Escorting Shepherds in the Palestinian Jordan Valley

We left for Hamra above the settlement belonging to Moshe Sharvit on Saturday morning.   We arrived at the home of M., the shepherd at 07:00.  Tamar remained in their house to give English lessons to two of M.’s older siblings – a young man studying nursing and a younger sister who is in her last year of high school.  Amir and I left with M. and his 16-year-old cousin A.  and the two herds.  We went south in the direction of the hills near Hamra and Mitzpeh Leibo.  The morning was uneventful except for a goat that gave birth to a sweet kid in the field.   There was still a reasonable amount of grass.  We had a view of the illegal settlement and noted that it was continuing to expand. Another trailer had been added on the side of the hill.  

We returned with the goats at about 11:00 and drank tea with our hosts and then went on a short tour of the other communities in Khalat Makhul and Farsiya.  We brought children’s and infants’ clothing and some snacks for the children.

We met three Israelis from the Sharon area in Farsiya who had come with a small truck and trailer loaded with packages of clothing and equipment for one of the families with whom they have had a heartwarming friendship with for several years.   We exchanged phone numbers with them so that we could cooperate with them in the future.  We returned home at about 15:30.