24th November 2010

Today at 5 a.m. two bulldozers and 200 soldiers raided the Abel al Ajaaj community in Jiftlik and demolished one house and three animal shelters. Three big tin barracks and one tent house were destroyed, two men were arrested and some injured. Several baby goats were killed and many were injured in the destruction. The estimated cost of the destruction stands at around 120,000 NIS.

Settlers came along with the soldiers to watch the destruction. Both laughed and cheered as the destruction took place.

A few weeks ago Massu’a settlers and soldiers built a fence with the aim of annexing more land from the community. They did this in the context of the Israeli court declaring a settlement expansion freeze for Abu Alajaj .

Abu Alajaj community is located in the central Jordan Valley village of Jiftlik.

The Massu’a settlement was created more than 40 years ago in what used to be the Abu Alajaj Palestinian refugee camp, before the beginning of the occupation in 1967.

Five years ago the settlement started to expand onto a small piece of land that belongs to the Bedouin community. Since then, settlers haven’t stopped grabbing land from the Palestinian shepherds.

These demolitions are evidence of the Israeli policy of transferring Palestinians from the Jordan Valley to further “Judaize” the area.