“The Jordan Valley annexation”

Call for Action and international solidarity with the Palestinian p eople in the Jordan Valley by the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations’ Network (PNGO)

Background
Last week, Israel announced publicly that it would begin constructing a southern section of the separation wa ll between Israel and the West Bank in the coming weeks through the Jordan Valley area. This latest move follows the long established Israeli strategy of “annexing” the whole eastern strip of the West Bank and will further worsen the
lives of the 200,000 Palestinian West Bank residents, already prevented from entering the Jordan Valley area, including farmers seeking to cultivate their own land and seasonal farm workers who used to work there regularly.

The impact of Israeli closure policy
Since the occupation of the West Bank in 1967, every Israeli government has considered the Jordan Valley to be the "eastern border" of Israel and has sought to annex it. Israel is systematically militarily and economically squeezing Palestinians out of the Jordan Valley and expanding Jewish settlements in this strategic area by isolating, annexing and ethnically cleansing the land and its native people.

In 2002, the Jordan Valley was declared ‘a major governmental project’ for settlement expansion. As a re sult, the destruction of Palestinian land, house demolitions and the expulsion/eviction of Palestinian people in the area escalated significantly. The Jordan Valley now features a number of sniper watchtowers, checkpoints and closed military zones.

Israel has established seven permanent checkpoints west of the Jordan Valley, four of them around the Jericho enclave: two of the four ‘terminals’ controlling Palestinian movement in and out of the area were closed to all Palestinians not residing there, thus completely isolating the north ern areas of the Jordan Valley. In the south, ‘flying checkpoints’ have been set up to exclude Palestinians, including landowners, without residency permits recognized by the Israeli Occupation force. The hilltops yield control over a significant portion of the West Bank, providing strategic locations for the effective siege of Palestinians.

In May 2005, military orders were issued, prohibiting entry to the Jordan Valley area to anyone but registered residents of the towns in the valley and Palestin ians employed in the settlements. Only Palestinians with an address on their identification card from the north of the Jordan Valley are allowed to reside there. All other Palestinians need special permission, which must be obtained through the Israeli Occupation Force’s District Coordination Office. Palestinians caught in the Jordan Valley without a permit are handed over to the police.

Economic implication and Human Rights Violations
Most of the 53,000 Palestinians in the valley live in a state of absolute poverty. Since the beginning of the Occupation in 1967, they have been systematically denied basic human rights, particularly access to water and housing.
As a consequence of the permit and closure policy, agricultural produce cannot be properly marketed. The transportation of produce through the various checkpoints is often hampered and, as a consequence, has been left to rot on the ground or used to feed sheep and goats.
Recently, the Israeli government also closed the terminal for agricultural products in Bardala so that farmers were and are not allowed to take their products to Palestinian markets in Nablus and Jenin or to other areas of the West Bank. The only exit remains the Beit Shaan terminal, which they are not permitted to use.

Political implications
The Annexation policy gradually being implemented in the Jordan valley is just another step in transforming the Palestinian territories into isolated cantons that deliberately prevent the establishment of an independent Palestinian state. Israel’s permit regime in the eastern strip of the West Bank constitutes another violation of the agreed right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. These basic human right s violation can be interpreted in the context of other current unilateral Israeli policies, which are just being proposed and impact adversely on Palestinians: such as barring all Palestinians from working in Israel and from traveling between Gaza and the West Bank across Israeli territory.

While military sources say there is no political intent to all these measures, and that it is merely for ’security purposes’, critics note that the closure fits perfectly with a political plan exposed last week by the acting Israeli Prime Min ister Ehud Olmert, in which he stated officially that Israel plans to take over the Jordan Valley and annex it as part of Israel.

Call for Action and international solidarity
PNGO strongly supports any and all pressure exerted on the Israeli government to stop its actions and open the t erminals for agricultural and other merchandise in order to secure the economic livelihood of the Palestinian people.

PNGO appeals to its friends in the International NGO community to support the cause of the Palestinian people especially those suffering hardship in the Jordan Valley as a result of the Israeli government policy, by participating in solidarity actions, conducting visits to the region and raising international awareness. Visits to families and farmers in the Jordan Valley region are especially encouraged and welcomed.

PNGO calls upon the international community to exert pressure on the Israeli government to guarantee access for the people residing in these areas.

PNGO also calls upon the international community to e xert pressure on the Israeli government to terminate the construction of the Separation Wall in the Jordan Valley and to dismantle all sections of the Wall which have already been erected in the Occupied Territories.

Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations’ Network
February 23, 2006