A close military zone warning in front of a Bedouin encampment in the Jordan Valley

Geography and Demographics

• The Jordan Valley makes out almost 30% of the West Bank territory. It stretches over 2,400 sq KM, from the Dead Sea in the south to the village of Bisan in the north - the entire border between the West Bank and Jordan.

• The Valley is the most fertile region in the Occupied Territories for agricultural production, and has always served as an important rural frontier to the other areas of the Occupied Territories.

• When Israel occupied the Jordan Valley in 1967, 320,000 people resided in the areaⁱ. Following the continued Israeli campaign of creeping ethnic cleansing, only 56,000ⁱⁱ Palestinians still reside in the Valley on a permanent basis today. Many others settle in the Valley on a seasonal basis, moving down to it to cultivate their lands and graze herds.

Land Grab

• Since its occupation in 1967, large portions of the Jordan Valley have been unilaterally expropriated by Israel and populated by illegal Jewish-only settlements and military installations.

• The most common form of land grab, in the Jordan Valley in particular, and in the West Bank in general is the declaration of areas as 'State's Land' or a ‘Closed Military Zone’, which is more often than not, handed over to settlers at a later date. The Israeli army continues to control vast areas of land on its own, with over 20% of the West Bank still designated as ‘Closed Military Zones’ - the vast majority of that is in the Jordan Valleyⁱⁱⁱ. There is a total of 24 military bases in the Jordan Valley alone^iv.

• In 1968 Israel seized land belonging to the Palestinian village of Ein al Beida, under absentee property laws allowing the seizure of refugees’ property, to establish the settlement of Mehola. Since then Israel has sought to annex more and more of the fertile land of the valley for the establishment of settlements profiting from the regions’ rich agricultural climate.

• 31 such settlements, and nine additional "outposts", were since then established in the Jordan Valley^v. There are only 9,000^vi Israelis living in them as they are used primarily for business purposes. They produce fruit, vegetables, herbs, flowers, meat, dairy produce and other goods - some of it for the Israeli market, and much of it for export.

• The latest of these 31, Maskiot, was approved by the Israeli Ministery of Defence in July, 2008^vii, making the Jordan Valley the home of the first official Israeli settlement to be built in almost a decade^viii. The new constructions are intended for hawkish families of the former Gaza settlement Shirat Hayam, who were evicted during the Gaza Disengagement in 2006.

• Israel has introduced plans to annex the Valley and parts of the West Bank from as early as 1967, with the creation of the infamous Alon Plan as a blueprint for the annexation of the Golan Heights, the Sinai and the Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and parts of the West Bank. The plan exhibits remarkable similarity to the path of the wall, and the seclusion of the Jordan Valley.

• Immediately following the publication of the Alon Plan, Israel has taken control of 95% of the land and 98% of the water resources in the Jordan Valley through military decrees. It has not yet officially annexed the Jordan Valley but the intention to do so was reiterated by Ehud Olmert, the Israeli Prime Minister in February 2006^ix.

• Israel views its continued grip over the Valley as a strategic asset, aimed at preventing any future Palestinian state from having an independent border with any other sate other than Israel, in this case Jordan^x.

• Israel consistently uses planning law, the building permit application process and house demolitions to threaten Palestinians and remove them from their land. Between January 2000 and September 2007 Israel issued just 91 construction permits to Palestinians in Area C, which amounts to just 6% of all applications handed at the time. During the same period 18,472 houses were built for settlers, while nearly 5,000 demolition orders were issued against Palestinian structures and 1,663 demolitions were carried out. The vast majority of demolitions in the West Bank are now taking place in East Jerusalem and the Jordan Valley^xi.

• Each Israeli settler in the Jordan Valley receives a 75% discount for electricity, telecommunications and transportation, as well as free irrigation water and free education. Several Palestinian communities however are still not connected to electricity or utility. All Palestinian communities in area C have no schools or health care, as Israel refuses to issue building permits ^xii.

• Agrexco is the largest exporter of settlement produce for sale overseas. Much of this produce comes from settlements in the Jordan Valley. Carmel Agrexco have had dealings with the Jordan Valley settlements of Tomer, Mehola, Hamra, Ro’i, Massua, Patzael, Mekhora, Netiv Ha-Gdud and Bet Ha-Arava.

• Palestinians in the Valley have issued a call for the solidarity movement to take action against Carmel-Agrexco.

Water Discrimination and Agriculture

• Around 650 square km of land was expropriated and fenced off in the stretch of land along the Jordan River, resulting in the displacement and expulsion of thousands of people. Since almost all fertile and irrigated lands are in close proximity to the river, Palestinian agriculture has been severely hit, while settlers have access to many of these lands.

• Within the closed military zone along the Jordan River, 162 agricultural water projects which were developed during Jordanian rule have not been accessible for Palestinians since 1967, depriving thousands of people of their livelihoods.

• Israel has gradually implemented a series of policies that result in extreme water shortages for the Palestinian population. Since 1967, Palestinians have been barred from their share of the Jordan River water (250 million m3 per year), while the Israel systematically exceeds their share to the benefit of the settlements.

