I am David Harel, president of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities and an institute professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science. Something terrible is unfolding as we speak in the northern Jordan Valley. Local Palestinian shepherding communities are being systematically driven away from the lands they have lived on and owned for decades. This is done by Jews from nearby settlements.
This is not a temporary departure. It is a permanent, calculated displacement through a combination of brutal harassment and systematic blocking of grazing on their lands. These families are forced to abandon their flocks and abandon their homes. Often, settlers come in later and burn what remains in order to prevent these families from returning.
The Situation in the Northern Jordan Valley
The situation is particularly devastating in places like Hamam Al-Malihah and Samarra. We watched as trucks arrived to herd away what was left of the cattle belonging to shepherding communities. This represents the last of these communities' livelihoods. The shepherds still carry the scars of torture, starvation, and theft.
Alarmingly, this totally unlawful and terrible plan to get rid of the Palestinian population in the northern Jordan Valley is almost complete. We Israelis cannot merely complain and lament what is going on. We must confront this inconceivable evil that is carried out by our government, the Israeli government, in our own names.