The Jordan Valley: progressive ethnic cleansing
Colonist terrorism toward the indigenous Palestinian inhabitants of the Jordan Valley does not begin and end with setting fire and bodily harm. It is practiced in a variety of ways and they all originate in cruelty and inhumanity. Their purpose is always to harass the helpless indigenous population in order to expel or annihilate it. It is a supreme crime participated by the Israeli army, police, various state authorities (the nature and parks authority, regional council and others), and the booming silence of the Israeli media and public indifference. Today we shall write about the severe harm in water, the origin of life for the villagers of Fasail.
Eight huge pumps of the Israeli water company Mekorot take up all ground water of the Fasa`il/Gitit area for the benefit of the colonies. What the Palestinians have left is a very narrow pipe that transfers water from Fasa`il spring (Patzael in Hebrew) to water their fields, flocks and humans. Thus, thousands of the Fasa`il inhabitants receive water once every four days. They fill up the water tanker and when it empties, purchase water elsewhere.
Fasa`il is inhabited by several dozen shepherd communities. In face of the violence of the colonists who descend on them from the hill range in the west, the shepherds are prevented from grazing in the wild areas around the village. It is heart-rending to see the grass-filled hillsides while the Palestinians’ sheep are forced to graze in their own yard or by the roadside of Road 90. As a result of over-grazing, there is no grass left there.
In the past, a small faucet in the pipe from the spring was connected to a pipe that led to a grough from which all flocks drank after grazing. Colonists from the Mal’achei HaShalom (angels of peace, in Hebrew…) outpost have locked this faucet so no more grazing and no more water for the flocks.
A few days ago, I was phoned by G., responsible for the faucet and its sources. G. himself is disabled, and every day he would ride his bicycle along the pipe and check it. During the past year, the pipe was punctured several times and water would scatter around it. Volunteers of Looking Occupation in the Eye organization fixed it, but a few days later it would be punctured again, and thus repeatedly 4-5 times. About a year ago, these friends fixed the hole and covered the place in concrete in order to prevent the colonists from boring it again. This held up for nearly a year. Today, again we saw a large hole in the concrete and in the pipe. Half the water supplied to Fasa`il flow out here and gets lost.
We then went all along the spring sources. At five different places they were blocked by rock piles that prevented a free flow of water to the pipe. The Palestinian farmers said that their whole crops are drying up on the ground because of lack of water, and Fasail gets only a meager stream on the day they are supposed to receive water…
The Palestinians are willing to fix and weld the pipe, but this requires the approval of the Nature and Parks Authority and the Civil Administration
. We approached them and hope this will be looked into. However, the harm done already is serious and who knows how long it will last. The blocking of the water sources themselves is daily, and G. is too afraid to remove the rocks himself without our protection. Three weeks ago, while routinely checking the pipe, an ATV of the Mal’achei HaShalom colonists arrived and began chasing him while he was on his bicycle. G. got off the road innocently in order to make way for the ATV, but the latter went after him, ran him over and escaped. G. was left bleeding on the ground. He was consequently hospitalized.
Amazing how much destructive, cruel energy the colonists and their crazy youth invest in harassing their neighbors. The Palestinians have no protection except for a few endlessly dedicated volunteers, too few and armed only with cameras.
All along the roads to the spring we saw many deer and yearlings. Since the shepherds were chased away, the empty space invites nature to return and the beauty of its revival is heart-rending when it is caused by the stolen livelihood of dozens of families.
We reached Fasail especially to help the family of blind Miriam whom we regularly take get eye injections. She called me a week earlier and said that following the closure of the West Bank she and her family have reached the brink of starvation. They have absolutely no food. We thus brought along basic food stuffs and fresh vegetables. A similar situation reigns throughout the West Bank and no one in Israel seems to care.
Then Miriam’s son – whose charming wife is devoted to Miriam’s care – took us to see the destruction of the family’s yard. Two months ago he bought a small caravan instead of the pup tent that serves them on hot summer nights and during the rain-leaking winter. He prepared a concrete foundation and placed the caravan on it. Not more than a fortnight passed, and sure enough the Israeli forces were there. Suddenly they were not missing for the forces fighting the war in Gaza. In determination and dedication they lifted the caravan (with its two air conditioning units) and then returned with the bulldozer that angrily smashed the concrete foundation. If the army were thus alert and determined on October 7th…
Our second assignment was to give out school bags to the children. For two weeks, many volunteers and myself are collecting used schoolbags for the children of the northern Palestinian Jordan Valley. We put notebooks inside, coloring pencils, erasers, scissors etc.
The boys got blue bags, the girls – pink, about fifty all in all.
Finally we remained at Umm Jamal for protective presence from noon until 6:30 p.m. with Nabeel, the last person left in the community after most villages are emptying out, one community after the other. They are chased away with horrifying violence and complete collaboration of the army. First they are prevented from grazing, then the are raided inside their villages, the colonists destroy, mess things up completely and especially terrorize children, women and the elderly. Thus 15 communities have already been chased away from Hamra, Samara, and a week ago from Umm Jamal. A week ago the colonists established an outpost at Umm Jamal, next to the shepherds’ communities, and that day they began to enter the villages, and stone the villagers. The Palestinians who see what the colonists do to Al Farisiya and the other communities, understand that their harsh but peaceful lives have ended. They have packed up and left to Tyassir inside Area A. Presumably they will be forced to sell their flocks for the urban Area A is too crowded to enable grazing on a large scale. At Umm Jamal the villagers have camel herds that will surely find no room at Tyassir.
The ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian Jordan Valley is slowly taking place, and the Area A regions under full Palestinian control are becoming more and more crowded, a time bomb that will surely explode in our faces.
12:30 At the Hamra Checkpoint (Bequ’ot) there are long waiting lines. Dozens of cars await crossing from the Nablus region towards the Jordan Valley. The line in the other direction is shorter. The water checkpoint at 1:25 p.m. was open and a minibus filled with workers who finished their work in colony vineyards is waiting to cross. 7:00 p.m. – Gitit Checkpoint (Ma’ale Efrain) where crossing is usually free is now manned by soldiers who stop every Palestinian car for inspection. Jews have a special lane in order not to be detained in the Palestinian track, as Palestinian time is – as we know – not considered important.
https://www.machsomwatch.org/en/reports/checkpoints/22082024/morning/76730
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