Battir: how a little village made a big mark on the map

Battir is a Palestinian farming village in the West Bank. Just over 6 kilometres west of Bethlehem, with a population of around 4,500, it’s located on one of the steep sides of the Refaim Valley, just above the modern route of the Jaffa–Jerusalem railway. Farming in Battir is made possible by its stone terraces, which stretch for more than 325 hectares. The village itself is tiny but it’s well known for three reasons: 1) its ancient irrigation system and terraces (and the UNESCO world heritage site status gained as a result); 2) its long, thin, sweet Battiri aubergines; and 3) politically, for its bringing together of Palestinian and Israeli activists to successfully resist the building of the separation wall.