Voluntary work undertaken

Building mud brick Solidarity School in Raz Al Auja; building work on mud brick Jordan Valley Solidarity house; building and renovating homes in Abu All Ajaj; documenting human rights abuses; documenting developments of  the colonization of Jordan Valley;  working on the Jordan Valley solidarity website; updating Jordan Valley booklet (Eye on the Jordan Valley) and Draining Away document; providing information about the situation in the Jordan Valley to other visitors; research and supporting research of other organizations; advising organizations on the situation in the Jordan Valley; strengthening links with other campaigns; working with journalists to spread information about the Jordan Valley; acting as international observers and supporting farmers to collect water while going through army check points and during home demolitions.
Funded Jordan Valley projects volunteers have supported:
Renovating 7 houses in Ka’abne; computer equipment given in ongoing support of women’s co operatives; Jordan Valley Football tournament; collecting material and holding meetings with home owners to start work on 20 houses in Abel al Ajaaj; building community centre Al Jiftlik.

Main Project Summaries

  • Building Vittorio School Raz Al Auja

In January 2011 we set up a solidarity tent school in Raz Al Auja which currently has 25 children attending.  In March 2011, work started on Vittrorio Solidarity School, a few hundred meters from the current tent school. Vittorio Solidarity School will be a solid mud brick school, with additional mobile class rooms, for up to 100 children. The school is being built entirely by volunteers from the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign.
Work this month for Vittorio School has been put on hold due to a donation of 4 large mobile structures to be used as classrooms. We are awaiting their arrival.

  • Building work on the Jordan Valley Solidarity House

One and a half years ago the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign began renovations on the oldest house in the Jordan Valley. This house serves as a base from which the campaign and its volunteers can work to provide practical solidarity and support for indigenous communities resisting displacement from their land.
Volunteers now live at the house and renovations are almost complete. This month volunteers have finished building the front porch area, cleared the outside areas, built a kitchen outside to make more space inside for visitors, built a fully functioning shower, added steps inside the house, leveled the floor in the living area and painted a communal area

  • Renovating 7 houses in Ka’abne

In April 2011, we started renovating homes in Arab El Ka’abne village in Al Auja, situated in area C, a mile north of Jericho. This project received funding from the Spanish Co-operation. The project is also partnered with Ma’an Development Centre. The aim of this project is to support this Bedouin community to stay on their land.
The Palestinian community, Arab El Ka’abne, currently live in extremely harsh conditions under metal shelters, where temperatures are very cold in winter and extremely hot in summer. They have no access to electricity and are forced out of necessity to purchase water stolen from their land from an Israeli water company. The community is also surrounded by three Israeli settlements and a check point.
Eight homes are currently under construction, using both concrete and mud bricks depending on the wishes of the families. 10 workers from both Ka’abhneh and other parts of the Jordan Valley are working on the project and Jordan Valley Solidarity volunteers regularly come to support the work. Both volunteers and workers have gained practical building skills through this project.
When the project was near completion in late June, it was decided to add outside kitchens and toilets to the homes.  Focus this month is on getting these completed. Roofing work has started on the homes and most of the doors and windows have been fitted. The families are Bedouin and do not stay in the village for the summer months. The homes will be ready for all the families to move into by mid August.

  • Jordan Valley Football Championship

July 10th was the launch of the third annual Jordan Valley Football tournament.
The Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign has been holding meetings with a representative from each football club over the previous months to make the arrangements for the Championship.
4 teams from, Fasayal, Al Auja, Zbedat, and Al Jiflik and an additional two teams from Jerusalem, Daheyat al Salam club and Anata, played the tournament over 4 weeks.
The tournament is a way of generating publicity about the Jordan Valley and its specific situation.
The tournament provides an excellent opportunity for people living in the Valley to meet, socialize and share experiences
The tournament provides a rare opportunity for people to take part in recreational event which reinforces social fabric and community spirit.
The team from Fasayil won the tournament for the 3rd year in a row.

  • Renovating 20 homes in Abel al Ajaaj

After long discussions and many meetings with the community, work started on renovating 20 homes in Abel al Ajaaj. This project received funding from the Representative Office of Norway to Palestine and in partnership with Ma’an Development Centre. The Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign is providing all of the material for the building work and also some expertise. People from the community are constructing their homes in defiance of Israeli policy showing their strength and determination in resisting the occupation.
 Abel al Ajaaj is classified as Area C and situated in the north of the Jordan Valley. This means residents live under total Israeli civil and military control. The community of Abel al Ajaaj existed as a refugee camp after they were forced to leave their homes in historical Palestine 1948 by the Zionist paramilitaries. During the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza the refugee camp of Abel al Ajaaj was destroyed and all references to its existence wiped from the UN maps. Since 1948, and the establishment of the Israeli state, Israel has implemented a deliberate policy to transfer part of its population into the occupied West Bank in direct contravention of international law as stated in the Geneva Conventions. As part of this policy the colony of Massu’a was established on the land where the Palestinian refugee camp once stood. Since the establishment of Massu’a, the colony has stolen 142,817 dunams of land and 142 Israeli settlers have illegally moved in to the area where the refugee camp once was. Not satisfied with stealing the land, the settlers have started cultivating the land and selling their produce to European markets – generating profit from the illegal occupation.
Today, those Palestinians who remain in Abel al Ajaaj are surrounded by the settlement and one of the largest military bases in the Jordan Valley. This year settlers erected a fence annexing more of the villagers land. Internationals from the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign stood in solidarity with members of the local community to resist the expansion of the settlement. As a result two Palestinians were arrested and spent 7 months in an Israeli prison.
The renovating of the homes in Abel al Ajaaj is another example of the indigenous Palestinian population’s determination to resist the occupation and remain on their land. Building work will continue for the next few months with a break during the period of Ramadan.
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The community worked together to make a field of mud bricks before they started to build.

One of the houses under construction.

Website
Since the recent revamp of the website to improve accessibility, new summary reports have been added to the information and maps sections. These reports have focused on the main issues which affect the Jordan Valley such as; water, education, freedom of movement, housing, and agriculture. We have also updated the volunteer page so that there is more information for new people who wish to come and work with us.
Average number of visitors per month (June and July): 3361
Average number countries from which the website received visits per month (June and July): 81
Average number of visits per day:  109.8

Visiting Volunteer Summary
Number of volunteers: 206
Range of days stayed per month: 1 to 61 days
Nationalities: 26
Belgium: 22
Turkey: 1
Italy: 48
Austria: 1
UK: 6
Palestine: 32
USA: 2
Canada: 6
Holland: 1
Gaza: 1
Ireland: 1
Sweden: 7
Russia: 1
Spain: 2
Iceland: 1
France: 17
Brazil: 1
Basque: 1
Scotland: 2
Israel: 30
Switzerland: 6
USA: 5
Germany:1
Catalonia: 1
Spain: 6
Demark: 4

Twitter
The Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign now has a twitter account. The account was opened in mid July. Since the account was opened we have had 60 views. As is the pattern with number of views on our website, we hope that as the page becomes more established the number of followers will increase. This page allows us to share videos and photos of events in the Jordan Valley as they happen to people around the world.

To Exist is to Resist!
Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign
www.Jordanvalleysolidarity.org