On 15/4/2010 the Israeli occupation authorities raided Kirbet Al Farisiya in the northern Jordan Valley and seized four water pumps belonging to local farmers. The pumps are used to supply drinking purposes irrigation for crops and trees, so this action threatens thousands of dunums of agricultural land with drought and the destruction of the agricultural sector in the village.

 

Israeli authorities have given notification to the following residents of Kirbet Al Farisiya that they will seize their water pumps in the future: Ali Zohdi , Fayk Sbeeh, and Raddi – the estimated price of each pump is 25,000 shekels.

This is not the first time that people from Al Farisiya have had their water supply destroyed by the occupation authority. In March 2008, all their water pipes were destroyed, and the area around a spring that they were sourcing their water from was declared a ‘Closed Military Zone’ to prevent them having access to the water.

Following the confiscation of the water pumps the Governor of Tubas, Marwan Toubasi, visited several villages in the Northern Jordan Valley, including Al Farasiya and nearby Al Maleh. He heard about the attacks on farmers and the negative inpact this action would have on their lives. He condemned the repeated Israeli aggressions against the citizens of the Jordan Valley, in particular, local farmers.

This is the second time this week that the Israelis have prevented Palestinians in the Jordan Valley from accessing their water supplies. On 11th April they shut off the water supplies to farmers in Bardala village.

The coordinator of the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign, Fathi Khaddirat, said that these attacks are a continuation of a series of attacks carried out by the Israeli occupation authorities against the citizens of the region, with the aim of deporting them from their land. He said that the region’s citizens can not get water for drinking and irrigating their crops. Water passes between Palestinian houses on its way to the illegal Israeli settlements, but the Palestinians are denied access to this water even for drinking purposes.