Al hadidiya 8Feb2014 2On Saturday 8 February the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) prevented around 60 activists from the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign (JVS) and Falastenyat group from entering Al Hadidiya village, in the northern Jordan Valley.

After an hour and a half, during which time the IOF claimed they were checking the ID’s of the activists, the Occupation Forces decreed that the activists were not allowed to stay in the area. At the same time two other activists, who had taken a route via Tayasir checkpoint to join the group, were detained by the Army for 5 hours and also told they were not allowed to enter the area.

The Jordan Valley is completely controlled by the Israeli Occupation Forces, which control entry points and the life of Palestinian residents.

Al Hadidiya village is surrounded by the illegal settlements of Roi, Nahal Hemdat and Beqa’ot and various roadblocks, checkpoints, military camps and firing zones. It has been destroyed by the Israeli Army five times, in a policy of ethnic cleansing with eerie echoes to the massacres and expulsions of the Nakba of 1948 carried out by Zionist militia.

Apartheid Israel has stated it is determined to annex the Jordan Valley and maintain it’s illegal and immoral occupation permanently.

Many of the agricultural products exported abroad originate from these illegal settlements which steal Palestinian land and resources, such as water. JVS activists tirelessly work in the Jordan Valley supporting communities and helping them remain steadfast in the face of such Israeli terrorism.

They are determined to carry on their visits, including to other destroyed villages of Um Ijmall and Yarza, bulldozed by the Army last month.

Solidarity for a Free Palestine (SFP) and JVS kindly ask our international friends to abide by the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign announced by grassroots Palestinian society to counter Israeli terrorism and hold Apartheid Israel accountable for their crimes against humanity.

For more details on how to boycott and get involved in promoting the BDS campaign see http://www.bdsmovement.net/. To keep up to date with JVS, their work and how to support and join them sign up to receive our newsletters, and follow us on Facebook at Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign.