MA’AN Development Center Ramallah Office Al-Nahdah Building / Al-Nahdah St. Al-Masyoun, Ramallah - 5th Floor P.O. Box 51352 or 51793 Jerusalem Phone: +972 2 298-6796 / 298-6698 Fax: +972 2 295-0755 E-mail: [email protected] Gaza Office Gaza City Heidar Abdel Shafi roundabout Moataz (2) building Next to Central Blood Bank Society P.O. Box 5165 Gaza City Phone: +972 8 282-3712 Uprooted Fax: +972 8 282-3712 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.maan-ctr.org MA’AN Livelihoods Development Center Palestinian Villages and Herding Communities in the Jordan Valley Funded by: 2013 Ü Bisan UV90 Bardala Kardala Ein al-Beida Ibziq Givat Sa'alit Al-Farayiyeh UV60 Mechola The Occupied al-Himeh Greater al Maleh Shadmot Mehola Jordan Valley al-Aqaba Rotem Tayasir al-Burg 'Ein al Hilwa-Um al Jmal Hammamat al Maleh (Northern Area) Occupied Palestine Ein al-Hilweh Tubas (West Bank) Maskiot Khirbet Yarza al-Meiteh Khirbet Samra Greater Tammun Mak-hul Khirbet ar Ras al Ahmar Hemdat Al Hadidiya Ro'i Beka'ot Humsa Um al 'Obor UV57 Nablus UV90 Hamra Overview Hamra Jordan Valley Area 1948 Armatice Line Furush Beit Dajan Marj Na’aje Palestinian Communities UV57 Zbeidat Main & Bypass road Argaman Marj Ghazal Regional road Mechora Jk Crossing Points Jiftlik Israeli Settlements Built up area Permeter Cultivated land UV60 Municipal boundries UV57 Massu'a Israeli Administrative Restrictions Damiya (Closed by Israel in 2000) Gittit Interim Agreement Areas Area A Ma'ale Efrayim Jordan Area B Area C Closed Military Areas Ma'ale Efraim UV60 Yafit Israeli Physical Access Restrictions Ç !¬ Green Line checkpoint Ç !¬ Checkpoint Petza'el !Ǭ Partial Checkpoint ") Roadblock Fasayil al-Foqa # Earthmound GÌ Road gate - closed Fasayil GÌ Road gate - open Tomer D D D D D D Road barrier D D D D D D D D D D Earthwall Trench Gilgal Israeli Segregation Barrier Netiv Hagedud Constructed Under Construction Projected Niran Kochav Hashachar Ahavat Hayim Mitzpe Keramim Ma'ale Shlomo Yitav Al 'Auja Ras al-Auja Rimmonim Jenin Yitav ( Al Auja) Omer Farm Tubas al-Mu’arrajat Tulkarm Nablus Mevo'ot Jericho Na'ama Tel Aviv-Yaffo al-Nuwe’ima al-Foqa Salfit Ramallah Al-Nuwe’ima al-Duyuk 'Ein as Sultan Camp Allenby / King Hussein Deir Quruntul Ramallah UV60 Jericho Jericho East Jerusalem Jericho Bethlehem Deir al Qilt Aqbat Jaber Camp Hebron UV90 Givat Barkay Vered Yericho Beit Holga - Mul Nevo Deir Hajla Mitzpe Yericho Beit Ha`arava Kilometers 0 1 2 4 6 8 Dead Sea INTRODUCTION he Jordan Valley consists of the easternmost strip of land in Tthe occupied West Bank, bordering the Jordan River from the Dead Sea in the south to the Beisan crossing in the north. The area compromises 28.5% of the West Bank and is naturally rich in water, fertile land, and other resources. Currently, there are 11,679 Israeli settlers and over 58,000 Palestinians in this vital region, but due to Israeli occupation policies that severely limit Palestinians’ access to their land and resources, the living standards between the two communities are blatantly separate and unequal. Israel restricts Palestinians’ ability to build in land access, and demographics are provided, the Jordan Valley, and also their access to water, along with a description of each community’s land, and resources. This has resulted in a stifling history and the major problems that residents INTRODUCTION of the Palestinian economy and an extremely face. Each profile includes photos to help high poverty rate for Palestinians in the Jordan acquaint readers with the communities in Valley. A majority of Palestinian villages and question. The city of Jericho and the refugee communities highlighted in this fact sheet camps of Aqbat Jaber and Ein al-Sultan have consume a mere 15-30 liters of water per person been left out as this publication is meant to per day, while the average Israeli settler in the highlight Palestinian villages and communities Jordan Valley uses 487 liters per day. In fact, the outside of the Jericho municipality. In addition, 11,679 settlers in the Jordan Valley collectively much information about these three localities is use as much water as the over 750,000 available in other publications and reports. Palestinians in the entire West Bank. In addition, This publication is intended to complement Palestinians’ movement is highly restricted our Cultivating Dispossession fact sheet, which in the Jordan Valley, and they must apply for profiles the 31 Israeli settlements and 7 outposts permits—that are routinely denied—to build any in the same area. Together, these publications permanent structures. Settlers directly control highlight to a great degree of detail the vast 50% of the land and the Israeli military controls disparity in livelihood and access to resources another 45%, rendering a whopping 95% of the between Palestinian villages and Israeli Jordan Valley totally closed off to Palestinian settlements, sanctioned and enforced by the