A history of the conflict around Jemna

In the governorate of Kebeli, 500 kilometres from the Tunisian capital, farmers occupy land they claim belongs to them. Led by the Association of the Defense of the Oasis of Jemna, they link the fate of their farm to the success of the 2011 revolution. The state meanwhile considers this occupation an illegitimate act. At the entrance of the farm land, a sign reads: “The success of Jemna is the success of the revolution.”

A history of the conflict around Jemna

In the governorate of Kebeli, 500 kilometres from the Tunisian capital, farmers occupy land they claim belongs to them. Led by the Association of the Defense of the Oasis of Jemna, they link the fate of their farm to the success of the 2011 revolution. The state meanwhile considers this occupation an illegitimate act. At the entrance of the farm land, a sign reads: “The success of Jemna is the success of the revolution.”

The conflict started on 12 January 2011. Admid the heat of the revolution, dozens of inhabitants of the city of Jumna occupied the farm, a former property of the Tunisian Society for Industrial Milk Production, STIL. The farmers organised a sit-in at the entrance of the farm, supported by the committee of the protection of the revolution and hundreds of visitors from all over the region. After 92 days they entered the farm and declared its liberation.

According to the farmers, they regained ownership of a land that was stolen a long time ago by the French colonisers, confiscated by the state after independence in 1956 and transferred into the private hands of STIL in 2002.

On 361 hectares of land, they cultivate some of the world’s best dates, called Ennour. Their sale ensures the salaries for around 130 permanent and another 130 temporary workers, in a region of Tunisia that has been forgotten by financial, economic and cultural development.

The framers organise the oasis in a collective manner, with the Association of the Defense of Jemna only being a supervising body. All decisions are taken in plenary discussions with all farmers. This is why many speak of the agricultural cooperative or commune of Jemna.

But this autonomous project could soon be gone. In 2016 the Tunisian state did not grant permission to the farmers to collect dates, the product they survive on, for the upcoming season, stating that the Association has neither legal status nor power over the land. The conflict escalated when on October 9th, the Association sold the 10.800 palm trees belonging to the oasis to Said Jawadi, a local resident, for the sum of 700.000 Tunisian dinars.

He may now face juridical consequences as the sale is considered illegal by the state. The Ministry of State Property and Land Tenure quickly followed with a statement, assuring that the “stolen land” would be taken back.