We have just heard that a young man from Al Hadidiya has been arrested whilst walking from Al Hadidiya, near the land that Roi settlement has stolen from the community. He is just 19 years ols and the son of Abu Saqr. His family saw the army take him, but have been given no information about why he's been arrested, where he is, how long he'll be held, or what he's been arrested for.
This harrassment is not new, in fact we have been told that it is commonplace, but that doesn't relieve a parent's fears for what might happen to their child.
Two days ago we visited the small Palestinian Bedouin community of Al Hadidya, which is situated between the Israeli colonies (settlements) of Roi and Beqa'ot and a large Army training area. The community has faced years of persecution and attempts to force them from the land, including repeated demolitions, arrests and beating of villagers and increasing restrictions on movement to and from the village. Only three days ago two young men from the village were arrested and badly beaten. They were then refused permission to travel to health clinics to get medical care (link to JVS site here). Many of the families used to live on the slopes of the low hills in the area, but all these homes have been demolished and the community forced into a smaller and smaller area of land. We approached the village by car, driving a tortuous route over an extremely rough mud and rock track, which took about ten minutes, even though Al Hadidya is actually within clear sight of the main road. During wet weather, such as we experienced last week, the road becomes impassable. The real and direct road to the village has been taken by the settlements and 2 electric gates, which are frequently closed, prevent the villagers using most of the time. Even when the gates are open it is an intimidating and sometimes dangerous route for villagers to take to try and travel to and from their homes this way.
As everywhere, we were welcomed warmly and soon sweet tea was produced. The villagers livelihood is through their animals – goats, cows and chickens and while we were there one of the women was making cheese, using the traditional methods of wrapping the cheese in cloths, and then coating it in salt to store it.
(link here to Maria’s video on cheese making). As we sat drinking tea we could clearly hear the sound of firing from the nearby Army training ground – we were told that the village hear this sound every day.
But it is water, and the constant struggle to get sufficient water and to pay for it, which dominates everything here, as elsewhere in the Jordan Valley. Like every other Bedouin community in the Jordan Valley they have no access to piped water or to electricity. They have to buy the water they need from the Israeli water company Mekorot; it has to be transported by tractor towed water tanker and we were told that this costs 250 shekls a day (approximately £50). And this water has to be used for everything, including outdoor tasks and water for the livestock, because the community can no longer access the local springs which would be used for the animals.
This community has long resisted the attempts to drive them away, and continue to do so with a resilience and steadfastness that we are seeing wherever we go in the valley. JVS are working closely with the community to plan ways of bringing piped water to the village. The water pipes have been allocated, and once the work starts there will be a need for international solidarity, as the work which will take place will be deemed illegal under Israeli military law.
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