The Jordan Valley: A Protective Presence
On our way to the Palestinian Jordan Valley, as Road 505 ends, entrance to Qusra was filled with army cars as well as a battalion or more of soldiers, standing at the roadside and waiting for orders. We are in the midst of a siege on a village family.
Al Farisiya – in the morning all residents went out – except for the both parent couples for a day of fun. Dressed for celebrating, all of them were smiling, happy. We stayed for Protective Presence. So nothing happens while they were gone.
We sat with F., the grandmother-mother-cook-cleaner-baker-and what not, and her ill husband. She is as industrious as an ant, thinking of everyone except for her own self. She told me again about her eldest son jailed for no wrongdoing on his part, and on the day he was released from jail, he was killed in a road accident – a young man in his twenties, married and a father of a child on the way. He fell between the chairs after his mother begged someone who did not accept him to a new home. He had been excellent in his studies and the apple of his grandmother’s eye. On the anniversary of his success, her heart flourishes. Like most women living in the Palestinian Jordan Valley, she is bent down all day in whatever direction. Her back hurts, her legs hurt, her knees hurt but all of this does not halt her work, everything needs to be done.
Today she was on leave. No family is at home. But she made us a simple, delicious brunch (thyme oil, flatbread, white cheese, hummus, red bell pepper) and then we went to see how the grandmother was doing up in the upper compound. The grandparent couple hosted us nicely.
We were then asked to get to a place where the flock had been near Ein Beda and transport the shepherds to shop for food. From there we were asked to get A. to his Samra home, as he had come from Tubas to Bardala in a taxi. Then we drove to Jiftliq at Daphne’s initiative to speak with the family about its daughter A., and the importance of her medical treatment. Before then we brought A. Ibn I. to a dentist at Zawidat on Road 90. We then returned to the Ka’abana family and their ill daughter. As a rare coincidence, Revital who was on my shift is a famous physiotherapist and knew how to guide the family and promote the subject for which we had come.
It is a five-year-old born with spina bifida, just like the girl taken care of by Shuli and Hannah in the past. She is paralyzed from her lower back down, is minimally treated and Daphne has arranged an appointment at the Jerusalem Alin Hospital soon.
The truth is that I don’t like getting into private stories in my report, although they are the most interesting, but the entire Valley’s involvement is a completely different story when we are there every week and everything is out in the open and we are everywhere, trying to help as much as we can.
Sometimes I’m glad that not too many people read our reports, so these details don’t become public knowledge without their protagonists’ consent. We drove back to Makhoul and its dentist-treated child. His father and B. had helped me find the Ka’abanas in Jiftliq. It was late and hot, we took our leave.
Location Description
Al-Farisiya / 'Ein a-sakut
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Al-Farisiya / 'Ein a-sakutA community of shepherds in the Jordan Valley opposite the settlement of "Rotem". Making a living from grazing sheep, the residents are exposed to harassment, abuse and theft from settlers who come to them from outposts and settlements in the area, and their grazing area is shrinking due to settler takeovers, fire zones and declared nature reserves.Machsom Watch companies participate in shepherd escort activities and provide a 24/7 protective presence, and there is continuous and warm contact with the community.
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Al-Jiftlik
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A large Palestinian area in the Jordan Valley (in Israeli-controlled Area C), which includes a town located on two main roads: Highway 57 leading from Nablus to Adam Bridge and Highway 90, Israel's eastern longitudinal highway. Some of its residents are Bedouin who were expelled from the Negev in the 1950s. MachsomWatch women have been in regular contact with the Bedouin communities in the area for many years.
A special connection was formed with the Kaabna family, who, following the demolition of their home in 2017, fled to the village of Hadidiya, and experienced a terrible tragedy along the way. In 2019, they were expelled again from Hadidiya under threat of demolition and returned to Jiftalik.
Jiftalik is the only village in the Jordan Valley for which Israel prepared and approved master outline plans in 2005. All of them were prepared without the participation of the residents and restricted construction and development in the village to a limited part of its area, thus many demolitions are being carried out there.
Because of an inadequate water system, residents are forced to purchase water in tankers, and all requests for the construction of a reservoir have been denied.
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Bardala
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A relatively large township in Area B in the northern part of the Valley, home to about 300 families of farmers and other families. The villages of Bardala and Kardala, located nearby, sit on a very large reservoir of groundwater. In 1968, an "agreement" was signed between the occupier (represented by the Mekorot water company) and three villages (including Ein al-Bida), stipulating that in exchange for their agreement to stop pumping water their wells, Mekorot would establish its own pumping stations on their land and allocate them a "generous" quota of waterinfo-iconfor at the cost of pumping only (a few cents per cubic meter). Over the years, Mekorot violated the agreement, decreased the quotas drastically (from 240 cubic meters per hour to 100 and sometimes 40 cubic meters), and quadrupled the price. The residents refused to pay, and the PA paid for them. In late 2024, the army began paving a new road around Karbala and Bardala. According to the plan, the road will surround and Karbala from the south and Bardala from north and west, and finally turn east to Highway 90. The road will completely surround Bardala on all sides, cutting off the village from all its lands and imprisoning the village within its boundaries. The residents will no longer be able to come and work their lands freely. Our friends were unable to see the roadworks because the army had set up a checkpoint on the road to the new route.
Rachel AfekAug-20-2026Samra. Baby Chick
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Khalet Makhul
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Khalet Makhul
A small settlement of a shepherd community located on the way to the settlement of Hemdat. Two nearby outposts make life miserable for the Palestinians, who make a living from grazing, and the army backs the settlers. As a result, the possible grazing areas are getting smaller.
The local children attend school in the settlement of Ein Al-Beida. Long lines of 3 hours sometimes stretch out at the Hamra and Tayasir checkpoints leading to the town of Tubas, making it difficult to get water, supplies, and sell the cheese, milk, and meat that the residents produce for their living.
Following a deadly attack at the Tayasir checkpoint in February 2025, the checkpoint was closed completely for the time being.
(Updated March 2025)
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