Tag: Jordan Valley - Page 8 - International Solidarity Movement

Palestinians and internationals attacked during biking trip in Jordan Valley

by Joseph and Emiliano

15 April 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Palestinian and international cyclists were brutally attacked by the Israeli occupation forces on Saturday as they attempted to bike up Route 90, the main North-South highway running through the Jordan Valley. The cyclists were demonstrating against Israeli apartheid policies in the Jordan Valley, which limit Palestinian access to roadways as part of an ongoing campaign of ethnic cleansing against the indigenous Bedouin communities of the Valley.

One Palestinian woman and two international activists from Denmark and Holland were evacuated to the hospital with injuries after being struck in the head with an M-16 rifle, and one international activist was handcuffed and detained for over an hour before being released without charges.

Over one hundred activists from Palestine and around the world participated in the bike protest, organized by Sharek Youth Forum. Participants rode approximately 5 kilometers before being blocked by Israeli occupation soldiers and jeeps at the entrance to Route 90. Soldiers informed the bikers that they would not be allowed to continue “for their own safety.” When activists peacefully attempted to continue on their way, the local commander of the occupation forces swung his rifle at the head of multiple activists, resulting in the hospitalizations of the three activists and the detention of a man from Sweden.

Palestinian drivers on Route 90, the Jordan Valley’s main north-south route, face regular harassment and attacks from Israeli settlers and soldiers. Palestinian drivers and cyclists are frequently pulled over and searched for no reason, and in some places Palestinians are even prevented from turning across the road at places Israelis have free access to.

The Jordan Valley faces a concerted Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing towards the Palestinians living there. Demolitions of homes occur with frequency, and the Israelis are currently stealing the vast majority of the valley’s land and water. The majority of the fruit and vegetables produced on this stolen land are exported to Europe and North America. The bike demonstration was part of a day of demonstrations and festivities that included visits to villages, a youth dubke performance, and speeches. The events aim to send the message to the world and the occupying forces that the people of the Jordan Valley and Palestine refuse to cede their land to the illegal occupation and will continue to resist and remain on their land.

Joseph and Emiliano are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

Demolitions: Israel’s path of destruction through the Jordan Valley

by Andreas

27 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

Families and their livestock are left without shelter as Israeli Occupation Forces soldiers and bulldozers leave a path of destruction El Hemmi, al-Farisiya and Khirbet Homse in the Jordan Valley

On the 26th of March several houses and animal barricades were demolished in the small communities of El Hemmi, Al Farisiya and Khirbet Homse in the Jordan Valley. The convoy of military vehicles started out in El Hemmi in the morning and continued to Al Farisiya and ended in Homse close to Hamra Checkpoint by the afternoon.

El Hemmi

Early in the morning Mahmoud Awad from the small community of Khirbet Tel El Hemmi, north of the Jordan Valley, went to graze his sheep in the mountains surrounding his home. He did not make it far before hearing his wife screaming as four military jeeps, two civil administration cars, 15 soldiers, and two bulldozers arrived and surrounded their house.

The IOF had come to destroy Mahmoud Awards’ property for the second time. Within a few minutes the house that was home for six members of Mahmoud’s family was destroyed. The family was given no time to pack up their possessions, which now are spread all over the ground, beneath and inbetween the demolished bricks. When asked where the family will go and how life can continue, Hani Mahmoud, the father of Mahmoud Awad, replied that they “must ask for mercy from Allah and hope for better times.”

So far the family has been offered shelter in the neighboring house. If the family chooses to rebuild their home – they will have to live with the constant threat of yet another demolition.

Around 9’clock the military jeeps and bulldozers continued up the small road of el Hemmi to reach the houses of Abed Rabu and his family. Two houses and four animal shelters were demolished – leaving no shelter for the eleven members of his family including a baby aged two months. Under the bricks that used to make up their home shoes and clothes were seen, as the family was given no time to collect valuable possessions before the bulldozers started their destruction.

Abed Rabu received a demolition order in November demanding him to destroy his own house and the shelters for his animals. He hired a lawyer, and he was at the moment trying to take his case through the court system. When we left Abed Rabu’s neighbors and friends had arrived and were building a new tent for the family to seek rest for the night.

El Hammi is located very close the settlement Rotem.

Al Farisiya

At around 11’clock the military cheeps and bulldozer reached Al Farisiya close to El Hammi. For Ali Zhurida Abdallah and his family this was the third time this year that Israeli military has entered his land and demolished his animal shelters. Ali is a shepherd and he has been living on the land for more than 50 years. Several times the Israeli soldiers have told him to pack up his things and move to Tubas. When refusing to leave his land, soldiers have threatened him that they will come back in the night to kill him.

Ali’s brother Hussein lives 50 meters away and also had animal shelters destroyed this morning, leaving 175 sheep without shelter and protection for the night. Hussein will have to stay up all night and look after the animals making sure that no wild animals will attack the sheep. Looking at the destruction carried out today Hussein’s wife says, “They want to be the masters of everything. Look, they destroy even animal shelters. The Ottomans, the British and the Jordanian have all occupied this land- but not one of them treated us in this way.”

