Jordan Valley
Tuesday 16.1.18 with Guy Hircefeld driving, Rita Mendes-Flohr reporting for MachsomWatch – 8 am to 11 am.
This was a trip to maintain relationships, create new contacts, and to assess the needs of the Palestinian herders. We did not go out with the herds this time, as they were already out when we arrived, and were not in any situations that required our accompaniment.
We paid a visit to a family in Samra, and hear about the little boy, in a community further up the road, who was hit by a stray bullet as he was sleeping, in the middle of the night.
We take clothes in order to make contact with a new community, also in Samra, but on the other side of the road to the nature reserve – and tell them about the activities of Ta’ayush and Machsomwatch, and give them our contact numbers, in case they are intimidated or attacked by settlers.
We visit our friend Bur’an who has lost 130 head of sheep – mostly newborns – but also older sheep – due to a severe cattle disease ( apparently cattle plague – דבר ) that has been affecting the herds of several communities in the Jordan Valley, and discuss the treatment he has been prescribed by the veterinarian, in order to curb the disease.
We visit the elected official representative of the region in the village of Taisir, and discuss the cooperative efforts to curb the plague, including the funding for a tractor to clean all the sheep and goat pens.
Jordan Valley
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Jordan Valley The Jordan Valley is the eastern strip of the West Bank. Its area consists of almost a third of the West Bank area. About 10,000 settlers live there, about 65,000 Palestinian residents in the villages and towns. In addition, about 15,000 are scattered in small shepherd communities. These communities are living in severe distress because of two types of harassment: the military declaring some of their living areas, as fire zones, evicting them for long hours from their residence to the scorching heat of the summer and the bitter cold of the winter. The other type is abuse by rioters who cling to the grazing areas of the shepherd communities, and the declared fire areas (without being deported). The many groundwaters in the Jordan Valley belong to Mekorot and are not available to Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley. The Palestinians bring water to their needs in high-cost followers.
Rachel AfekApr-23-2026Hamam al-Malih: Standing by the ruins of the school (from right): Peretz (volunteer), Omer Bar-Lev, the two lawyers, a fellow volunteer, and a friend of Omer
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