Report from www.stopthejnf.org

“Maximum territory for Israel with the minimum of Arabs”

In 1967 some 300,000 Palestinians from Gaza and the West Bank fled the war or were expelled by Israeli forces. The Palestinian population of the Jordan Valley fell by 88% and since then Palestinians have not been allowed to return to their homes and land.

The Occupied Palestinian Territories were colonised according to the ‘Allon Plan’ drawn up in July 1967 by Labour Minister Yigal Allon. In 1969 the Allon Plan was articulated officially in the so-called ‘Oral Law’. The Plan was implemented according to its guiding principle of “maximum territory for Israel with the minimum of Arabs”.

The Jordan Valley, which makes up 28.5% of the total area of the West Bank, is a key area targetted by Zionist colonisers. It is a richly fertile area for agriculture and holds one third of the West Bank underground water reserves. Israel established their first colonies here after 1967 and today has taken over almost 95% of the Jordan Valley. Most of the land is allocated as closed military zones, nature reserves, colonies or is set aside for illegal agricultural business by Israeli companies.

94.5% of the Jordan Valley is Area C, which means the remaining 53,000 Palestinians who live here face severe restrictions on building and development. Their homes, schools and communities are targetted for demolition on a regular basis by Isreali Occupation forces and Palestinians face daily harassment by Isreal’s illegal settlers, or colonists. In addition, services are severely restricted or denied altogether. While Israel’s illegal colonies have full access to the water resources in the area, the Palestinians have a severe lack of access required for their basic needs. In the summer it is almost impossible for Palestinian farmers to raise any crops.

The JNF in the Jordan Valley

JNF-KKL is very much active in the illegally occupied Jordan Valley:

  • Forest/park at Bezel Valley, in the north of the Jordan Valley
  • Forest/park at Mehola, on Allon Road (built as one of the first steps to implement the Allon Plan in the Jordan Valley)
  • Tirzah Reservoir and water management complex in central Jordan Valle
  • JNF-KKL Jordan Valley Meeting Point and land reclamation project
  • Jordan Valley park, picnic area and ‘research and development’ project
  • ‘Water management project’ near Na’ama, illegal Israeli colony north of Jericho
  • ‘Water management project’ near Almog, illegal Israeli colony south of Jericho