development. Israeli government and military. There is a diverse Palestinian population living In order to collect the information documented in the Jordan Valley, ranging from city dwellers in this publication, over 100 interviews were in Jericho, to farmers in medium-sized villages, conducted with village residents and heads of to herders in small villages, to Bedouin in small village councils. Because information about familial communities. In total, there are 31 these villages is not as centralized as it is with Palestinian villages and communities in the settlements, it can be very difficult to obtain. Jordan Valley which comprise a total population Many numbers are estimates; for example, “total of 28,177 Palestinians. Twenty three of these land area” refers to the number of dunums villages are located completely in Area C, which traditionally considered to belong to a certain falls under full Israeli control. These Area C community, meaning there may be occasional communities face insurmountable restrictions overlaps between villages. On the other hand, on their ability to access basic resources, and “accessible land area” refers to the amount their ability to build permanent structures, of land actually accessible to the community including housing or health facilities, is after Israeli restrictions and land confiscations. heavily restricted. This intentional man-made It should also be noted that prices for tanks of catastrophe must be reversed if the Palestinian water apply only to the villages that receive population is to pursue self-determination and their water in tanks. Villages that receive their self-sufficiency using their own resources. water from the Israeli national water carrier, While much information exists regarding the Mekorot, pay 2.6 NIS for a cubic meter of water, occupied Palestinian territories in general, whereas Israeli settlers pay a fraction of this there is very little that documents the lives amount. Considering the time and investment of Palestinians in the Jordan Valley. This fact put into the interviews, along with reviewing a sheet hopes to serve as an important resource number of maps and governmental documents, providing information about these oppressed the margin of error for the presented figures is communities. Basic statistics such as population, minimal. 5 Al-Aqaba Background alestinian communities have lived in the Pcaves and valleys of the area of al-Aqaba for thousands of years. At the end of the British Mandate and beginning of Jordanian rule, local residents began to build mud house structures and to use rain-fed agriculture, leading to the sedentarization of this community in what was to become the village of al-Aqaba. Most Palestinians of this region are herders, and since 1948, an increasing number have engaged in animal husbandry. After the Israeli occupation began in 1967, the greater al-Aqaba area was taken over by the Israeli military and a number of military bases were established. While the bases have since been removed, al-Aqaba continues to be used for Israeli military exercises. 6 Facts and figures Main problems facing the community Since 1967, the government of Israel has confiscated around 90% of al-Aqaba’s land. Local Palestinians previously grew peas, wheat, barley, and onions on a large scale, but can now only engage in small-scale farming. ͳ Governorate: Tubas The Israeli army regularly carries out military exercises in the area, creating fear within ͳ Population: 300 (180 M; 120 F) the Palestinian community and destroying ͳ Average household size: 7 their crops. Movement restrictions are also a primary challenge. The main road leading ͳ Total land area (dunums): 3,500 to the village, used for civilian movement ͳ Accessible land area (dunums): 316 and for transporting agricultural products to ͳ Nearby settlements: None closer than 10 neighboring villages, was demolished by the kilometers Israeli army in 2011. The Tayasir checkpoint ͳ Main employment sectors: rain-fed imposes yet another restriction on movement, agriculture, animal herding, government making the export of crops from the Jordan Valley nearly impossible. ͳ Average income (per worker per month) (NIS): 600-1,200 ͳ Percentage of households connected to a water network: 0% ͳ Percentage of households connected to an electricity grid: 90% ͳ Percentage of households connected to a sewage system: 0% ͳ Cost of a tank of water (NIS): 15-20 for 1 cubic meter ͳ Health facilities: 1 public clinic with a visiting doctor 2 days per week ͳ Schools: 1 government elementary school 7 Al-Auja Background The village of al-Auja is located just north of the city of Jericho. The village was named al-Auja after the spring in the area that traditionally supplied much of the Jordan Valley with water. Al- Auja has been inhabited by families for centuries due to its ideal geographic location outside of Jericho and close to the Jordan River.