the Israeli occupation—border closures, the Separation Wall, water usurpation, and settlement expansion.

No protected person may be punished for an offence he or she has not personally committed. Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.

                                                                     -  Fourth Geneva Convention, article 33

Nonviolence.  Opportunity.  Innovation.  In the wake of the recent escalating violence and food insecurity in Gaza, our grassroots partners have redoubled their quest for social change and sustainability in one of the most troubled places in the world.  We are humbled by their laudable tenacity in the face of massive obstacles.

Gaza's humanitarian situation is at its worst since Israel occupied the territory in 1967, say human rights and development groups including Amnesty International, Save the Children, Cafod, Care International and Christian Aid.

The Government of Israel continues to tighten the noose on the Palestinian People through imposing the economic closure on the Gaza Strip as a form of collective punishment. Israel has declared the Gaza Strip "a hostile entity," and is beginning to translate this declaration into practical steps; for example, Israel doesn't permit any access to raw materials, so 85% of Gaza manufacturing business has been closed down with over 35,000 workers laid off. An additional 35,000 workers have been laid off from other sectors including construction, trade and service sectors. All imports and exports remain blocked while few basic materials are allowed to enter the Strip. Medical supplies are lacking in the hospitals which reduces hospitals' capacity to treat patients.

Interview with Ahmed Sourani, PARC-Gaza
September 13, 2006

One of the best things about working at Grassroots International is the incredible circle of people we are able to connect with.

Photographs by Jennifer Lemire for Grassroots International

Many things have changed in the Gaza Strip since Hamas won the elections in January 2006 according to the public will. The E.U. and U.S.

PARC is one of the largest NGOs in Palestine concerned with sustainable rural development and social change.

The Gaza Strip is a difficult place to begin a trip. In Gaza, the full impact of the occupation hits you smack in the face the very second you reach Erez. Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world...if not the most. According to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR), one of GRI's partners, approximately 1.3 million people are living on 365 square kilometers of land. Nearly 900,000 residents are considered refugees, about half of whom are living in the 8 camps in Gaza. 61% of the population is under 19 years old and the average family size of 6.9. In a recent publication, B'tselem, an Israeli human rights group, reports that more than 77% of Gazans now live below the poverty line - almost double the number before the intifada -and that some 23 percent of Gazans are in "deep poverty," meaning that they do not reach the subsistence poverty line even after receiving aid from international agencies.