Thursday night, July 17, 2025
Amid the brutal massacre carried out by settler gangs—under the protection and support of the occupation army in the Hammamat Al-Maleh area of the northern Jordan Valley—the crime did not stop at slaughtering the sheep and terrorizing families. It directly targeted two citizens: Suleiman Salem and Salem Salman from the Al-Najada Bedouin community.
The sheep found slaughtered—dozens in number—were their private property, executed in cold blood, some shot and others stabbed with knives, in a scene that goes beyond the limits of savagery. After committing this crime, the occupation did not stop at complicity; it arrested the two shepherds, Suleiman and Salem, throwing them into detention, leaving their families to face helplessness, fear, and deprivation. International activists were also prevented from reaching Suleiman and Salem’s home.
The two men had tried to defend their livelihood and land against the arrogance of power, but the outcome was the slaughter of their flock and the arrest of the shepherds. They were not even allowed to document what had happened and were taken to an unknown location, while their families were left without protection or provider.
This crime represents another face of the slow ethnic cleansing practiced by the occupation authorities in the Jordan Valley against farmers, shepherds, and peasants, aiming to empty the land of its people and prepare it for annexation and settlement.
The heartbreaking scene of slaughtered sheep in the mountains—piled on top of each other, blood washing the stones of the earth—is not just a violation but a scream in the face of a silent world, and a badge of shame on the forehead of everyone who sees and remains silent.
This is not just a massacre of sheep… It is a massacre of life, a massacre of dignity, a massacre of existence.
