Ma’an News report : Ancient home for friends of the Jordan Valley

By Karim Asakra & Bassam Abu Eid

It is believed to date back to Ottoman times, and was originally built to be a clinic. As the years passed, the building was deserted and its features began to fade.

But the building was bought by a popular campaign led by Palestinian and international solidarity activists, known as ‘Save the Jordan Valley.’ After a year of intensive work and with the help of volunteers, the building was rehabilitated and began to attract solidarity activists. It became the headquarters for the campaign itself.

The building has been named ‘Home of Friendship and Solidarity’ and hosts visitors from around the world. They come to witness how Israeli policies affect the lives of the valley’s Palestinian population, and how Israel’s occupation directly and indirectly tries to displace the indigenous residents by making their lives intolerable.

The home is a simple building. Its walls are made of clay bricks, molded by hand, and palm branches stretch across the roof. There is also a traditional stove which, in older times, people used to gather around on winter nights.

Rosa is a 25-year old British activist. She considers this old house her home, and says she can’t leave for more than a week without returning to resume her energetic efforts to support the Palestinians, trying to protect their land and properties.

This is Rosa’s second visit to Palestine. She arrived in January and lives in the Friendship Home, working with Palestinians and internationals.

Rosa says she heard about the difficult conditions in Palestine, and decided to visit to see the situation herself. She is troubled by Israel’s confiscation of Palestinians’ private property to build illegal settlements and military training fields, and tries to explain the problems faced by Palestinians to the British public.

She was one of six British activists who broke into a weapons factory in the UK during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead offensive on the Gaza Strip. The group damaged equipment and the activists were jailed.

During Rosa’s trial, she told the court that no law could give arms manufacturers the right to sell weapons that would be used to kill children in Gaza.

Rosa said the judges considered the group’s activities an understandable response to the atrocious scenes broadcast from Gaza during the war.

She is also active in a campaign to urge British shops to boycott Israeli products, particularly those produced in illegal settlements.

Another activist in the Friendship House is 22-year-old Quinn from Belgium, a student who arrived in March.

Quinn is researching development in the Jordan Valley, which he says is absent due to Israel’s policies. He will publish his findings in Belgium.

The building has become home for another Belgian, Sofia, a Colombian, Jorge, and activists from Argentina, as well as many Palestinian volunteers.

Shirin, 22, a Palestinian woman from Bardala village in the Tubas district, has been volunteering for the ‘Save the Jordan Valley’ campaign for 18 months.

She says that volunteers play a very important role in the area. Everyday, Palestinian volunteers visit four tents that are used as schools, because Israeli authorities won’t allow Palestinians to build concrete structures.

Meanwhile, international volunteers are busy building a straw-clay school in Ras Al-Auja.

The campaign plans to name the school after slain Italian activist Vittorio Arrigoni, if his family agrees.

Volunteers and activists also help to rebuild structures which Israeli authorities demolish. Last week, Israeli forces demolished sheds and tents used as homes in Khirbet Samra in the Jordan Valley, and volunteers immediately headed to the area and rebuilt the structures.

Around 5,000 volunteers and activists have visited the ‘Home of Friendship and Solidarity’ since it was refurbished less than a year ago.