Jordan Valley - Escorting shepherds
A wonderful day. Sunny, blue skies. The land splashed with brown and green, very muddy.
We congratulated Najya on Janat’s birth, the tenth and latest sister. Najya went to give birth at 9 pm and was home by 10 the next morning, when she certainly resumed her cheesemaking.
We accompanied Yussuf Bisharat from Khalet Makhul
We went out grazing for a short while without any problems.
We continued with Hagar Sheizaf who had been invited by the group which escorts shepherds so she could see what is going on and speak with those who live there.
We went first to Hamra. We showed her the area where there’s a daily confrontation between Mu’in and Moshe. We met with Fadel in Hamra, lower down, and went up with him to the area of his confrontations with Moshe, whose outpost is about 500 meters from Fadel’s tents.
Moshe has a camera pointed directly at the location where Fadel and his cousin’s flock graze. He shows up as soon as he sees them, either by himself or those who follow his orders. As a result, they haven’t grazed there for a few months. They prefer to avoid coming near him and any contact with him. The recent incidents, during which Moshe and his guys attacked the flock (in November and December), caused pregnant ewes to abort.
All these events seriously damage their lives and their economic situation.
We then met Barhan at Khalet Makhul and Fauzi, Iman and Hahaj in Samra who also described similar incidents: an attack by Uri, a settler from the outpost near Umm Zuka, and his guys, who use ATVs to chase away the sheep, as well as drone cameras and come to their homes to threaten them. If they complain to the Israelis (who are us) it will only harm them – a fence will be erected that limits their grazing land.
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.
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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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