"You will not break us", Palestinians tell Netanyahu after Jordan Valley annexation pledge
Record ID:
1431140
"You will not break us", Palestinians tell Netanyahu after Jordan Valley annexation pledge
- Title: "You will not break us", Palestinians tell Netanyahu after Jordan Valley annexation pledge
- Date: 11th September 2019
- Summary: VERED YERICHO, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) TRACTOR DRIVING ROAD SIGN READING IN HEBREW, ARABIC AND ENGLISH 'VERED YERIHO' ISRAELI FLAG AT PRIVATE HOUSE VARIOUS OF DANNY TAYEB, ISRAELI FARMER, LOOKING AT POMEGRANATE TREE TAYEB TALKING TO REPORTER (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) DANNY TAYEB, VERED YERIHO SETTLEMENT RESIDENT AND FARMER, SAYING: "It's a good statement but I don't believe it. I don't believe it will happen at all, this is the thing. We reached here and we know that no one in the government cares about the Valley, there is no special emphasise on it, I wish it would happen but I don't think it will because they don't have enough courage to do it." QASR AL YAHUD, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF WORKERS AMID PALM TREES JORDAN VALLEY, WEST BANK (SEPTEMBER 11, 2019) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Hebrew) VERED TAYEB SINAI, VERED YERIHO SETTLEMENT RESIDENT, SAYING: "I think it's about time, it's blessed that finally it was decided to give our region some attention and answers. It's one of the most beautiful areas in the world, a place where there is much more to develop. If we will be taken into account so we may look like any other beautiful, touristic place in the country and abroad."
- Embargoed: 25th September 2019 13:43
- Keywords: Israel Palestinians Jordan Valley Benjamin Netanyahu election annexation
- Location: QASR AL YAHUD, VERED YERICHO, KALYA, ARAB AL KA'ABNEH, JIFTLIK, ZBEIDAT VILLAGE, WEST BANK/JORDAN VALLEY/WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES/JERUSALEM/GRAPHICS
- City: QASR AL YAHUD, VERED YERICHO, KALYA, ARAB AL KA'ABNEH, JIFTLIK, ZBEIDAT VILLAGE, WEST BANK/JORDAN VALLEY/WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES/JERUSALEM/GRAPHICS
- Country: Palestinian Territories
- Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA00AAW7QZBB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Palestinians in the Jordan Valley on Wednesday (September 11) accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to steal their land after the right-wing leader pledged to annex the West Bank territory if successful in an election just six days away.
Netanyahu's declaration was widely seen as a bid to siphon away support from far-right rivals who have long advocated annexation of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, territory Israel captured in a 1967 war, ahead of a tightly-contested Sept. 17 vote.
While some in Israel consider the country's control over the Jordan valley as a security necessity, Palestinians see it as theirs and want it for a future state.
In the village of Jiftlik, farmers tilled land for vegetable and seed production along a long a stretch of the fertile valley that juts up against the biblical Jordan River, surrounded by desert mountain ranges.
"We tell Netanyahu, and whoever follows him, you will not break the Palestinians' will," said Hassan Al-Abedi, a Palestinian farmer who lives in the village.
"It's our parents' and grandparents land. We will hold onto it no matter what it costs," 55-year-old Abedi said.
Netanyahu on Tuesday (September 10) announced he intended, "after the establishment of a new government, to apply Israeli sovereignty to the Jordan Valley and the northern Dead Sea," drawing condemnation from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and leaders across the Arab world.
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.
(Production: Adel Abu Nemeh, Eli Berlzon, Rinat Harash) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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