Agriculture

Today we were taken to visit the Zoba community in the Jordan Valley, a family who have suffered immeasurably since the start of the occupation. The community is located on the top of a small hill, at the West entrance of the Jordan Valley, 3 kilometres west of the Al Jiftlik community and a mere 400 metres from Al Hamra checkpoint. It is also very close to the old Jordan River Bridge which connected the occupied West Bank with the kingdom of Jordan. This bridge was closed by the Israelis in the early 1990’s, further isolating the people of the West Bank.

This week UK Customs and Excise have at last taken the first step in challenging the Israeli's illegal settlements by (a) recognising that they are mislabelling their produce to avoid paying tax to any European countries they export to and (b) proposing that the EU act to stop this practice. The news reports in the UK and Israeli press have spoken about illegal Israeli settlements, but have failed to explain the impact that these settlements have on the everyday lives of Palestinians and their hopes of establishing a viable state.

Abu Sakker's family home in Al hadidiya 27 Oct 08For the last six years the people of Al Hadidiya have faced constant intimidation and threats from the IDF to leave their homes and farmland in the Jordan Valley. They have had homes demolished, farm machinery confiscated and to date have demolition orders on all of their remaining homes and animal shelters. There are eight families left living in tents with no water or electricity.

There are numerous ways in which the Israeli's justify their brutal occupation and treatment of the Palestinians. On a short visit to Atoof we were introduced to a few. The village is overlooked by the settlement of Ro’i and closed off by a deep ditch. It was dug five years ago in preparation for the Apartheid wall, which snakes illegally through the West Bank, to reach there. Since then the villagers have had their movements restricted and their every step observed.