Planting olive trees: claiming our land
Like all communities in the Jordan Valley, the villages of Bardala and Ein El Beida have had land confiscated by the occupation forces. Despite clear evidence of ownership, this land has been given to nearby illegal Israeli settlements, or designated for military training.
On the 13th January Jordan Valley Solidarity planted olive trees on land near Bardala, Ein El Beida and Khirbet Tell el Himma villages, all in the north of the Jordan Valley, in solidarity with local farmers who are determined that their land will not be confiscated. They were joined by Palestinian youth activists from around the West Bank, and international activists from Sweden, Brazil and the UK.
The goal of the action in Ein el Beda was to prevent that the Israeli Army or the settlers from occupying the land. Also, in Bardala and Khirbet Tell el Himma the families in which land the trees were planted were happy to see the activists involved with the protection of Palestinian land.
The villages of Bardala and Ein El Beida were designated as Area B under the Oslo accords, but this limited protection only applies to the built up centre of the villages. All the farm land around the villages was designated as Area C, under the control of the occupation forces, and they have used that as an opportunity to steal the land from the Palestinian owners.