Jordan Valley - Accompanying shepherds with The Coalition for the Jordan Valley
We got to the encampment early in the morning,
Borchan was still organizing things before going out with the herd.
Around 7:30, the sheep went out to graze and we followed them. They go quite fast on the hills and valleys and seem to know where they want to go. They arrived and ate what little was left on the ground and, when we returned, they fell on the tanks of wheat and ate it all up happily. It was clear that the grazing was pretty sparse.
It was a quiet morning and calm and no settlers came to harass, not even Yusef, who was grazing opposite our hill. But then we sat down for a light meal – the notice arrived: they are destroying houses again. We hurried off to the community of Ein el-Maita (to the west of Hamamat Al-Malih),
We couldn’t enter the area, the army prevented that. From afar we could see the destructive tractor. A lot of army and cars and dust rising in the air. After a few minutes, the tractor began to leave, and with it a line of soldiers, and we entered the area. Destruction of a housing unit for a whole family. The tents were destroyed and one could see only bits of the floor which were strewn about.
The solar panels were entirely wrecked and, according to what people said, they removed the batteries of the panels without feeling any shame.
What was left for the people? Only to rejoice that it wasn’t the middle of the summer. Horrible. And all we can do is to record it and tell the story.
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.
May-10-2025A Shabbat treat for settlers: evicting Palestinian shepherds from their homes
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