|
Israel tightens grip on West Bank's Jordan Valley
They live just a couple of miles from each other along a country road winding through parched fields, but they are worlds apart.Avinadav Vitkon, an Israeli freelance writer, is putting down roots in this strip of West Bank land known as the Jordan Valley, helping to establish a new Jewish settlement with his government's backing. Palestinian farmer Jasser Daraghmeh is barely hanging on to the 10 acres he says have been in his family for years. Vitkon, 29, lives in a trailer, but will eventually move with his wife and four young children into one of 20 homes to be built on an adjacent hill. Daraghmeh, a 34-year-old father of six, expects the Israeli military to demolish his family's wooden shack because it was built without a permit. Their differing fortunes are the product of a struggle for control of this valley alongside the Jordan River _ biblical terrain which Israelis and Palestinians both say they need for national survival. Human rights groups say Israel has systematically fostered Jewish communities at the expense of Palestinian growth in several areas of the West Bank it wants to keep, and the Jordan Valley is among the hardest hit. Israelis move freely through the valley, while Palestinians are hampered by building restrictions and roadblocks, one of which even keeps them from nearby Dead Sea beaches. Posted by: Fred 2008-08-31 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=248710 |