Since October 2023, the West Bank has faced a dramatic decline in security and economic stability. In 2025 alone, UN OCHA recorded over 1,800 settler attacks –an average of five incidents per day– the highest rate since records began in 2006. During the escalation of the USA-Israeli conflict with Iran settler violence has only intensified, while Israel’s lockdowns, roadblocks, and land seizures have further strangled Palestinian life. Farmers are blocked from their fields, agricultural inputs are disrupted, and a UN survey reveals that 90% of farming families have seen their incomes plummet. Women and people with disabilities face even greater marginalisation in this deepening crisis.
Yet amid extreme circumstances, Palestinian cooperatives are organising for autonomy.
Power to the people: Cooperatives Are Standing Up
Three cooperatives: Deir al-Sudan Women’s Agricultural Cooperative, Ramallah Deaf Society Food Production Cooperative, and Bettalo Women’s Food Production Cooperative, are proving that collective action can defy oppression. Through targeted training in cooperative management, food production, and strategic marketing, these groups are not only producing high-quality goods but also securing economic independence and social resilience.
For women and Deaf members, these cooperatives offer more than income; they provide dignity, skills, and a stand. Life skills training also supports the members in their personal lives. One woman from the Bettalo Cooperative shared after a session on violence: “For the first time, I had the chance to discuss the topic of violence, and now I can distinguish between its types and forms.”
Despite the odds, these cooperatives are showing resilience:
- Bettalo Women’s Cooperative has begun an agreement with a local girls’ school to manage and provide food for the school canteen. They have updated their equipment and processes to produce baked goods and light pastries suitable for students. Through this agreement, the students have access to high-quality food, while the Women’s Cooperative has a consistent source of income for their work.
- Deir al-Sudan Women’s Cooperative expanded its cultivation last year by renting an additional plot of farm land. In recent months, they have used technical training and mentoring to rehabilitate this land and diversify their crops. This included the construction of agricultural terraces to improve irrigation and water retention, and the development of farming techniques for new crops such as herbs, kohlrabi, lettuce, and radish.
- Ramallah Deaf Society took steps to strengthen its visibility and market connections, such as hosting a visiting women’s activist from Nazareth and the Taybeh-Triangle area to network with them, demonstrate their products, and build community-based marketing. They also participated, alongside the Bettalo Women’s Cooperative, in a local homemade products bazaar to showcase their produce. They have developed a brand, ‘My silent flavour’, with associated logos to identify their work as produced by the Deaf community.
In the face of relentless pressure, these cooperatives stand as a testament to Palestinian resilience. By sharing resources and knowledge and building economic autonomy, they are refusing to let repression define their lives.
MA’AN Development Centre’s Capacity Building for Women’s and PWD Cooperatives in the West Bank receives support from the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP) and the Australian Education Union.
