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Israeli Settlements in the Jordan Valley
In 1968 Israel seized land belonging to the Palestinian village of Ein al Beida, under absentee property laws allowing the seizure of refugees’ property, to establish the settlement of Mehola.
Since then the Israeli state has sought to annex more and more of the fertile land of the valley for the creation of settlements profiting from the regions’ rich agricultural climate.
Today 6200 settlers man 36 colonies. The establishment of these colonies on occupied land breaches the Geneva Convention.
Each settler living in the Jordan Valley receives a 75% discount for drinking water, electricity, telecommunications and transportation as well as free irrigation water and free education from the Israeli state.
Each new settler receives 70 dunams of stolen Palestinian land and 1000 Shekels from the state when they move to the valley. Settler farms also cultivate large portions of land inside ‘closed military zones’ and behind the annexation fence along the Jordan River.
The Israeli State is currently building housing for settlers removed from evacuated colonies in Gaza on stolen land in the Jordan Valley
Palestinian Workers on Israeli Settlements
Hundreds of Palestinian workers work on Israeli settlements in the Jordan Valley. Many of these workers live outside the valley and are only able to access the valley by showing a permit from their employers on the settlement or by entering the valley illegally.
Children are employed on the Jordan Valley settlements.
Workers are paid around $14 for 7 to 10 hours work. They are typically employed on casual contracts and receive no holiday pay, pensons or sick pay.
Many workers have to travel for several hours to reach work and get home because of the Israeli checkpoints controlling access to the valley
Palestinians work alongside Thai and Jewish workers. They face extreme racial discrimination from settlement owners, are paid less than other workers on settlements, are given harder work and less benefits.
The Israeli occupation’s stranglehold on the Palestinian economy means that workers will suffer intolerable conditions to keep their job.