- Title: Bedouins in Jordan Valley village face hardships, fear of eviction
- Date: 11th September 2019
- Summary: WADI AL-MALEH, WEST BANK (FILE) (REUTERS) WARNING SIGN BY ENTRANCE OF BEDOUIN VILLAGES READING (Arabic/English/Hebrew): "Danger" ISRAELI TANK AND ARMED FORCES ON STREET TANKS IN MIDDLE OF BEDOUIN VILLAGE SETTLEMENT ON HILL ISRAELI FLAG BILLOWING ON SETTLEMENT LOCAL BEDOUIN SMOKING AND LOOKING OVER TOWARDS SETTLEMENT TRACTOR AT FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF AL-MALEH, MAHMOUD AWAD, SAYING: "This is a very fertile ground; it is excellent for agriculture. They (Israelis) want to take control over this region and our lands. They don't want to leave anything for the Palestinians to live freely." VARIOUS OF FIELD (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) RESIDENT OF AL-MALEH, MAHMOUD AWAD, SAYING: "This settler right there has been living here for three years now. He has sheep, but it is not about the sheep. He is here to take control over our lands. So, he prevents us from entering that zone. Soldiers come here to watch the area, and we avoid them." WARNING SIGN BY ENTRANCE OF BEDOUIN VILLAGES MEN OPENING MOBILE EDUCATIONAL CENTRE WHERE BEDOUIN CHILDREN LEARN COMPUTER SKILLS CHILDREN TAKING SEATS AT DESKS INSIDE MOBILE SCHOOL
- Embargoed: 25th September 2019 16:22
- Keywords: Palestinains Israelis Netanyahu Jordan Valley Bedouins Wadi al-Maleh
- Location: WADI AL-MALEH, WEST BANK / RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL / JORDAN VALLEY
- City: WADI AL-MALEH, WEST BANK / RAMAT GAN, ISRAEL / JORDAN VALLEY
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA001AW7PYZ9
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Residents of this hardscrabble village of al-Maleh in the West Bank live miles away from health clinics and schools and the Bedouin encampment is not connected to the electrical grid or water system.
Men work as shepherds and women milk goats and cows twice a day, selling dairy products to nearby Palestinian towns.
An Israeli settler is living nearby and residents fear eviction.
Israel has evicted Bedouins in the past from areas in the West Bank, saying their dwellings were erected illegally, without Israeli permits, or were inside or near what Israel deems as military fire zones.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced his intention on Tuesday (September 10) to annex the Jordan Valley, a large swathe of the occupied West Bank, if he wins next week's election in a closely contested race.
Around 65,000 Palestinians and 11,000 Israeli settlers live in the Jordan Valley and northern Dead Sea area, according to the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem. The main Palestinian city is Jericho, with around 28 villages and smaller Bedouin communities.
Meanwhile, a small initiative to support the local community in al-Maleh brings some life to village's hardy life. There, the families need not worry about their children's screen time - they only have internet access once per week.
Living in tents with no electricity, children in Al-Maleh village surf the web and play computer games as part of an initiative led by local educational institutions and international organisations.
Each Saturday, this hamlet of 700 people receives a visit from the Mobile Educational Centre, a truck equipped with electricity and internet, as well as educational and medical resources. The project is a cooperation between the Al-Quds Open University and international organisations, including the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
The Jordan Valley, which Palestinians seek for the eastern perimeter of a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip, stretches from the Dead Sea in the south to the Israeli city of Beit Shean in the north. Israel captured the West Bank in a 1967 war and Palestinians, who signed interim peace deals with Israel in the 1990s that include security cooperation, seek to make the area part of a future state.
The 2,400 square kilometre (926.65 square mile) valley accounts for nearly 30 percent of the territory of the occupied West Bank. Israel has long said it intends to maintain military control there under any peace agreement with the Palestinians.
(Production: Ashraf Shaweish, Rawan Sheikh Ahmad, Suhier Sheikh, Mostafa Abu Ghaneyeh) - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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