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.