Farisiya Jordan Valley: escorting shepherds and a protective presence
Friday, May 31, 2024
Boaz and I got there at 7:30 p.m., as the children and families ready for bed met us. The shepherd men with some of the older children moved to Ein Sukut three days earlier. This is an area opposite the colony Shadmot Mekhola, one of the more violent ones, that has absorbed hilltop youth and yeshiva boys. There is a fresh water spring in the area so much grass grows there. This is where A. would go to every summer to graze his flocks, but last year a colonist outpost was erected near or inside Shadmot Mekhola and the hilltop youth thugs surrounded the man and broke his arm as he was innocently grazing his flock. In the meantime, En Sukut too - as large as a pool in the north of Israel - and many people, both Jews and Palestinians, used to swim there. Now the place is fenced in by the Israeli national water company, Mekorot, which probably diverts the water in pipes to nearby colonies. Plans might also be in the making for a regularized nature reserve for Jews only, as part of the program to encourage tourism in the Palestinian Jordan Valley and the West Bank.
In spite of this, the shepherds preferred to leave their families in Al Farisiya and graze their flocks near the spring in order to reduce expenses - they purchase water 5 times more expensive than in Israel, so as long as grass grows there it could do instead of buying hay.
Shepherds A. and B. came while we were there to bring the milk from the sheep, to be picked up by their brother from Tubas. They asked us to spend the night and accompany them. Unfortunately we were only two so we couldn’t accompany them, but the next day this was already rectified.
The night passed peacefully and all we heard were the roosters crowing at 2 a.m.
Saturday, June 1, 2024
In the morning the other accompaniers arrived. Three of them - Boaz, Kai and Dudi - accompanied N. near the Beq’aot colony and were there from 6:30 until 10:30 a.m. Grazing went quietly and peacefully in a grain field that belongs to N. and the colonists were not around that morning.
Three others - Effi, Nati and Amir - went out from 7:30 until 11:00 a.m. to accompany the grazing at Ein Sukut. They grazed around the stream and there too things were peaceful and quiet.
Four accompaniers came to Al Farisiya - Yael, Boris, Efrat and Axel - and gave the children a workshop on building stools, both for their creativity and for the children their own stools. They sawed the wood ahead of time, and with all the children put together stools for each. The children sat in a circle quietly and filled with curiosity, no chiding was necessary. Each of them did what he and she were told - they sanded the wood, painted the seat, and put in the nuts and bolts guided by the accompaniers.
We all had a good time - children and adults and mothers who sat with us and prepared stuffed vine leaves. At the end, around noon, each of the children went home with the stool he or she had built.
All the shepherds returning from grazing rested in Al Farisiya until the afternoon grazing session. We were invited to share a delicious lunch, tea and coffee. From 3 to 5 p.m. three accompaniers went out to graze with N., and the rest remained at Al Farisiya for protective presence and to face emergency when necessary.
When the night shift at Al Farisiya arrived at 6 p.m., we left.
May there be many such days…