• The Israeli state water company, Mekorot, currently controls 98% of the water resources in the Jordan Valley. Water is sold to the illegal settlers at vastly subsidized rates, whilst Palestinians in Area A or B pay many times more than the settlers. Palestinians are prohibited from digging wells more than 200 meters deep, and the vast majority of old wells have now dried up or have been demolished. Those living in Area C are almost entirely unable to use piped water, and have to collect their water with tractors and portable tanks – which incurs additional fuel costs and a ‘pumping fee’^xiii.

• Using its monopoly on digging deep wells, Israel often situates wells in close proximity to springs, causing older, more distant Palestinian wells to dry out or significantly shrink in capacity.

• Israeli wells are often between 500-1200m deep and thus drain water from smaller Palestinian wells, while at the same time threatening the entire water basin as they exceed the maximum depth ecologically sustainable in the area.

Restrictions on Movement

• Israel dominates and controls Palestinian movement through a complex system of road blocks and military checkpoints, situated in all entries and exists from the valley. The checkpoints controlling the Valley are located at^xiv:

1. Al-Hamra. Isolates the Jordan Valley from the road to Nablus. Permanently staffed. Open from 5:00 A.M. to 10:00 P.M. Palestinian pedestrians and vehicles may cross if they have permits. Only residents of the Jordan Valley are allowed to cross without a permit, provided the vehicle is registered under the name of the driver.

2. Tayasir. Isolates the Northern Jordan Valley from the road to Tubas. Permanently staffed. Open from 5:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. Palestinian pedestrians and travelers on public transportation may cross. Passenger cars are allowed to cross with permits, and only if they are registered on the name of the driver.

3. Jericho DCO. Permanently staffed. Palestinians from throughout the West Bank can cross the checkpoint and enter Jericho. Exiting Jericho via this checkpoint is allowed only to residents of the Ramallah, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Jerusalem districts, and persons having permits.

4. Ein a-Duyuk/al-Mu'arrajat. Permanently staffed. Located northwest of Jericho, on the road beween 'Ein a-Duyuk and al-Mu’arrajat, the army uses this checkpoint to control movement to and from Jericho at the western entrance to the city. Entry to the Jordan Valley is permitted only to Israelis, foreigners, and Palestinians living in East Jerusalem or whose ID card indicates they live in the Jordan Valley.

5. Ma’ale Efraim (Gitit). Permanently staffed. The checkpoint controls entry to the Jordan Valley. Palestinians are not allowed to cross into the Valley, except for those registered as Jordan Valley residents on their ID cards. The easing of restrictions declared by the army in May 2007 is not applied at this checkpoint.

6. Container crossing. Permanently staffed. Situated east of Abu Dis, the checkpoint is used to check travelers going north from Hebron and Bethlehem, and persons traveling south into the two regions. Towards the beginning of 2009, work began to turn the checkpoint into a terminal: traffic lanes were added, access roads were built, and spikes prohibiting entry, traffic lights, and signs were erected. Situated on the road from the Valley to Ramallah and Jerusalem

7. Bardala Checkpoint. Permanently staffed. Controls access to Israel

• Often, arbitrary restrictions on movement are imposed on Palestinians in the Jordan Valley. For instance, the army often does not allow men under thirty to pass through these checkpoints.

• Between May 2005 and May 2007, Palestinians were forbidden from entering the Jordan valley, except if registered as residents. Palestinians living outside the valley had to obtain a special permit from the Israel civil administration in order to enter the Valley^xv.

Resistance

The Jordan Valley Solidarity campaign is a network of Palestinian grassroots community groups from all over the Jordan Valley. Its aims are to protect Palestinian existence and the unique environment of the Jordan Valley by building international support and supporting communities on the ground.

Al Aqaba:

Al-Aqaba is a very small village in the Jordan Valley, southeast of Jenin, and a shining example of Palestinian "sumoud" (holding on to the ground). From 1967 until 2003 Al-Aqaba served as military training grounds for the Israeli Army.

Israeli soldiers used to conduct their trainings using the villagers (for example, practicing detaining people, invading homes in the middle of the night, etc.) In 2002, the Village of Aqaba won an important legal victory, obtaining an Israeli Supreme Court decision calling on the Israeli military to close its training grounds in Al-Aqaba.

In June of 2003, the army finally pulled back and some villagers, who had previously left the village because of the unbearable living situation (since 1967, al-Aqaba's population decreased by 85%, dropping from around 2000 individuals to approximately 300), started coming back. With the help of international supporters, the village built a kindergarten (130 kindergarteners and 70 elementary school students attend school there) and other structures, including a small sewing factory to employ local village women.

Many houses in the village are currently threatened by standing demolition orders from the Israeli Civil Administration^xvi.

Hadidiya and Humsa:

Hadidiya and Humsa are two collections of Bedouin Camps in an isolated area of countryside, deemed a military area by Israeli occupying forces, close to the illegal Israeli settlement of Ro'i. The Israeli Army systematically tries to make the lives of these families unbearable, and has demolished their family homes three times since the year 2,000.

The residents live under constant threat of being forced out of the area entirely. They are reduced to living in tents and shacks, which provide little protection from the harsh desert weather.

