TANYA HABJOUQA / NOOR FOR THE WORLD
FactualThe Israeli government has announced plans to start annexing part of the occupied West Bank from July 1. In the Jordan Valley, Palestinians are spying on small changes in the hopes of guessing what will happen to them.
Al-Maleh is like most of the Palestinian Bedouin hamlets in the north of the Jordan Valley: a few tin shacks, wedged between the road and the arid hills where the herds will graze, no access to water and a poor life. On the crest of the hill opposite, an Israeli military base dominates the area, white buildings surrounded by power lines. “The works started a year and a half ago. They renovated everything from floor to ceiling ”, explains Ibrahim Najada, a shepherd with mahogany skin, from the threshold of his house. It is rumored that in the event of annexation by Israel, this will be the location of the Israeli civil administration in the area.
"Before, I was going to the other side, with my animals, now it's impossible", continues the Bedouin, pointing to the barbed wire fence that was erected on the ridge. On the hill, at the end of the road, there is a colony; another came out of the ground, behind the community, a year and a half ago, according to him. A string of small settlements, illegal under international law, draws a line that crisscrosses the heights all around the locality. In this part of the Jordan Valley, everyone is at home, settlers and Palestinians do not mix. "We are already suffocating, but if the annexation takes place, then I will be totally strangled", slides Ibrahim Najada, his eyes vague.
Residents of Al-Maleh are confident that the annexation will begin here, in this small valley of fertile land at the end of the occupied West Bank, some 20 kilometers from the border with Israel. Among the first measures announced by the new government of Benjamin Netanyahu, in May, the Prime Minister promised the annexation of a part of the West Bank from 1er July. Since then, no map or concrete announcement, "We don't know anything"sighs Amit Gilutz, spokesperson for the Israeli anti-occupation NGO B’Tselem.
"What will be the status of the Palestinians? "
The Jordan Valley is one of the regions coveted by the Hebrew state, which considers it strategic because it marks the border with Jordan. Granary of the West Bank, and area with the greatest development potential, it has seen the growth of Israeli agricultural colonies, greedy for land. "What area will be annexed? What will be the status of the Palestinians living there? "wonders Amit Gilutz, whose NGO counts 65,000 Palestinians – and 11,000 Israeli settlers – in the valley that makes up 30% of the West Bank.
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