Israeli army detonating landmines near the Jordan River
On 18th May 2012 Ynet news reported that the Israel Occupation Forces (IOF) have detonated 700 land mines in the Jordan Valley ‘border zone’, stating that these are just some of the 60,000 mines that have already been removed, and the 14,000 more that are still going to be removed.
Ynet reported this as if it’s a great humanitarian act on the part of the Israeli Army, and in celebratory language boasted that the “border with Jordan will soon undergo a facelift”. However, for Palestinians living in the area it is clear that the land mines are being removed so that more of the land can be handed over to the settlements.
When Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967 they wasted no time in driving Palestinian farmers from the land near the river. At that time the Jordan River flowed freely from the Galilee to the Dead Sea, fed by tributaries along the way.
In this hot, dry landscape it was an essential source of water, and farmers had made their homes all along the river, benefiting from a reliable source of water, and some of the most fertile soil in the region. There was a strong tradition of farmers in this area keeping cattle, which was made possible by the access to water and lush vegetation. This tradition has now been virtually wiped out, with only a couple of Palestinian families in the Jordan Valley now keeping cattle.
Having driven away the Palestinian population, Israel fenced off an area approximately 1km wide all along the section of the Jordan River that bordered the West Bank. Today, you can drive along Road 90, which runs along much of the fence, and you wouldn’t even know the Jordan River was there – it has been so decimated by over extraction of water, and so removed by the ‘security fence’.
They mined the area, and years later returned to build a bigger fence, punctuated with yellow electric gates.
In recent years Jordan Valley Solidarity volunteers have reported an increase in sightings of Israeli settlers unlocking these gates and going onto the land, with bulldozers working the land and many new Date plantations being developed behind fences which display signs warning of land mines. Settlers have keys which allow them free access through the gates segregating the border zone.
In reality, the Israeli government has been colonizing the area for years by supporting the construction of large over land reservoirs to hold water from the Jordan River while handing more Palestinian land to Jewish only agricultural colonies.
It is quite clear that the removal of the land mines is intended to free up more land for the Israeli settlers.
Much has been made of Netanyahu’s announcement, on 1st January 2012, to build ‘security fences’ the full 240km along the borders of Jordan and Lebanon, on the pretext that a group of 40 settlers attempted to cross the Jordan River to establish a settlement in Jordan.
Yet, with settlers being given access to the land behind the fence, this has to be seen as little more than a well timed excuse to hand yet more Palestinian land over to the settlers.
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