However, even the tents are considered 'illegal' by the Israeli authorities and have been demolished on several occasions. The residents are denied access to water, to electricity and land needed for their survival.

On 31 May 2009, the Israeli army told eight families, a total of 64 people, in Hadidiya that they would be evicted and another 11 families, who have contested earlier evictions orders, have been called to attend a hearing on 25 June 2009 at a military court.

On the same day, the Israeli army also delivered demolition and eviction orders to 17 families living in the hamlet Ras al-Ahmar, which adjoins Humsa. The orders claimed the area a 'closed military zone' and some families demolished their own homes, rather than watch them destroyed by bulldozers.

On 4 June, the Israeli army destroyed the homes and animal pens of 18 Palestinian families - more than 130 people - in the hamlet of Ras al-Ahmar. The army confiscated the water tank that the villagers rely on as well as the tractor and trailer that they use to bring water to the village. The residents are now without shelter or a source of water.

Families in Hadidiya remain under threat of immediate eviction, but are determined to do everything within their power to remain in their homes^xvii.

Al-Fasayil:

Al-Fasayil is a Palestinian village in the northeastern West Bank, a part of the Jericho Governorate, located 14 kilometers northwest of Jericho and about 40 kilometers southeast of Nablus. The village's total land area is 47,951 dunams The village is located adjacent to the Israeli settlement of Petza'el, {modern Hebrew of al-Fasayil's name)^xviii.

Its population was 318 in 1961, decreasing dramatically to about 150 in 1983. According to a census taken by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, al-Fasayil had a population of 648 in 1997, of which 31% were refugees fleeing other parts of the West Bank in the 1967 Six-Day War^xix. There were 900 inhabitants in mid-year 2006.

In 2006, Israeli authorities demolished 15 shelters in the village, and in 2008 an additional 6 were demolished^xx.

The people of Fasayil, aided by international activists, decided to begin building a school in defiance of the military orders^xxi.

Al-Fasayil gained international attention when in 2007 the Israeli army planned on demolishing the village's primary school^xxii. Since al-Fasayil is located in Area C of the West Bank, Israel has complete control over the village, and granting building permits are authorized by them; the school was built without a permit. Residents often complain about the rarity of Israel permitting construction in the village.

i ‘Eye on the Jordan Valley: To exist is to resist’: The Grassroots Palestinian Anti Apartheid Wall Campaign: May 07

ii ‘Jordan Valley – Civil resistance to systematic displacement’: Al Majdal, Autumn 08/Winter 09.

iii Special Focus: “Lack of Permit” Demolitions and Resultant Displacement in Area C’: United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, May 2008

iv ‘A village in the way: Al Aqaba and the grab of the Jordan Valley’: PLO Negotiations Department, June 2006

v ‘A new Jordan Valley settlement – facts, background and analysis’: Settlements in Focus (Vol. 4, Issue 4), Peace Now, 7th Aug 08

vi ‘Jordan Valley – Civil resistance to systematic displacement’ Op. Cit.

vii 'West Bank construction wins approval in Israel': Isabel Kershner, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/world/africa/24iht-mideast.4.14766926....

viii 'Palestinian anger at claims new West Bank settlement 'to get go-ahead': Rory McCarthy, The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jul/25/israelandthepalestinians.mid...

ix ‘Olmert Says He Wants to Set Permanent Borders for Israel’: Greg Myre, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/07/international/middleeast/07cnd-mideast... 7 Feb 06

x 'Jordan Valley may be hurdle in peace talks': Howard Schneider, The Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/01/AR200911...

xi ‘Area C: Palestinian Construction and Demolition Stats’: Peace Now, Feb 08

xii 'To Exist is to Resist: Eye on the Jordan Valley' Fact Sheet: Ma’an Development Center, 2007

xiii ‘Jordan Valley- Civil resistance to systematic displacement’ op. cit.

xiv 'List of Checkpoint, March 2009': B'Tselem, http://www.btselem.org/English/Freedom_of_Movement/List_of_Checkpoints.xls

xv 'freedom of Movement - Siege': BTselem, http://www.btselem.org/english/Freedom_of_Movement/Siege.asp

xvi 'New House Demolition Warnings in Al-Aqaba Village': Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ), http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=1071

xvii ' Hadidiya and Humsa Hamlets - Israeli Troops Destroy Palestinian Homes': Amnesty International, 16 Jun 09, http://www.amnesty.org.uk/actions_details.asp?ActionID=528

xviii 'Al-Fasayil': Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al-Fasayil

xix 'Palestinian Population by Locality and Refugee Status': Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, http://www.pcbs.gov.ps/Portals/_pcbs/phc_97/jer_t6.aspx

xx ' Jordan Valley Residents', Land Research Center (LRC), 01 Mar 08, http://www.poica.org/editor/case_studies/view.php?recordID=1290

xxi 'Fasayil School - A Jordan Valley Success Story', Brighton Tubas Friendship and Solidarity Group, http://www.brightonpalestine.org/node/37

xxii ' The fight to build a West Bank village school', Amnesty International. 01 Nov 07, http://asiapacific.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGACT600222007?open&of=ENG...