Foragers

Foragers moves between documentary and fiction to depict the dramas between the Israeli Nature Protection Authority and Palestinian foragers. Ιsraeli laws prohibit the collection of the artichoke-like ’akkoub and za’atar (thyme), with restrictions resulting in trials for hundreds caught collecting these native plants. For Palestinians, these laws constitute an ecological veil for legislation that further alienates them from their land while Israeli state representatives insist on their scientific expertise and duty to protect. With a wry sense of humor, following the plants from the wild to the kitchen, from the chases between the foragers and the nature patrol to courtroom defenses, the film captures the inherited love, resilience, and knowledge of these traditions, over an eminently political backdrop.