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Jordan Valley Palestinians face racist travel ban
Latest News, Palestinian Grassroots Anti-Apartheid Wall Campaign, October 4th, 2006

The occupation has announced a series of regulations in the Jordan valley banning Palestinians from sleeping outside their villages, forcing farmers to graze their animals no more than 100 meters from their homes, and forbidding travel during Jewish holidays.

The regulations, which were announced last month, are intended to force Palestinians from their land and consolidate the Occupation's hold on the Jordan valley.

In the last few days, Occupation forces on the Tayassir and Al-Hamra checkpoints have been confiscating the identity cards of villagers from the area who have “slept outside their villages”.

Villagers need to travel around the West Bank, and especially to Tubas, in order to sell their products. In many cases they need to stay overnight in the cities until they have sold their produce. Over the last month, the Occupation has been gradually complicating and tightening travel restrictions. Initially, villagers were kept waiting for hours in order to pass the checkpoint. Then, they announced that only Palestinians living in the Jordan Valley would be allowed to pass. This was followed by the announcement that villagers would not be allowed to sleep outside their villages. Finally, the checkpoints have been completely closed for the Jewish holidays meaning that Palestinian villagers are not allowed to travel at all.

A second set of regulations for the Jordan Valley means that farmers are only allowed to graze their animals in a 100 meter radius around their houses. Occupation forces in Attof have been chasing farmers grazing their animals outside this area, confiscating their livestock and issuing fines. Farmers say it is impossible to farm within the designated area as in many cases it is arable land or used for other purposes. They add that their animals need wide areas of open land on which to graze.