Middle East Research and Information Project

Critical Coverage of the Middle East Since 1971

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Ariel Handel

Ariel Handel is a researcher with the Lost Cities project (Cities Lost and Found: The Social Life of Ruins in Israel/Palestine, 1882 to the Present).

Indigenous Wine and Settler Colonialism in Israel and Palestine
The trilingual Marawi label on the Recanati Winery’s “ancient wines” series. Daniel Monterescu, 2018.Elyashiv Drori walks across his research vineyard at Ariel University. The signpost acknowledges the financial support of Ariel University, the Jewish National Fund, the Samaria Region and the Jordan Valley Research and Development Center for his “Israeli grapevine varieties.” Daniel Monterescu 2018Elyashiv Drori (left), a molecular biologist, at work in his research winery at Ariel University in the West Bank. An assistant winemaker removes a tasting sample from a barrel. Daniel Monterescu, 2018.In the northern hills of the West Bank, winemaker Fadi Batarseh points across the Cremisan Valley at the Israeli settlement Har Gilo, south of Jerusalem and close to Bethlehem. Daniel Monterescu, 2017.The Israeli separation barrier cuts through the Cremisan monastery’s fields in the West Bank. Daniel Monterescu, 2017.Under the banner “We live and exist here,” Bethlehem-area Christians and solidarity activists celebrate Mass to protest the Israeli separation wall that will cut off the Cremisan monastery and winery from nearby Palestinian communities. Ryan Rodrick Beiler, 2011.
MER Article

Indigenous Wine and Settler Colonialism in Israel and Palestine

In 2008 the first Palestinian wine made from indigenous grapes was released, introducing a discourse of primordial place-based authenticity into the local wine field. Six years later, Israeli wineries started marketing a line of indigenous wines. Since then, a growing number of Palestinian and Israe
Daniel Monterescu, Ariel Handel • 13 min read