10-9-2013According to the Jerusalem News Network, the Israeli military has decided to allocate 5 thousand acres of land belonging to Palestinians, which is located to the east of the apartheid Wall in the Jordan Valley, to agricultural settlements. This is part of an overall attempt to solidify the Israeli regime from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River.
A number of residents of the area adjacent to the Eastern border affirm that work is underway to have the land behind the wall settled by "kibbutzim", the type of agricultural establishments used since the beginning of the Zionist movement to colonize and ethnically cleanse Palestinian land.
Over the past few years the Israeli army has been working to demographically change the region, and has cleared large areas of the land mines and has given it to settler housing associations to be cultivated even before the official announcement of the establishment of new settlements or housing units has been made.
New crops, plantations and general signs of agricultural activity are appearing along the border, an area which spans dozens of kilometres. Additionally, a local Palestinian farmer affirms that there are dozens of pumping stations sourcing water from the Jordan River for the use of settlers.
In recent years, Israeli settlements have also sprung up throughout the region which lies along the Jordan River within the borders that existed before 1967.
While occupation authorities have allowed the presence of more and more settlers and their agricultural settlements, they have prevented Palestinians from cultivating their land in this area.
According to Israeli news reports, the issue of this land confiscation was discussed during a series of meetings between officials from the Israeli military and the Office of the “Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories” (the coordination body between the occupation forces and the PNA), where Major-General "Eitan Dangot" issued the instruction to compensate any Palestinian who is unable to access the land in the Jordan Valley.
It is clear that the current move to intensify the colonization of the Jordan Valley – as well as the attempt by the Israeli military to give illegal population transfer and confiscation of land a veneer of legitimacy through a promise for compensation – are part of the overall Israeli policy to ensure that Palestinian self-determination is made impossible by the establishments of facts on the ground.
A number of residents of the area adjacent to the Eastern border affirm that work is underway to have the land behind the wall settled by "kibbutzim", the type of agricultural establishments used since the beginning of the Zionist movement to colonize and ethnically cleanse Palestinian land.
Over the past few years the Israeli army has been working to demographically change the region, and has cleared large areas of the land mines and has given it to settler housing associations to be cultivated even before the official announcement of the establishment of new settlements or housing units has been made.
New crops, plantations and general signs of agricultural activity are appearing along the border, an area which spans dozens of kilometres. Additionally, a local Palestinian farmer affirms that there are dozens of pumping stations sourcing water from the Jordan River for the use of settlers.
In recent years, Israeli settlements have also sprung up throughout the region which lies along the Jordan River within the borders that existed before 1967.
While occupation authorities have allowed the presence of more and more settlers and their agricultural settlements, they have prevented Palestinians from cultivating their land in this area.
According to Israeli news reports, the issue of this land confiscation was discussed during a series of meetings between officials from the Israeli military and the Office of the “Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories” (the coordination body between the occupation forces and the PNA), where Major-General "Eitan Dangot" issued the instruction to compensate any Palestinian who is unable to access the land in the Jordan Valley.
It is clear that the current move to intensify the colonization of the Jordan Valley – as well as the attempt by the Israeli military to give illegal population transfer and confiscation of land a veneer of legitimacy through a promise for compensation – are part of the overall Israeli policy to ensure that Palestinian self-determination is made impossible by the establishments of facts on the ground.