Settlers harass Palestinian shepherds day and night in northern Jordan Valley
Usually Saturdays are peaceful in the morning, the settlers surrender to Shabbat’s idle quiet, and in the afternoon they emerge to take walks and harass the shepherds.
Shepherd F. from Ein al-Hilwe dared to come out with us accompaniers after several days’ break after the army, probably doing the settlers’ bidding, threatened him not to dare graze. The morning’s grazing session worked well, he was a bit confident again and had asked and received accompaniment in the afternoon, which also went well. A little bit of green grass was even found in the field.
Another team helped accompanying the cattle that returned from grazing to drink at the spring. A team remained in Al Farisiya for ‘protective presence’ and spent time with the families. There, too, no events were recorded.
Another team accompanied A. to graze around Ein a Shaq, a natural spring about 2 kilometers from the village. But at 10 a.m. settler Gil’ad Amosi from the poetically named outpost called ‘Green Basket’ arrived with his flock of sheep and tried to chase away A. and his flock. He mouthed the usual claim: the entire country is ours.
A’ called the police many times, and the accompaniers prevented the two flocks from mixing. About an hour later, the security official of Rotem settlement (the ecological settlement of which Amosi is a part) came with Amosi’s father, Didi Amosi, and together they decided not to escalate the event and Gil’ad left. A. continued to graze his flock until going home around 12:00.
Another team accompanied farmer M. from Bardala. This is a relatively large locality in the Palestinian Jordan Valley, inhabited by about 300 families, farming and otherwise engaged. M., a professional agronomist, owns about 300 dunams officially, in which he grows sweet potatoes, eggplants, melons and watermelon. A few months ago, a very violent settler outpost was created, inhabited – so it seems – by criminals, receiving from the state everything it needs. Its role is to make life for Bardala inhabitants unbearable and prepare ethnic cleansing, the final goal. settlers from this outpost came to M.’s home one day, pointed a gun at his forehead, photographed his ID and warned him not to harvest his fields. Two days later they appeared in his fields, chased away the farmers and his workers, and cut the water pipes. He did not dare go out to the fields for some days. He turned to the person in charge of the area in the Palestinian Authority, but he must not have been able to help him quickly enough. M. turned to us for help, and since then, every day, we and international volunteers try to be there during the harvest of the crop that is worth about 250,000 shekels. M. led a tour of the accompaniers in his fields, and told his story – moved to tears. The accompaniers spent the entire day there, until work was finished. On that day, potatoes and eggplants were gathered and the quiet was not broken.
On Saturday, during a wild afternoon, we were called urgently to S.’s home in Ein al-Hilwe. Two 14-year-old boys and two 10-22-year-old boys walked out for a Sabbath trip through the family encampment, and spanked the heads of the girls who were watching the flock. The girls yelled, fearlessly, and one even picked up a stone and threatened them with it.
The Jewish boys were waiting just for this. They forced their way into the family encampment and entered the living quarters. The little one, a future Smotrich, sat down on the bed in the guest room and refused to leave until the girls apologize. The parents at Maskiyot settlement must have been enjoyed this from afar. The apples didn’t fall far from the tree…
We tried to separate the sides, used rationale, but nothing helped. The police received a complaint but answered that they would arrive late. We summoned more accompaniers as an auxiliary force, and finally the boys got sick of the game and left.
We left two protective shifts there at night, for fear that adults from Maskiyot would come down to carry on the fight their children had started. At 11 p.m. the boys arrived again on the hill (where are the parents?) and yelled ‘good morning’ and swore. They left half an hour later. It was quiet then, until morning. This is the day and night routine of Palestinian shepherds in the Palestinian Jordan Valley.
Location Description
'Ein al-Hilwe
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Ein al-Hilwe is a natural spring and a Palestinian grazing area in the Jordan Valley that was used by the Palestinian shepherd communities for watering their flocks and for daily use. As of 2021, settlers from the Maskyot settlement took control of the spring: they fenced it off, built a wading pool and a mikveh, and installed flags and recreational facilities.
Palestinians are effectively denied access to the spring, and are forced to make do with running water in a remote wadi or, when the road is blocked, buy water from vendors at high prices.
The spring is located in the heart of an area where illegal outposts are being established, as part of a broader trend of pushing Palestinian communities away by denying them access to essential resources. Neighboring communities such as Umm Jamal and Khirbet Samra have already left due to the pressure.
Over the years, MachsomWatch members have reported arrests on false claims by settlers, harassment and violence, including damage to herds, intrusion into homes, and the intimidation of children. MachsomWatch volunteers participate in a protective presence in areas around the spring to prevent harassment of shepherds due to the presence of settlers.
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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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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.
Jun-21-2025The boys go down to the shepherd's S. living area (Photo Eran Maoz)
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