Analyzing Za’atar and Green Colonialism Narratives in the West Bank

Abstract

In 1977, the Israeli Ministry of Agriculture declared wild za'atar a protected plant in Israel, strictly regulating its harvesting. The criminalization of za'atar harvesting continues to be enforced in Israel and occupied territories of the West Bank by the Israeli Nature and Parks Association (INPA). The enforcement has disproportionately impacted Palestinians, leading to debates about the policy's motivations and efficacy. This research analyses the main themes of this issue through a lens of political ecology and within the context of the greater conflict’s themes of territoriality and occupation. A sample of official and unofficial narratives are sourced from the written perspectives of the Israeli government and INPA, and from Palestinian foragers and scholars regarding the za’atar regulation's continued enforcement. I perform a thematic analysis of the regulation, letters, articles, webpages, and a film from the two broad narrative perspectives to isolate main themes present. I find that the INPA emphasizes conservation concerns are highlighted as discursive after understanding the Palestinian narrative, which situates the regulation within the context of the greater conflict. I discuss the regulation as an example of green colonialism, which refers to the use of conservation or environmentalism within government messaging and/or laws to discursively serve colonial ends. Joint Israeli-Palestinian efforts to address conservation in the West Bank are highlighted, and the importance of analyzing environmental conservation regulations to ensure efficiency and consideration of stakeholders is emphasized as there is a need to reconcile power and ecology in an extremely climate and politically vulnerable region.