Jordan Valley, Samra Umm-Zuka
07:00 -11:30
Our day visiting the shepherds was accompanied by the wild crocuses and cyclamens that had sprung up after the last rain. Next time we will ask El Haj, the shepherd’s father, what the flowers are called. He is familiar with the local flora. He has gone to Tubas as he does each Friday to pray at the mosque.
The ground was wet from last Friday’s heavy rain, and the flocks walked without raising any dust. Grass is still rather scarce at this time of year.
The shepherd has begun to graze the flocks within a smaller area to prevent the young men from Uri’s farm or Uri himself from harassing him. They are liable to attack him and claim that they are owners of the land despite the fact that the shepherd’s family has documents attesting to their ownership of the land in the area.
This is the reason why the members of our group accompany the shepherds.
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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