A path of Zionist destruction – Click here for more images

Khirbet Homse

At around 12:30 PM the convoy of destruction arrived in Khirbet Homse close to Hamra Checkpoint. Suleiman Abdallah Mahmoud Bsharat watched as the bulldozers destroyed his two animal barracks that until a few days ago gave shelter for his 300 sheep. According to Suleiman the military was trying to demolish the barracks whilst the animals were still inside.

Suleiman and his family had to move fast in order to rescue the sheep from the moving bulldozers. Three months ago on the 14^th of January Suleiman had his animal shelters demolished for the first time. He chose to rebuild. He had not received any demolition order on his newly built barracks before the demolition.

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Monday’s events are the latest in a series of home demolitions in the Jordan Valley. The Valley is 94 % area C which makes almost every community and village very vulnerable to the process of ethnic cleansing. The house demolitions are well documented by the Jordan Valley Solidarity Group and the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

Andreas is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Jordan Valley: Three families invaded by one hundred Israeli soldiers in Al Jiftlik

by Kim

17 March 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On March 15th at 16:00 we got a call about three house demolitions in the village of Al Jiftlik, near the Jordan Valley. We threw ourselves into the first public transportation vehicle to take us to the village. It was dusk when we came to the outskirts of the village where we met our contact person.

He quickly fixed up a car, and we got straight to the first house which was adjacent to the highway. Here we found two families standing before the ruins of their homes. They are seven people in all, including three children, one of whom is sick. It is the second demolition for one of the families, the first for the other.

We talked to Bashir Mbarak Basharat Yousef Ibrahim, a local, who described to us what happened. He explained that just two hours before, about one hundred Israeli soldiers with bulldozers had restricted access to the area around the house. He had tried to take pictures with his camera phone, but a soldier took the phone away from him and deleted the images. Five months ago locals were told not to build anymore on the house. No family members had been allowed to go in and fetch any belongings before the demolition.

That night they were accommodated by helpful neighbors, but in the future they do not know what to do.

We jumped back into the car and moved onto the next family consisting of ten family members. Sulaiman Omar Daragmeh told us what happened to them. He says that they had had a demolition order issued on the house. Around 15:00 the same Israeli soldiers came from Bashir Mbaraks house. Three family members were given 15 minutes to enter the house and retrieve personal belongings. No furniture or larger objects were possible to get out of the house.

The soldiers also destroyed the olive trees around the house. He constantly repeated the soldiers’ violence, and in his shrill voice is heard despair. He says that they are farmers and have no other income.

Because they live far out in a field, there are no neighbors to help, so this family had to sleep without a roof over their heads. But they will not give up, they stated, and they intend to stay and will try to get help from the local district administration.

We moved on to the third and final family consisting of seven people.

Ayman Mahmoud says that the Israeli soldiers came at 16:00 to demolish their house. They had received a demolition order a month and a half ago. Two family members were given 15 minutes to retrieve personal valuables before the bulldozer destroyed their homes. This family owns many sheep, who were frightened by the soldiers, violence, and bulldozers. Fifteen had run away of which two were killed by the bulldozer. They managed to capture five of the escaped sheep again.

After their home was destroyed they also received a bill for the demolition. They did not know how much they must pay. This family also lives just outside of the village so no neighbors could help them for the night. The family will sleep under the open sky, or possibly under a broken plastic sheet formerly used as an animal shelter.

The soldiers left them with the words “If you build here again, we will demolish the house over your head.”

When we left the family, we heard children crying and were overwhelmed by powerlessness. The situation is totally unreal.

Al Jiftlik is a village with about 5000 inhabitants, situated in the Jordan Valley. This area is one of the most fertile agricultural areas in Palestine. Many households subsist on farming. The village is located in Area C, which means that Israel has the right to administer and manage the area to suit their purposes. The consequences are that families who live in Area C are not licensed for their homes or workplaces, and that Israeli soldiers may come at any time with a bulldozer and demolish houses. They also receive daily disruptions in electricity and water supply, like a recent three day cut to water supplies.

It rained, hailed, and stormed a lot tonight. Two of these three families were sleeping under the stars. What we can do for these families is to show that they are not forgotten. The only thing they asked for was to tell their stories and disseminate information about inhumane Israeli policies.

Kim is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).

Jordan Valley: Demolitions and arrests of two Palestinians

by Satu and John

15 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On February 14, 2012, in the small village of Twael of the Aqraba district, southeast of Nablus in the Jordan Valley, the home of the Bunni Jaber family was destroyed by an Israeli backhoe protected by 20 soldiers in four military vehicles. Two men from the family were arrested – Ayman Bunni Jaber, aged 36, and Rafie Bunni Jaber, aged 30. The family’s tractor was also confiscated by the Israeli authorities.

The Bunni Jaber house was located along the green, rocky hills that dominate the landscape here, built from cloth, plastic sheeting, wire mesh, stones, and dirt. There are four children in the Bunni Jaber family, ranging from toddlers to adolescents. The family are herders, with flocks of sheep and goat, and the arbitrary confiscation of their tractor presents a serious challenge for the family’s livelihood.

