Work

Bedouin of the Jordan Valley: Here to stay

JV Bedouin Conference Feb 2010 (7)Bedouin communities from all over the Jordan Valley met together on 9th February 2010. They developed a plan of the support and infrastructure they need to resist Israel's ethnic cleansing and stay on their land.

Palestinian labour in Jordan Valley settlements

After the West Bank was occupied by Israel in 1967 the process of colonisation began. Israel began systematically transferring its civilian population into occupied Palestine in the form of Jewish-only settlements that contradict Article 49 of the Geneva Conventions.

New Report: Settlement expansion and ethnic cleansing in Palestine: A Jordan Valley case study June 2009

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Settlements and exploitation in the Jordan Valley

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.

Settlement Slavery

Waking up before dawn in the small village of Fasayil, deep in the heart of the Jordan Valley, we did not know what to expect. We were hoping to see, and maybe speak to some Palestinians that work in the nearby Israeli settlement farm: Tomer. After a walk down a mud track we arrived outside the farm gates. As the sun started to come up, the workers began to arrive – buses full of women and trucks full of men. It wasn’t until one had passed us by that we saw the line of children, perched along the back end – some no older than 12 or 13. Before long a factory worker arrived.

This is life in the Jordan Valley

We are now in Tubas which is a largish town in the north of the Jordan valley. We are staying with a delightful family, the father(quite young) is a journalist for the Palestinian news and writes all sorts of articles on what is happening here with the occupation etc. He told us that he met Tony Blair at a school in the Jordan valley which had just been set up bythe Palestinian authority. He was not very impressed. Tony was a bit surpised to realise that some of the children did not know who he was. He was surrounded by body guards.