Click here for more photos - Photos courtesy of Rana Hamadan, 2012

The reason given for the demolition was the house’s construction without a permit in Area C, the part of the West Bank under full Israeli civil and military control. The land belongs to the municipality of Aqraba, and is used for agriculture and herding. Obtaining a construction permit in Area C is a near impossibility for Palestinians. According to the UN agency OCHA, 96 percent of request for building permits in the Jordan Valley between 2000 and 2006 were denied. Nineteen of the 22 houses in the area have received demolition orders, as has the local mosque. Many of these have been demolished, some multiple times after reconstruction by their owners.

By longstanding local custom and law, houses without concrete or foundations like that of the Bunni Jaber family, do not require a building permit. Eighty percent of the land in Aqraba has been confiscated by the Israeli Army under the auspices of its use as “training grounds,” even though land seized is in fact stolen by illegal Israeli settlements. The villagers have resisted through various means, including a one-day hunger strike.

Satu and John are volunteers with International Solidarity Movement (names have been changed).

Tubas: Israel robs the Jordan Valley dry

by Jonas Weber

8 February 2012 | International Solidarity Movement, West Bank

On Saturday 5 February a delegation of activists from the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) went on a tour in the municipality of Tubas, 30 minutes by car to the south east of Nablus.

At the municipality building of Tubas we were greeted by Marwan E. Toubassi, governor of the area. We were treated to sweets and coffee while Toubassi told us about the municipality of Tubas.

Called the breadbasket of Palestine, Tubas is a municipality about the size of the Gaza strip and includes several smaller villages and the northern parts of the Jordan Valley. The area is heavily dependent on agriculture, wich has become increasingly difficult as somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of the municipality is under Area C and thus controlled by the Israeli Occupational Forces.

Two major illegal checkpoints have been established which further hinder agriculture in the area by restricting the movement of Palestinian farmers. This, in combination with the theft of natural water resources for 10,000 settlers in the region, and the systematic demolition of Palesetinian homes by Israel, create huge problems for the inhabitants of Tubas municipality.

Besides the agricultural and mineral resources of the region, the Jordan Valley has always played an important strategic role for the Israeli military. Here is the border crossing of King Hussein bridge, the only way out of Palestine for most Palestinians. Large parts of the area are used for military training and the soldiers often leave behind explosive materials that injure and kill villagers and livestock.

One of those injured by the military presence in the region is Hajj Sami Sadiq, who at age 16 was shot by Israeli soldiers with three
bullets when he was on his family’s land. 40 years later one of the bullets is still lodged in his body and Sadiq is in a wheelchair. He
is one of the 50 people who have been injured by the military in the small village of Al-Aqaba in the Tubas municipality. In the village, consisting of 300 inhabitants and situated entirely in Area C, 13 people have been killed since the occupation started in 1967.

Today Sadiq is a part of the village council and is constantly working to stop the demolition of homes and roads in Al-Aqaba. It is no longer possible to get permits to build new homes or even a mosque in the village. A house is currently being built next to the municipality building in spite of the military ban, and during the last two weeks 20 households have been served with demolition orders by the Israeli military.

Over 700 inhabitants have left the village in recent years due to the lack of housing.

These house demolitions in the Tubas municipality are part of a strategy to force Palestinians out of these important areas of the
Jordan Valley.

ISM volunteers met with the Bedouins of El-Hamma and heard the story of how their homes were torn down when the area was occupied in 1967. Their homes where temporarily replaced in 1968 but then these structures were torn down as well. Today only two houses still stand from the time. Tents have received notices of demolition. 19 of 22 households in the village currently have demolition orders.

Demolition orders and water theft - Click here for more images

“This is not Israeli land,” said one of the farmers as we volunteers sat under the tallest tree in the village, sipping thyme tea that vaguely has reminders of cough syrup in its sweetness. From the hillside one can see the high tech farming facilities of the Israeli settlers on the other side of the road running along the bottom of the valley. It is not hard to imagine why the land that the Bedouins live on is so desirable. There is money waiting to be made here.

“Our ancestors lived on this land long before it was occupied by Turkey,” the man stated. “We never went into Israel. What am I to do about the fact that my land is in Area C?”

The village is surrounded by eight Zionist settlements, and at present 70 percent of the land has been confiscated for Israeli interests. Water is also being stolen to satisfy the water guzzling modern farms of the settlers. The stream in the valley next to the home of the Bedouins has been systematically drained over the last 50 years and is now only a dried out riverbed.

“The Israelis have stolen our land, our homes, our water. They are killing us, and still they are not satisfied,” an older man among the Bedouins cried out. “They have no respect for us, ” he said.

Back at the Tubas municipality center, Marwan E. Tubas finished up his presentation of the situation in Tubas on a lighter note.

We firmly believe in coming to a peaceful two state solution with Israel according to the agreements of 1967… [Israel] supposedly supports Arabic people struggling for freedom in Lybia and Syria, but when it comes to the Israeli occupation no one dares to speak out.

Jonas Weber is a volunteer with International Solidarity Movement (name has been changed).